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Before opening, Koi, an upscale Japanese-influenced restaurant in Los Angeles, in 2002, Nick Haque took note of the missing ingredients in the culinary scene. “Working in real estate taught me to appreciate the way each of the senses is inspired when you enter a room,” Haque says. “I realized there was an absence of restaurants that appealed to all of the senses.”

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Billy Joe Armstrong at the Broadway opening of Green Day's American Idiot: I don't have any favorites. I like anywhere and everywhere. I went to go see "Everyday Rapture" last night, and then I went to punk-rock karaoke down on the Lower East Side, it was at Arlene's Grocery. ● Mike Dirnt: Honestly, I like to meet friends for a nice pint at McSorley's, the oldest pub in New York. ● Tre Cool: I like to go to Gray's Papaya at 72nd Street and get cheap hot dogs.

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At David Barton Gym annual toy drive: ● MARC JACOBS - "In Paris, there's a small club called Montana, and there's a restaurant called Thiou. Bars I really don't hang out in. Oh, there's this great club that happens once a month in Paris called Club Sandwich. And it's at the Espace Cardin. And everyone gets super dressed-up, so it's really, really fun. I try to go whenever I'm in Paris, if it's going on. And we stay out all night and just dance like crazy. And in New York, my favorite restaurants have always been the same. I love to eat at Pastis. I love the Standard. I love Da Silvano. I eat in the lobby of the Mercer a lot, the hotel. I usually go to Pastis for lunch, and there's a sandwich that was on the menu, but they don't make it anymore, but I always insist that they make it for me. And it's really fattening, so I shouldn't eat it, but it's chicken paillard and gruyere cheese and bacon. And it's so delicious. It's really good. And it's my weakness. It's just like the most perfect sandwich."

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Koi (Coconut Grove) - Trendiest, most delicious Japanese-Californian fusion you'll ever eat. Take that, Nobu.

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imageBreakin' up may be hard to do in the best of circumstances, but calling it quits before Valentine’s Day is in a league of discomfort all its own. Avoiding an awkward situation is key, but as matchmaker extraordinaire Amy Laurent points out -- “breaking up via email, text message or even over the phone shows cowardice and immaturity.” With that in mind, here’s a list of spots that make breaking up right before Valentine’s Day just a wee bit easier (or at least more survivable).

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Over on our Mixology site in the Pros section, we asked the hottest bartenders in New York and Los Angeles to whip up a specialty cocktail while describing their perfect New Year's Eve. Check out Chelsea Petterson of LA's Ecco as she concocts a Sambazon Acai Capiroska. Expert bartender, NBA dancer -- is there anything she can't do? Maybe keep away from those soccer players.

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It can safely be assumed that nearly every building along Hollywood Boulevard has been turned into some kind of hot, celebrity-populated nightlife spot -- and yet, here’s another! Muse Lifestyle Group (of Ivar, Nacional, etc.) has taken over the historic Fox Theatre, and is offering party monsters 13,000 square feet of rollicking room, amid extravagant interiors by design bigshots I©RAVE (Koi, Pangaea). There will also be an adorably named on-site restaurant, Sweet Love Hangover, with nouveau diner eats and a retro ’60s vibe. As Hollywood hangovers go, here they’ll be more inspired by Cuervo than by Cupid.

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