Music and Lyrics' Drew Barrymore has one of
the most famous family trees in Los Angeles. Now she's putting down
her own roots in the city. . Photograph by Kenneth Willardt.
"Bette Davis had a great
quote," says Drew Barrymore, talking about where to
go and what to do in her hometown of Los Angeles. "When somebody
asked, 'Ms. Davis, can you give any advice?' she said, 'Always take
Fountain,'?" referring to the avenue that stretches across the
great breadth of Los Angeles. "And she is absolutely right. Always
take Fountain." That's just one of the many insights you are about
to receive from Barrymore, the granddaughter of early-Hollywood
legend John Barrymore who is now a star in her own right. Barrymore
appeared in TV commercials before she was a year old and became a
child sensation beginning with her appearance as Gertie, the sweet
little sister of Henry Thomas's Elliott, in Steven Spielberg's 1982
hit, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. She's come
a long way from her Little Girl Lost days,
the title of her best-selling 1990 autobiography, which detailed
her struggles with teenage addictions. Today, she's not only a star
but also a producer who heads her own company, Flower Films, whose
credits include Charlie's Angels, Fever Pitch, 50
First Dates, and Barrymore's latest, this month's
Music and Lyrics. In the film, she shares
the screen with Hugh Grant, who plays a faded '80s pop star who
desperately needs to write a hit song in a matter of days.
Barrymore's character, a quirky plant lady, surprisingly supplies
the lyrics. But it should come as no surprise that Barrymore can
provide the inside scoop on her hometown of Los Angeles.
What places from your childhood do you still
love? Most of my favorite places from my childhood are gone.
That's what makes me really sad about Los Angeles. It's beautiful
because it's ever changing, but [a lot of it] is just gone. We have
to hold on to our heritage more. It just scares me that everything
is becoming a strip mall or a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Don't get
me wrong; those places are great. One thing I do love about Los
Angeles is that it's a melting pot of architecture. If you drive
through a particular neighborhood, you are bound to hit a Spanish
home, a colonial home, a modern home, and a country house - all on
one street. I still go to the same drugstore, on Wilshire between
Fairfax and La Brea, which is now a Rite Aid, but it used to be a
Thrifty, where you could get ice cream for five cents. I think you
can still get ice cream, but it's probably like $1.50 now. Another
thing that's still there that I love is the oldest tree in Beverly
Hills. I think it's on the corner of Rodeo and Little Santa Monica
Boulevard. It's one of the most beautiful trees you have ever seen,
and it's a historical landmark. I'm not sure what kind of tree it
is, but I have a Polaroid of it on my refrigerator. It's giant,
with beautiful green leaves and thick brown branches. I didn't grow
up anywhere near Beverly Hills, but I always did love that tree
because of its ancientness.
What hotel would you recommend in L.A.? The
Chateau Marmont I think is the greatest hotel in the whole world. I
have lived there on and off since I was 16. It just has great
vibes; it's like a clubhouse. I really like when each room in a
hotel is unique unto itself, like the configuration is different.
Even if the decor themes are similar. I think people respond to
different shapes and light direction. Sometimes you want a smaller
room because it flows better than a junior suite. That place still
has the good old kitchens with tile - no marble, just old, groovy
'70s tile. They also let me raise my dogs there, which is really
cool. The lobby is just this weird old Spanish-style haven for
Angelenos. Things like the Chateau are still there, and, you know,
you just hold on to them for dear life, because everything is
changing. Sometimes you just want things to stay the same.
What are some regular parts of your L.A.
routine? Sunset Boulevard is definitely something I travel
up and down all the time. I like it because you can go on the east
side and go to a little coffeehouse named Millie's that's really
delicious. I love Los Feliz. It has a great vibe. Sort of like the
East Village of New York, but for California. I go to the Rose Bowl
Flea Market a lot. That's a great thing to do in L.A., because you
almost can't do it in one day. I've gone there with the thought of,
Oh, I need this for a certain room, and I've gone there with the
thought of, I just want to go and see what I find, and if I come
home with two little paintings and a shelf or something like that
and a book, then I'm happy. You walk away with a ceramic vase, and
you put flowers in it, and it just makes you happy. I love flea
markets. Also, there is the Melrose Trading Post on Fairfax and
Melrose. That's always running every Sunday. Oh, and the Pasadena
City College Flea Market is awesome. That's, funnily enough, where
I rescued my two puppies 11 years ago.
Where do you head to on a Friday night? I
love Fred 62. It's my favorite place to eat, and it's open 24
hours, which - especially in L.A., a town that shuts down too early
- I love. They have a delicious menu. That's in Los Feliz. I still
like to go to all the old movie houses, not multiplexes. There is a
great one next door to Fred 62, called the Vista, and it always
shows good movies. If people like quality multiplexes, there is one
called the ArcLight that is the most incredible theater, and it has
special shows where directors will come and talk about their
movies. Of course, there is the Egyptian, and that is a great movie
theater. My favorite thing to do is go to independent movie
theaters and revival houses in Los Angeles. To me, that is a great
Friday night. Go to Musso & Frank Grill for a martini and food,
and walk across the street to the Egyptian.
Musso & Frank is, of course, the oldest
restaurant in Hollywood. Did you go there as a kid? I did,
actually. It was kind of the same way it is now. My grandfather
John Barrymore has pictures in there and stuff, so I always give
him a kiss when I walk in. His star is right outside Musso &
Frank. And Dolores [Costello Barrymore], my grandmother, is nearby,
on Vine. I like walking around there, because I know that's where
my family walked around and ate and had a drink. Musso & Frank
makes the best Caesar salad. They make it right in front of you,
and there is this one gentleman who makes a whole production out of
it, and it's fun to watch. But it's great to sit at the counter
there. I'm a big counter person, because I eat alone a lot,
preferably so. Fred 62 has a counter, and Musso & Frank has a
counter. Five nights a week, I go to dinner with friends, but I
like to carve out time for myself, when I can just sit and read and
be sort of quiet and have a bite to eat. The Frolic Room is also a
great bar right around there. It's very groovy, very, like, sort of
'60s in a sort of decorative kind of way. If you are at Musso &
Frank, do the Egyptian, and then go to the Frolic Room for a
cocktail afterward. That, to me, is a perfect evening.
Okay, what are your favorite lunch places?
I love Hugo's on Santa Monica Boulevard. It's phenomenal. It's a
teahouse and a place with delicious, delicious food. It has a very
hearty menu, and it's very health conscious, but it doesn't taste
health conscious. Between Hugo's and Fred 62, you can't go wrong.
If anyone likes macrobiotics - M Café de Chaya on Melrose and La
Brea is my favorite. For lunch in Beverly Hills, there is this
place called the Grill on the Alley, and it's delicious. That's a
very Hollywood scene, because all the agencies are right around
there. So that's power-lunch city. But, you know what's a
phenomenal place to have lunch and is also really fun to hang out
at afterward? A place called Barney Greengrass at the top of
Barneys New York. I sit outside, but I actually prefer the inside
room. You can get the yummiest chicken noodle soup, salad - and
they always have really good fresh specials, like fish. You make
your way down the stairs and get some moisturizer and makeup and
maybe score a Marc Jacobs T-shirt along the way, or a scarf or
something. That's one of the things my girlfriends and I do a
lot.
Whom do you see at Barney Greengrass? Oh
God, you will see everybody. Someone famous was in there, and they
had so many paparazzi camped outside - I'd say about 20 to 25 - and
you could see them from the restaurant windows if you looked down.
They weren't after me, that's for sure. They didn't even know I was
in there, because I always park underground. They had all ordered
pizzas because they were there for so long. All these paparazzi had
open boxes of pizza on the hoods of the customers' cars, just
hanging out and eating with their cameras around their necks. I
have to say it was quite a sight. I always have my camera, but I
didn't that day, and I wanted to take their picture so badly. I
take a lot of photographs of them, too, actually. I've sort of been
trying to make a book of my photographs of them.
What do you like to do outside? I like to
hike Runyon Canyon. It's all people from Los Angeles walking their
dogs. The incline is really great, and there are lots of different
trails, and it's sort of right in the center of Hollywood. There is
this kind of funny nature relief where you can just walk around all
these different terrains and take your dogs and see other dogs.
There's a view on top of Runyon Canyon that's my favorite. You know
why it's so great? Because you've got to earn it. You've got to
hike up a mountain to get there. There is one peak where there is a
perfect 360-degree view. You can see Beverly Hills and the ocean
and Santa Monica. You can see right down the center of Hollywood.
You can see the Griffith Observatory and all of Los Feliz, Silver
Lake, and Echo Park. Then, when you turn around, behind you, you
can see Burbank, Studio City, Sherman Oaks, and even Pasadena.
Another great thing to do is to ride the bike paths at Santa
Monica. You could start in Malibu and ride all the way down to
Palos Verdes and Orange County. That's a really great thing to do,
because you always have the ocean on the side of you.
Are there shops that you like that are off the
beaten path? Yes, there's a great street called Yucca that
has an incredible series of four stores called Lost & Found. At
one of them, they have furniture and sandals and homemade jewelry
and sort of hippie clothes upstairs, but it's all new and all made
by local artists. They also feature painters, and they have a
gallery next door, and the stores are connected. They will feature
artists like Matthew Heller and Sage Vaughn, and it's a great place
to be turned on to new artists. And it is relatively reasonably
priced. I mean, it's expensive, but it's not like when you walk
into some galleries and you are like, "Okay, thanks; I'll be back
in another lifetime." At this place, you can actually find art
within the hundreds-of-dollars range rather than in the thousands,
which I appreciate. One of my favorite things to do is start at the
beginning of Abbot Kinney Boulevard and just park my car and walk
up and down those streets. Abbot Kinney is a great art crawl.
You'll hit galleries, bookstores, clothing stores; it is really an
eclectic mix. Then, in West Hollywood, Book Soup is one of the best
bookstores in L.A., because it is small and intimate, but they have
an incredible selection, great-quality bound paperbacks and
photography books and art books.
Where would you go for dinner? I love Il
Sole. It is my favorite Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. It is
just delicious and very, very pretty but not pretentiously so. I
tend to stay away from pretentious places. My favorite place for
sushi is a place called Katsu-ya, but it's the original one on
Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. There is one in Encino, but not
that one. And there is a new one in Brentwood, which is super
trendy. But the original one looks like sort of a pine-colored
sushi bar that you would go to in the '80s, and the food is
impeccable. There's always like a 45-minute wait, and they don't
care who you are. You put your name down like everybody else. They
have a sushi bar and a counter, so I love that. I go there by
myself and with friends, and that is just a great place for dinner.
It's just extremely low profile and yummy. And oh my God - the best
Mexican restaurant in L.A. is El Compadre. They are open late -
again, in Los Angeles, that's important. It looks like your
quintessential Mexican restaurant, with Christmas lights and parrot
art and red vinyl booths. The food is just überyummy and casual and
funky. They serve your margaritas on fire. There's always a great
little band playing. I recommend the crispy tacos. Just a great
little place right in the heart of Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard.
If you are going to go to one fancy restaurant in Los Angeles, you
have to go to Il Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi. It's where we really
go to celebrate and to order a great bottle of wine. It's very
expensive. You always walk away kind of shocked at the bill. It is
where you should spend anniversaries. Or if you have a film coming
out or you've just finished a record or a novel, that's the place
to go. It's not snotty. I hate the snotty places.
Where to for a drink afterward? Well, if
you want to go to the hipster, scenester spot, go to Hyde Lounge.
That's a fun lounge, and my friend Brent owns it. It's very hard to
get in, but if you go early enough, you'll get in. And then it gets
packed after you've got your seat, and you are good to go. You'll
get a little bit of everything there - sometimes too much of
everything. It is where to go if you feel like acting lively. Other
than that, we go to the Chateau, and we go to the Frolic Room. I
like a classic dive bar, I really do. The Frolic Room is a
throwback. It's got a great jukebox. Trader Vic's is great. I don't
tend to go to Beverly Hills very much, but if you are around that
neighborhood, Trader Vic's is a landmark that's classic. You can
get this thing called the Scorpion Bowl, and your drinks come with
floating gardenias in them. But I'd say be careful, because they
are strong. The Formosa Cafe - [L.A.
Confidential director] Curtis Hanson fought for the
preservation of that - is still there, and that's a great place to
go have an after-dinner drink. It's a classic. A great 24-hour
place in L.A. is the Standard Hotel. There is a restaurant there,
right in front. It's a great diner, but it's like a haute-cuisine
diner, where the food is really healthy and delicious. Also, there
is a great bowling alley on Hollywood and Highland called Lucky
Strike, and it's open until two a.m. seven nights a week.
What is the quintessential Hollywood landmark in
the city? Grauman's Chinese Theatre. I love it; I have a
personal affinity for it because of my grandfather. They showed all
the old Hollywood movies there, and the stars put their hands and
feet in [the cement out front] for Sid Grauman. But my grandfather,
because he was known as the Great Profile, he actually put his
profile in the cement. Then, when I got my star on the Walk of Fame
and they unveiled it - you never know where you are going to be put
- they had put it right outside of the Chinese Theatre. So I'm
right next to my grandfather. It makes me so happy, because if I
could carry out their legacy and make them proud and keep their
name alive and well and healthy in the art that we all chose and
have running through our veins and love, that would be the thing
I'd feel the most proud of. That, to me, is accomplishment, the
definition of success - just sort of keeping our family tree
trimmed and pruned and watered and healthy. Just like the old tree
in Beverly Hills.