Date ideas
Where I'd take you, if you asked.
Los Angeles
Home. I know where to park.
The hardest reservationsHayato, Somni, n/naka. Book the first of the month. Plan the night around them.
Dodger StadiumA warm evening, the San Gabriels past center field. Non-negotiable.
The Hollywood BowlA good bottle and no schedule after. Cinespia at Hollywood Forever, May through October.
The Stahl HousePierre Koenig's 1959 Case Study House, the city below at night through glass walls.
The Vista TheaterTarantino's restored 1923 single screen, one of four working VistaVision projectors left.
The HuntingtonA full slow morning. Japanese garden, Chinese garden, a Gutenberg Bible.
An afternoon in parallelWe both bring something we're working on and exist in the same room for a few hours.
San Francisco
The fog feels like a reset.
The hardest reservationsAtelier Crenn, Saison, Californios, Birdsong. Book before you book the flight.
Oracle ParkThe bay beyond right field, garlic fries, cold foggy nights that should feel wrong.
The Legion of HonorRodin on a bluff over the Pacific. Walk down to the Sutro Baths after.
The Castro TheatreReopened 2026, the 1922 Spanish Baroque interior back. A pilgrimage if you care about buildings.
Audium49 seats, 176 speakers, complete darkness. Cannot be photographed. Lasts.
Marin Headlands or Mount TamThe city looks different when you've earned the perspective.
New York
I always stay longer than I planned.
The hardest reservationsAtomix, Le Veau d'Or, The Pool at the Seagram Building. Gone in seconds.
The FrickReopened April 2025 with the second floor open for the first time. The Vermeer room alone.
Four Freedoms ParkLouis Kahn's only New York building. Take the tram, best at golden hour.
Bemelmans at the CarlyleThe 1947 murals, a jazz trio late.
Metrograph35mm on Ludlow, dinner upstairs at six, something good at eight.
Aire Ancient BathsFor the afternoon that calls for slowing down.
Elsewhere
A few I've been. A few I intend to fix.
The paddock, wherever F1 isI've stood in the Ferrari garage. Tell me the circuit. I'll pack.
Kyoto in NovemberFor the maples. The gardens at Ryoanji are nothing like photographs of them.
Tangier in springThe light is long and you can see Spain from the cliffs.
Lisbon, then SintraFor the tile and the trams and the word for missing something that may never have existed.
Hydra in late MayNo cars on the island. Three nights after Athens.
Marfa in springJudd's aluminum boxes, one stoplight, 360 degrees of horizon.