Cleo paskal on DTNicholson's Wednesday-Night.com History

LOS ANGELES - I will admit it: During my recent visit to Los Angeles, I became addicted to the gloriously sunny, superficial and beautiful lifestyle. I cannot help but love a place where churches run screen- writing courses taught by Messianic Jews. If only we could bring more religions together through a common love of character development.

L.A. is also surprisingly democratic. There are some spots where anyone (with a valid credit card) can hang with the stars. Because in L.A., you are where you eat. (Not what you eat, mind you, because often that does not stay down long enough to matter.)

Read on for a few choice selections, all in West Hollywood, currently the "it" places to be in L.A.

Two Italian immigrants in New York's Little Italy started the Palm in the 1920s. Pio Bozzi and John Ganzi intended to name their new pride and joy after their birthplace, Parma. But when they went down to city hall to register the name, their accents got in the way and they ended up with the Palm.

More than 70 years later, that original restaurant is the flagship for a grove of more than 20 Palms, scattered across the United States from San Juan to West Hollywood. The chain is still run by a Bozzi and a Ganzi, grandsons of the founders. And, while they serve veal and linguine, most of the food is far from Italian. The Palm is a serious steak house, except for its freakishly large Nova Scotia lobsters.

The Palm is an old-fashioned, unpretentious men's restaurant. Think Moishe's in Montreal. No tiny sprigs of edible flowers. Even the waitstaff is mostly male, many genuine Italians. This is one of the few places in L.A. where the waiters are not wannabe actors; instead, they spend decades perfecting the combination of ballet and wit that makes for excellent service.

The walls are covered with original caricatures, a throwback to the New York days when newspaper cartoonists might pay for a meal with a drawing. Today, they are portraits of favourite clients who have feasted at the Palm.

STAR APPEAL Men who like life on the meaty side. Among the regulars are Mike Myers, Billy Crystal, Mr. T, Brian Dennehy, Adam Sandler and George Clooney (when he heads out with the boys). On the night I was there, I was sitting opposite two Hollywood icons, Rocky and Irma Kalish. Between them, they have written for Gilligan's Island, Gidget, All in the Family, Good Times, My Favorite Martian, My Three Sons, The Flying Nun, I Dream of Jeannie and Maude. If eating at the Palm can do that, I am going to have to start an account.

PRICES The cheapest prime steak, a 10-ounce filet mignon, goes for US$45. Veal will set you back around US$30.

Nouveau sushi restaurant Koi is a whole other kettle of fish. Opened in May, 2002, it was designed by German decorator to the stars Thomas Schoos. The result is a feng shui feast of bamboo, water, fireplaces, a couple of Buddhas, washed pebbles, orchids, fountains, votive candles, splashes of orange and details that sound even better than they look such as "Egyptian alabaster nautilus shells." The desired effect is a "soul-soothing space."

Koi hedges its bets by stocking 15 brands of sake and delights such as salmon topped with caviar (about US$18).

STAR APPEAL There are good views from most seats. In the past, those views have included Leonardo DiCaprio, Liv Tyler, Esai Morales and George Clooney (when he heads out with his girls). When I was there, the waiter was the most famous person I saw.

PRICES Lunch for one can add up to around US$30; dinner might be more like US$70.

WHERE 730 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 659-9449; www.koirestaurant.com

This is not your typical Mexican cantina. A sure sign of is its resident mixologist, Tony Orozco. He is the keeper of 120 brands of premium tequila and the inventor of the Santo Coyote gimlet.

Santo Coyote is pure West Hollywood Mexico. Sure, they serve chicken fajitas (for about US$15), but they also serve catfish Bahia steamed in a banana leaf (US$20). It is a trendy, affordable, relaxed place with waitresses who look like they were left behind after the last Coyote-hosted Playboy party.

If you missed the Playboy party, do not worry. There are different parties almost every night, such as congo evenings, karaoke nights and gay-friendly nights known as "cocky." The food is good, but the party is the thing.

STAR APPEAL Think Sammy Hagar and pre-rehab Matthew Perry. Carmen Electra had her birthday party here.

PRICES Dinner for one for US$40 is possible if you curb your tequila enthusiasm.

The House of Blues is a chain founded more than 10 years ago by blues lovers, including Dan Aykroyd, James Belushi, Aerosmith, Paul Schaffer and, er, Harvard University. Probably the most famous link in the chain is the House on Sunset Strip. Just across from the trendy Mondrian hotel, it is everything the sleek Mondrian is not. The theme is faux-bayou chic: weathered wood, artistically rusty corrugated iron sheeting, exposed beams.

Most nights the House is a rock venue, but on Sundays, it transforms itself into the home of a gospel brunch. There is crawfish cheescake, biscuits and country gravy, southern-fried chicken, pecan caramel sticky buns, Creole chicken, shrimp jambalaya, cornbread muffins, key lime pie, Champagne -- just the memory of it is making my hips grow.

While you eat you get a hit of raw energy in the form of an astounding gospel band. The lead singer the day I was there was a fabulous battleship of a woman in an incredible white dress, plumed hat and all. Seeing her be not only graceful but sexy got me up for fourths at the buffet.

STAR APPEAL At night, the House hosts all the great medium-sized blues/pop bands. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Etta James and Paul Weller are appearing this month. Some stagger in the next day for the brunch.

WHERE House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-5100, www.hob.com.

Before Banff, there was Interlaken

Saturday, October 11, 2003

SWITZERLAND - Before there was Canada, there was Switzerland.

Cleo Paskal In 1912, the "railway to the sky," brainchild of Adolf Guyer-Zeller, was completed to the peak of the Jungfrau, 3,454 metres above sea level. The trip along 12 kilometres of track runs though valley lands and almost 10 km of tunnel, with two open viewing spots.
For Brits in the early 19th century, Canada was a place to go to work hard and make your fortune so you could afford a vacation in the Alps. By the late 19th century, Switzerland was the place to take the mountain air.

Once our railway went in, Canada tried to swipe some of those well-heeled travellers. William Cornelius Van Horne, turn-of-the-century railroad bigwig and president of Canadian Pacific Railway, approved marketing posters declaring that Canada was "Fifty Switzerlands In One!"

While we did lure some adventurous tourists -- giving rise to the Swiss-style town of Banff and the importation of real, live Swiss mountain guides -- Switzerland, and in particular the archetypal mountain resort town of Interlaken, was still the proper place to go.

Visiting Interlaken today is like seeing the blueprint for Canadian Rockies tourism. It is the way it was supposed to be. The town is ridiculously pretty, with a large, grassy village square, unimpeded by a golf course. There is a gentle river running between the two lakes at either end of the hamlet. On all sides are legendary mountains -- Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau -- each demurely snow-capped. No pesky bears, no randy elk, few American tourists. A genteel retreat.

But it is a hard-won gentility. At first, it was the locals' quaintly rustic customs and the area's peculiar flora that attracted visitors. Sensing a good thing, the quaint locals quickly adapted their economy. They began making more and more "traditional" wood carvings and lace for the tourists. Guest houses sprang up like alpine flowers in the spring. Transportation links were improved. All this in a decidedly picturesque way, of course.

Soon, the visiting eccentrics were joined by that brash new breed, the recreational mountaineer. By 1844, Carl Baedecker had published a guide book to Switzerland and in 1864, the first Thomas Cook package tour arrived.

By the 1870s, the small town had 118 one-horse carriages, 91 two-horse carriages and 35 omnibuses. The Americans were firmly ensconced, and were having a great time. In 1878, Mark Twain wrote: "In the morning, when we looked out of our windows, we saw a wonderful sight. Across the valley, and apparently quite neighbourly and close at hand, the giant form of the Jungfrau rose cold and white into the clear sky."

But travel is not any fun if you have nothing to complain about, so the locals obligingly provided a drawback. As J.G. Heinzmann wrote in the early 19th century: "the great change of diet in the Alps, the consumption of heavy nutritional dairy products and drinks causes almost all visitors to suffer from diarrhea or constipation."

Bad food seems not to have affected the rush of Brits. The great hotels started going up around the 1860s. In 1865, Hotel Victoria was built and named in deference to the majority of her patrons. There was also the hope that Victoria herself would come visit her namesake.

That hotel is still around, and still a grand dame. Heavy wood doors rise to the high ceilings, and swing open effortlessly on silent hinges. There are chandeliers of Murano glass, and hardwood floors cushioned for dancing. The mouldings are intricate, huge and tasteful. Heavy antique furniture is lightened with cheerful designer fabrics. In the ballroom, the hotel manager used to eat with guests, much like the captain of a ship eats with his passengers.

It was a hotel for royalty, presidents and stars. And they came. And they still do. Interlaken never rested on its laurels; there were always improvements.

In 1896, the most ambitious tourist attraction of all was begun. Railway builder Adolf Guyer-Zeller managed to get funding for his "railway to the sky," a train that would reach the peak of the Jungfrau, 3,454 metres above sea level, in under three hours.

Cleo Paskal

The track was to be 12 kilometres long. Two kilometres would run though the lovely valley lands, then almost 10 km would tunnel straight through the mountain itself, popping out only twice for the views. The idea was, the railway could generate income before it was even finished, by charging people to visit the viewing sites as they were reached.

It worked. Guyer-Zeller died long before it was completed in 1912, but from the first year his railway made a profit. The station at the top is still the highest in Europe.

From the lookout you can see the 22-km-long Aletsch Glacier, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On a clear day, you can see France and Germany.

Of course, now a whole tourism complex has been built around the train station. There are restaurants, including a seasonal one called Bollywood that serves Indian food. There is a flood of Indian tourists in the spring, not only because of the area's natural beauty, but because some Bollywood movies were filmed there. Canada could learn a thing or two from Interlaken.

Other attractions at the "Top Of Europe" include sled dog rides, a scientific research station (including an observatory) and a 1,000-square-metre Ice Palace carved out in 1934 by two mountain guides. As the Ice Palace is 20 metres under the glacier, and the glacier moves about a half-metre a year, a local "ice master" has to constantly make sure the walk-through work of art does not eventually end up down the hill in France.

The Palace also has a Hall Of Freedom, honouring those who "campaigned tirelessly for the case of liberty across the world." Inscribed are people such as Isiah Berlin, Sir Karl Popper, Yitzhak Rabin, Martin Luther King, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Eleanor Roosevelt, Gandhi.

In case you were wondering, the Top Of Europe complex manages its sewage disposal via a 9.4-km duct leading down the mountain.

They think of everything, those Swiss.

The most incredible thing is that the fine folks of Interlaken are still coming up with effortless, astute new ways to attract and enchant tourists.

Within minutes of the town, you can go tandem skydiving (a novice goes with a "guide" who controls the flight), canyoning (barrelling down a whitewater river in nothing but a wetsuit), ice climbing, and zorbing (rolling down a hill inside a huge, clear inflatable ball).

The Victoria-Junfrau Hotel has put in a cutting-edge spa, indoor tennis courts and a putting green. And every summer, 180 local amateurs mount massive outdoor productions of Schiller's William Tell, complete with live horses, cows and goats. If none of that grabs you, there is always the Mystery Park, a nearby theme park devoted to exploring the influence aliens have had on human civilization.

IF YOU GO:

- The Jungfrau railway takes just under three hours to get from Interlaken to the top, and involves several train changes; www.jungfraubahn.ch

- For adrenalin adventure, try www.alpincenter.ch

- The Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel and Spa; www.victoria-jungfrau.ch

- For more on Switzerland in general, go to www.myswitzerland.com

me - cleopaskal.com

June 16, 2002

Campers in a four-wheel-drive pause in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. [Photo: Dan Leeth]

Photo: Dan Leeth] The Rockies stand alone
Everything you ever wanted to know about this glorious, historic mountain range that spans the U.S. and Canada. The beauties are worth the trip even if you don't ski.
By CLEO PASKAL © St. Petersburg Times

2008

Great debates for 2,500 years in Athens

As the stomach turns
In L.A., you are where you eat

Before Banff, there was Interlaken

A pet, a pat and a smile

2008

Great debates for 2,500 years in Athens

As the stomach turns In L.A., you are where you eat

Before Banff, there was Interlaken

A pet, a pat and a smile

As the stomach turns
In L.A., you are where you eat