Sadie (Hollywood) - New American plates and lavender-infused cocktails served in a revamped Hollywood nightclub.

Claire Bidwell Smith’s stunning new memoir, The Rules of Inheritance, chronicles the deaths of both of her parents while she was young, and it is sad. Yet the story of her struggle for normalcy as they succumbed to cancer—first, her mother, when Smith was 18, followed by her father, when she was 25—is vivid, real, and gripping. It’s a story of death, but it’s also a breathless account of a life lived thoughtfully and aggressively in response, jumping from a snowy New England college town, to the gritty streets of downtown Manhattan, to the sunny sidewalks of Santa Monica.

Sherbourne (West Hollywood)- Where a mashed potato cart wheels from table-to-table under an open sky.

The elevator doors open and there is Mick Jagger, drowning in over-sized workout attire. "This going up or down?" he asks. A second of panic passes before we reply, "Um, up." Mick gets in, sucking the air out of the elevator and my lungs, and then quietly steps off two floors later. So begins an afternoon at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills.

● Neat (Glendale) - Selection of more than 200 whiskeys makes this simple lounge very special indeed. ● The Mezcaleria (Koreatown) - A Mezcal bar inside an Oaxacan restaurant.

● Biergarten (Downtown) - A German beer garden on the roof of the downtown Standard. ● One-Eyed Gypsy (Downtown) - An old-timey carnival bar with deep-fried Twinkies.

● Barlo (Venice) - Bacon-caramel burgers in Hotel Erwin's new lobby restaurant. ● The Escondite (Downtown) - Gourmet burgers with a view of downtown.

● ink. (West Hollywood) - Experience the unexpected at Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio's first restaurant. ● ink.sack (West Hollywood) - Classic sandwiches from Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio.

● Rascal (Westmont) - Gourmet sandwiches and craft beer. ● Manhattan Beach Post (Manhattan Beach) - Rustic chic outpost near the beach with extensive housemade menus.

● Osaka (Hollywood) - Japanese and Peruvian cuisine and culture combine under one impressive roof. ● Salvage (Downtown) - The most stylish lounge ever built from architectural detritus.