house philosophy.

Taiko!

If you ask my nearly 4-year-old daughter where she wants to go for dinner, the invariable answer is "Taiko!" Located on the third floor of the Brentwood Gardens shopping complex on San Vicente, Taiko can be a bit tricky to find, but it's worth the effort. The place is a real winner: family friendly (they even have special plastic place settings with character motifs such as Hello Kitty and "doctored" chopsticks) the service couldn't be more friendly (say "hi" to Matsuki, the ever-present manager and uber host), the setting is perfectly lovely (there's even a "quiet" room for adults -- see above), and the food is delicious! (Zagat's gives the place a 21 for food, a 16 for setting, a 18 for service and a $24 price tag.)

The menu can be a bit overwhelming, with page upon page of tasty options, but the place is best known for its traditional noodle dishes such as soba and udon. Personal favorites include the nasumiso (yummy fried eggplant with sweet miso sauce), wild salmon sushi with a slice of lemon and rock salt, fresh pumpkin tempura, and their duck soba. The kids love the edamame, miso soup with extra tofu mixed with white rice, rock shrimp tempura salad, and any sort of noodles.

Another plus, Taiko has two other locations: one in Santa Barbara, and the other in El Segundo (near Manhattan Beach).

Visit to Pasadena with Kids

Saturdays are adventure day for my family -- we like to try new things as well as revisit old haunts. As we live in Los Angeles, there are many day trips available to us, and one of our preferred places to explore is Pasadena. There are many ways to spend an incredibly fantastic day as a family in Pasadena. One of our perennial favorites is the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. We happen to be members, so it is an easy solution for us, and there is a ton of options that are good for both children and adults.

Highlights of the Huntington include: the Japanese Garden, Rose Garden, Desert Garden, a Gutenberg Bible, a manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Gainsborough's Blue Boy and Lawrence's Pinkie. (The art is not always a draw for young patrons, but there are many other things to attract their attention).

(Water Bells in the Huntington Children's Garden)

My daughter's two favorite places at the Huntington are the Japanese Garden (with it's koi ponds, bonsai tree gardens and tea house), and the newly completed Children's Garden. A bit of fantasy, mixed with the wonder of nature, the children's garden is a blend of landscape elements and interactive sculptures, such as the pebble chime, fog grotto, metallic sand, and water bells.

 (Rainbow Room in the Huntington Children's Garden)

It's a pity the whole place only stays open until 4pm, because we never seem to have enough time here.

The       Huntington Library,
      Art Collections, and
      Botanical Gardens  1151         Oxford Road
        San Marino, CA 91108
        (626) 405-2100

Another popular destination for families, and a new particular favorite of ours, is Kidspace Children's Museum -- dubbed an "interactive learning environment promoting exploration, investigation and expression through the arts, sciences and humanities where kids can feed bugs, create an earthquake, and climb raindrops!" It's an apt description.

Most memorable for me was the climbing -- the S. Mark Taper Foundation Rainbow Climber (shown above) is an enclosed glass tower that rises 35 feet up into the air. Both adults and children scramble from one circular glass platform to another until you reach the top, from which you can look out over the entire Kidspace. The outside is as impressive as the inside, with an outdoor amphitheater, climbing wall, tricycle arena, and gardens. Another place to easily while away a day.

Kidspace Children's Museum

(626) 449-9144 (626) 449-9985 480 N. Arroyo Blvd Pasadena, CA 91103

After the museums close, we usually head over to Old Pasadena, and stroll around the 22-block historic district looking for a restaurant that strikes our fancy. The main artery through the old town is Colorado Boulevard. Situated on the boulevard and in the surrounding area are more than 200 shops and restaurants, including child-friendly options such as Barnes & Noble, Papillion, and Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop. We've tried lots of restaurants on and off of Colorado, and one of our favorites is Nonya. Not necessarily a kid-oriented eatery, Nonya is a cuisine that creatively combines Chinese, Malay and Indonesian ingredients and cooking techniques. The result in my opinion is absolutely delicious. My kids love it too, but they do have adventuresome palates. If your kids don't like the food, there's always plain rice, and as distraction there's a large pot with goldfish!

Susan Fanfa Makes Good Things

"Geometry is art where simplicity becomes extraordinary." Not sure who said or wrote that quote, but it's on Susan's Fanfa's website, and it does seem to capture the essence of her furniture and lighting design. A very down-to-earth and approachable person, Susan set out to create a line of furniture that is comfortable as well as stylish -- and in 1998 Susan Fanfa Design was born. In her studio in Los Angeles, she typically pairs supple woods with gleaming metals to create elegant pieces that captivate the eye. Given her nature, nothing is too precious for Susan. In fact, she welcomes the client's input, and to that end any of her items are customizable (a fact that is like music to any interior designer's ears). Though her items are available "to the trade only," Susan is so open that I'm sure she'll be straight and advise you on how to purchase her designs. (If you are a designer, a list of trade showrooms that carry Susan Fanfa products, such as Randolph & Hein, is on her website.) Pictured above: Melody Nesting Tables, and Geometric Chandelier.

Desirious Furniture

Manhattan is moving west one chair at a time... For the past 10 years, DESIRON has been a must-visit destination in SoHo. For us folks who now live in Los Angeles (I'm speaking of myself, of course), we no longer have to wait for the odd trip across the country to lounge on DESIRON's hip, and oh-so-comfortable furniture. This past June the company opened their 5,000-square-foot showroom on Robertson Boulevard in West Hollywood.

With a family history in ironwork, owner and designer Frank Carfaro creates clean, simple, modern designs. The materials that go into each of his pieces are rich and varied. Ingredients include metals (of course!), as well as hardwoods in a plethora of finishes (from natural to black oxide), topped with a luxurious new textile line that includes 75 different fabrics (everything from vinyl and mohair to silk and linen). Best of all, each piece is bench-made by artisans at the company's factory in New Jersey.

Though you may not have had the opportunity to visit either of the bi-coastal locations (yet), chances are you've already experienced DESIRON's furniture, as it graces many fashionable spaces, such as Nobu and Ritz-Carlton. If not, check the company out online, or get yourself dressed up and go out for sushi.