Best of Hollywood: 28 Ways to Create a Perfect Summer Weekend

Foodie: Connie and Ted's

Kick off your culinary tour with dinner at the lively Connie and Ted’s (8171 Santa Monica Blvd.) in West Hollywood. It’s the latest in L.A.’s big new embrace of classic East Coast seafood shacks, as reconceived by top local chefs. (Think Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo at Son of a Gun, Jason Travi at Littlefork and David LeFevre at Fishing With Dynamite.)

Foodie: Littlefork Restaurant

Littlefork’s heaping lobster roll.

Foodie: Chi Lin's Dining Room

Check out the glam dining room at Chi Lin on the Sunset Strip (9201 W. Sunset Blvd.), which was designed by Studio Collective, the chic firm behind Public and The Spare Room.

Shopping: Jewelry Designer Jennifer Meyer

CFDA-nominated jewelry designer Meyer describes brunch at Barney Greengrass (9570 Wilshire Blvd.), the rooftop lox-plate purveyor at Barneys New York, as “delicious and decadent.”

Meyer was photographed June 17 at her shopping mecca, Barneys New York in Beverly Hills.

Shopping: Gogosha Optique

Gogosha Optique (3208 1⁄2 Sunset Blvd.) features an expertly curated collection of head-turning Mykita and Thierry Lasry shades that has a big fan in Lady Gaga. It also carries uncommon styles like Lasry’s Sexxxy frames, $435 (pictured).

Outdoors: YogAqua

YogAqua, whose founder was one of the first instructors to teach SUP yoga in the U.S., offers classes in Marina del Rey and Newport Beach (class and rental, $39; yogaqua.com).

Outdoors: Malibu Farm Dinners

DreamWorks CEO Stacey Snider’s chef, Helene Henderson (inset), never goes to the beach unless it’s to walk her goats, Casey and Quincy. But the former Ford model’s roving Malibu Farm dinners (malibu-farm.com) take ample advantage of the area’s bounty. Dishes make use of local olive oil, honey and produce, all served in the open air to guests who have included Rick Rubin and Beck. Tickets are on sale for the next feast ($150 a person) at The Darjeeling Limited producer Alice Bamford’s One Gun Ranch on July 13.

Art: Artist Justin Beal With '21 Jump Street' Director Phil Lord

The nonprofit LA><Art (2640 S. La Cienega Blvd.) is where 21 Jump Street director Phil Lord is vice chair of the board. He collects the work of Justin Beal, whose multimedia Memphis architecture-inspired show runs at LA><ART from July 20 to Aug. 24. Says Lord of Beal’s work, “It’s a simple, straightforward expression of a complex, layered thought.

Artist Beal (left) and director-collector Lord at LA><ART with Beal’s Untitled (Clear Panel).

Art: A+D Museum

The Never Built show, running July 28 to Sept. 29 at the A+D Museum (6032 Wilshire Blvd.), gives a peek at what could have been if L.A. had constructed things like a monorail between downtown and LAX during the ’60s.

Art: A+D Museum

As seen at A+D Museum, a 1952 design for a glass-covered terminal with a world-map design at LAX by the firm Pereira & Luckman, which built the original Disneyland Hotel.

Art: Santa Monica Museum of Art

Check out the Santa Monica Museum of Art (2525 Michigan Ave.), celebrating its 25th anniversary; its current show through Aug. 17, I Killed Kenny, spotlights Joyce Pensato, whose monumental charcoal drawings take pop culture characters such as Bart Simpson and Mickey Mouse and give them a sinister cast.

Pampering: Iobella Spa

Invigorate your system at the body-shaping spa Iobella (507 Wilshire Blvd.) in Santa Monica for a customized workout with one of their trainers (ask for Fabiana Erica Mora), who guarantee a leaner, more toned look after a series of private sessions.

Pampering: Montage Beverly Hills

Treat your feet and hands to the luxe new nail studio at the Montage Beverly Hills (225 N. Canon Drive). Your private mani ($60) and pedi ($100) can include Italian mandarin oil or Indonesian ginger. Send your little ones to the hotel’s kids spa, Paintbox, where they can have mani-pedis of their own ($40 each).

Pampering: A Taste of Beauty by Natura Bisse at Beverly Wilshire

Bring a group to enjoy the 90-minute spasensory experience at A Taste of Beauty by Natura Bisse at the Beverly Wilshire (9500 Wilshire Blvd.); enjoy a seven-course, specially prepared private meal by chef Gilles Arzur ($1,500 a person). You’ll feel so relaxed, you’ll want to get a room (a Beverly Suite starts at $1,050 a night).

Romance: Four Seasons L.A.

Four Seasons L.A. (300 S. Doheny Drive) offers The Power Couple spa/cabana package with chocolate-covered strawberries, Tory Burch sandals, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and two treatments for $550. Forget dinner; you’ll be drunk on amour.

Classic L.A.: Bob's Big Boy

Travel back to the 1950s at the midcentury-mod Bob’s Big Boy (4211 W. Riverside Drive) in Burbank, where every Friday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. hot-rod hotshots line up with their rides to compare carburetors in a scene right out of American Graffiti. No surprise: Big-time car collector Jay Leno has been known to roll up.

Classic L.A.: Palace Theater

Head downtown and check out the Palace Theatre (630 Broadway), which underwent a $1 million restoration in 2011. Pictured is the interior of the theater, which opened in 1911.

Classic L.A.: Frolic Room

For late-night drinks, head down the boulevard, first to the neon sign-bedecked Frolic Room (6245 Hollywood Blvd.) — which doesn’t just look like a Charles Bukowski-esque dive but really was frequented by the author.

One Percenter: Carolwood Estate

Call up a blue-chip agent to tour L.A.'s priciest houses, including Holmby Hills’ $150 million Owlwood Estate and $90 million Carolwood Estate (pictured), which was once the site of Walt Disney’s house. “We pull out all the stops — car service, bottle service — for a high-end buyer,” says Billy Rose, founder of The Agency (theagencyre.com), which has both listings.

One Percenter: Elite Adventure Helicopter

Take a charter helicopter tour with Elite Adventure (eliteadventuretours.com). The $5,950 Downtown L.A. package starts at the Santa Monica Pier, crosses over Universal Studios and the Hollywood sign, and ends in a rooftop landing downtown. Elite’s tours are fully customizable to include a chef-catered lunch and more.

One Percenter: Hotel Bel Air

Reserve the private spa suite The Enclave at the Hotel Bel-Air’s Spa by La Prairie (701 Stone Canyon Road) for a light lunch and the $1,000, 90-minute White Caviar Illuminating Facial (half-day suite reservation; price upon request).

One Percenter: n/aka

Head to the sublime n/aka (3455 Overland Ave.), helmed by one of the sushi world’s few female chefs, Niki Nakayama, where the 13-course tasting menu with wine pairings runs $250 a person. Pictured is a Modern Tsukuri King Salmon at n/aka.

Music: Skylar Grey

For your nighttime hang, head to The Sayers Club (1645 Wilcox Ave.), where both chart-toppers and bubbling-under bands play to a more intimate crowd of friends and insiders. “Sayers is a special venue,” says Skylar Grey, one such artist who’ll perform there July 2, one week before the release of her Eminem-produced debut album, Don’t Look Down. “It’s more music-centric. And the environment, the decor and the people make it very homey and comfortable.”

Music: Amoeba Music

Spend your morning at Amoeba Music (opens at 10:30 a.m.; 6400 Sunset Blvd.), the mecca for music connoisseurs and vinyl lovers, with nearly 1 million new and used CDs, records, DVDs and more. Says Incubus and Sons of the Sea singer Brandon Boyd: “Going into Amoeba brings back all kinds of good vibrations — even down to the tattooed, disgruntled record store clerk who you will never impress with your choices in music.”

Music: The Odd Future Store

The Odd Future store (410 N. Fairfax Ave.), one of the ventures of rapper Tyler, the Creator (inset), is named for the hip-hop collective that first sent the industry buzzing in 2011 and spawned R&B darling Frank Ocean. Buying your niece or nephew an officially branded OF shirt — or better yet, a skateboard — instantly will make you the coolest family member ever.

Kids: A Faery Hunt at Griffith Park

If you’re loath to battle beach crowds, head north into the woods: Sarah Chalke, Amy Brenneman, Noah Wyle, Julian Sands and the late Huell Howser are among those who have chased down pixies at Griffith Park during A Faery Hunt, an interactive theater experience at 10:30 Saturday mornings. (Tickets are $15 to $25 a person and locations vary, so check the schedule; afaeryhunt.com.)

Kids: The Gentle Barn

If you’re up for an afternoon drive — car nap! — take your kids to Santa Clarita’s The Gentle Barn (Sundays only, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., $10 suggested donation; 15825 Sierra Highway), where they can interact with animals that have been rescued from abuse. Portia de Rossi visited recently.

Kids: Annenberg Community Beach House

Cool off at the Annenberg Community Beach House (415 Pacific Coast Highway), which has a 9 a.m. stand-up paddleboarding class (reserve the Friday before).