I was staying at the styly Chamberlain Hotel hidden on the leafy Westmount Drive in trendy WeHo, where I availed myself of the free hotel car and got a ride to meet a friend for dinner at Pump.
There are layers of hidden gems in West Hollywood. You could spend your stay in WeHo rubbing shoulders with the tourists along Sunset Boulevard, or you could get some inside advice from a local and head to dinner in one of the newest, hippest, girliest restaurants I’ve ever seen.
Lisa’s pink chair awaits her arrival under the ancient olive trees
Pump is the brainchild of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills actress, Lisa Vanderpump. The 54-year old British actress and philanthropist has opened her third LA restaurant in a former parking lot on the corner of Santa Monica and N Robertson Boulevards. She brought in about a dozen 100-year old gnarled olive trees and decorated them with lanterns each lit with a candle. Immediately you feel like you are far from the madding crowd of WeHo and nestled in a little slice of Tuscany.
Lisa’s pink fabric covered chair sits unused at her table in the centre of the outdoor restaurant studded with white-cloth covered tables – unless she’s here. Alas she wasn’t when I dined in a corner leaning on plump cushions and taking my pick from an exotic menu of small plates and browsing her cocktail menu deciding between the Pumptini and the Pumpopolitan.
Wait for a table or start your evening at this girly bar!
This place is perfect for a romantic dinner, a girls’ night or a great night out with good friends – before you go off to find the next gem hiding in West Hollywood.