I'm gonna give this a shot. First, ignore the suggestion on Chowhound about Bizou, it's just inexpensive French with $2 corkage. Second, the recommendation for Saladang Song is probably a good one for Pasadena Thai (I've only eaten at the older sister restaurant Saladang and enjoyed it tho it's not as good as the Thai Town favorites). You want to talk shows of art. Ok, in Pasadena, the Norton Simon Museum has a permanent collection that is the best gathering of art assembled by one person on the West Coast. They really don't have shows but just publicize or feature various segments of the collection. Say what you will about Hunt-Wesson foods, the guy had great taste. Interestingly, the museum was reconstructed a few years ago by Frank Gehry (a recurring theme). The Korean resto in Old Town (close to NSM) is Arirang, 114 W. Union. The Italian you mentioned is probably Il Fornaio which has damn good coffee and pretty good pizza but being in the busiest part of Old Town the service only has to be so-so. An excellent Chinese fusion place in Old Town is Yujean Kang at 67 Raymond Ave. Good food and an excellent cellar. Next door at 69 Raymond is Xiomara, a Nueva Cubana place run by the energetic Ms. X. Ardolina. Said to have the best mojitos in town. There is one of the several Roscoe's (for those chicken and waffles) at 830 N. Lake Ave. A very good taco stand mentioned somewhere in another thread is Las Ruinas at Chester and Green (near Cal-Tech). Just get a selection of tacos al pastor. Don't mess with the other stuff. If you want to trot around some lovely gardens and think about railroad barons there's a William Morris exhibit at the Huntington Library in San Marino (adjacent to Pas). You mentioned In N Out and yes it is ever present. Just order the Double-Double Animal Style (not on the published menu) and the fries Well Done. Another good chain is Fatburger. Get the burger "on the char" as opposed to fried and well done fries. In LA, upscale burgers can be found at Campanile (at lunch only) at 624 S. La Brea in LA (in an old Chaplin house) and (out of your way) there are foie gras burgers with truffle fries at Josie in Santa Monica at 2424 Pico. Similarly, for dinner only, there are allegedly excellent burgers and fries at Father's Office in Santa Monica (said to be a scene). Also somewhat out of your way are what J. Gold says are the town's best burritos at Lupes #2, 4642 E. 3rd St, East LA. Pretty good Yucatanean tamales (made in banana leaves) are found at Yuca's on Hillhurst in Los Feliz. Personally, I prefer their carne asada burritos with great beans in em and their carne asada tacos. As for the Getty, notwithstanding the incredible setting and the mother of all endowments, its collection is not that spectacular. There is, however, one room that has Van Gogh's Irises and a Monet Sunrise (a la the one at Marmottan) and assorted other impressionists. There's generally a good photography exhibit or two. I thought there was a Diane Arbus thing there but I can't find a reference to it now. There is a Julia Margaret Cameron exhibit of photos for sure. As for Brentwood restaurants I'm pretty clueless although there is an interesting Indian place, The Clay Pit at 145 S. Barrington. In the Koreatown and Mid Wilshire area, you find the LA County Museum which currently is featuring a number of Buddhist art treasures. LACMA is on Wilshire between Fairfax and La Brea. The food there is not up to the Getty. In nearby Koreatown, Gold says you can find Korean tacos at Kobawoo House, 698 S. Vermont. There's also the Korean Mall at 3250 W. Olympic Blvd. where you can find bibimbap and barbecue, etc. Worth a look. Just a little East of there are 2 branches of Guelaguetza at 3337 1/2 W. 8th and 3014 W. Olympic Blvd (a very big location not far from downtown). I've eaten at the 8th Street location and it's nice (they even have Mexican cokes made with sugar). (There's also a lesser branch owned by relatives in West LA at 11127 Palms Blvd.) Also in the Koreatown area at 704 S. Alvarado is the best pastrami sandwich in the West at Langer's, which given the neighborhood closes at 4 p.m. Still, the basic pastrami on rye with mustard and a Dr. Brown's Black Cherry is hard to beat. Ultimately, you cannot avoid downtown (although the Westside tries hard). For a brief fun visit, you can check what's on at the Museum of Neon Art (MONA) at 501 W. Olympic. Over at Third and Broadway is the Grand Cental Market where there are all kinds of stalls of food including a number of places with good tacos, burritos, and sopes are sold. I favor the carnitas sopes, tacos, etc. at Roast To Go there. Across the street is the architecturally interesting Bradbury Building (worth checking out). Northwest of there is the new Disney/Gehry Concert Hall at First & Grand. Pretty damned impressive. Catty corner on Grand is MOCA, the contemporary art museum which is having a big Gehry exhibit. Also, they've got some stuff from the permanent collection on view and some works of Johns, Rauschenberg and Friedlander. In reality though, the great bulk of the best collection of post 1950s art in the country is at their other branch, The Geffen Contemporary which is located nearby in Little Tokyo. Oddly enough, a number of years ago, Mr. Gehry was asked to transform this large warehouse space into the first museum of its kind in the country. Here you'll find tons of modern stuff. And not far away is lots of good Mexican food. For example, in easy walking distance at 418 E. First St is Senor Fish where pretty good fish tacos are to be found (stick to the tacos). Lots of cops eat here. Meanwhile, slightly East of this and the freeway (a little closer to Pasadena) is Olvera Street, the cradle of LA and where La Luz Del Dia can be found serving very good carnitas platters and homemade tortillas. So, think Gehry, check out the museums, and eat lots of tacos, etc.
