Out & About - August


By Susan Hornik

Television   

NBC has had huge success with "American Ninja Warrior," which was recently nominated for an Emmy. "I have been so excited with how the show has been appreciated by viewers. It has been an amazing season," said host Akbar Gbajabiamila.

Gbajabiamila has a busy schedule, co-hosting NFL Fantasy Live and the "Team Ninja Warrior" spinoff on USA Network. It's no wonder why health is of utmost importance to him:

"I recently saw the documentaries, 'What The Health' and 'Sugar Coated,' it blew my mind. Whereas I am always working out to improve the exterior of my body, I am now doing a lot of work to improve my interior-what I am consuming and how I am consuming it. We only get one life; I want to make sure I am staying fit. I became vegan recently and I love it."


Akbar Gbajabiamilla, host of American Ninja Warrior, and Ninja Kevin The Bull at their Emmy lunch

Food

There were numerous delicious items at the 7th annual LA Food and Wine Festival. Celebrity chef Curtis Stone hosted Thursday night, with both of his restaurants, Maude and Gwen, serving an impressive 4,000 portions of food. "It's incredible to be here, it's nonstop for us, as we are also coordinating a dinner and a lunch after this, but I always love to challenge myself."
Chef Jamie Lauren (remember her from Bravo's "Top Chef" and "Top Chef: All Stars"?), had long lines as people waiting to experience the unique burger from her pop up, Hank and Frida's Burger Time. "Hollywood is such an exciting place for food these days. I love being able to come here and talk with people," she enthused.

One of the standout dishes on Saturday's event was the risotto, expertly created by Rays and Stark Bar's renowned chef, Fernando Darin.


Prepared by Chef Fernando Darin

"I was playing with these ingredients in the restaurant," Darin explained. "The way I like to eat risotto is to make the rice a star-there are no other textures besides the rice. It was a crazy process but it came together wonderfully."

If ever you go to LACMA, check out one of Chef Darin's amazing creations!

Film

Lella Satie, has had enormous success with her short film "Father" at the international film festivals. "Living in Hollywood has been very good for me creatively speaking. The industry is so prevalent here and there are many interesting people to collaborate with."

With the American Film Institute's film festival coming up in Hollywood this fall, Lella is excited abut all the networking possibilities."It's truly great to be able to connect with fellow filmmakers. "


 

Initially the reason for writing the film was to create a role for herself as an actor.
"But then the vision got bigger and I realized I have to direct it.," said Satie. "At that point, I held auditions and gave my role to Mandy May Cheetham, who did a great job as Maggie. I still made a cameo appearance and had a great production team." Award-winning Director Of Photography Stephen Whitehead Chandler worked on the film, along with composer Veljko Kuzmančević."

The film screens at the Burbank Film Festival on September 8th.

Culture

Hollywood is a mystical place for many occultists like Jessyka Winston, a rootworker who practices hoodoo in Hollywood. "Hoodoo is an African American folk magic, and natural medicine tradition created in the south by the early descendants of Africans brought here as slaves. It is a practice that was created to overcome suffering and challenging conditions."


Jessyka Winston

Hoodoo's sole purpose is self-improvement, and the healing of community, noted Winston. "The work I do is focused on improving the daily lives of my clients. Whether it be in matters of love, finances, healing and guidance on your spiritual path, I can be of service."

Winston believes we are currently in the age of enlightenment.

"Enlightenment is the removal of illusion. We are finally seeing what has always been there and that is the blessing disguised as chaos. We cannot heal what isn't exposed. Now more than ever, we need to be focusing on the bigger picture and get to work. The world we see is nothing more than the projection of each individual's internal landscape. By improving our human experience and creating inner harmony, we'll be able to project that onto the world."

Winston runs her business from her home apothecary, where she provides the local customer an extensive menu of magical tools for self-improvement and self-healing. Items like fixed candles, Mojo bags, as well as Rootwork (spell work) services and Tarot readings.

"I love how central and vibrant the neighborhood of Hollywood is. This area is the heart of LA. This makes it easy and accessible for clients to find and meet with me. There is so much to offer; being in the center of everything has definitely added to the growth of my local business."

One of Winston's favorite spots is Rock n Roll Ralph's. "I buy a lot of the natural ingredients like herbs, flowers and even candles for my work."

Drinks

Many Italian wineries have capitalized on the agritourism trend and have small hotels/B&Bs for tourists to stay on property and see the process of making wine firsthand. But even if you can't get to Italy, you can still head to your local liquor store and purchase the Tuscan luxury wine, Gagliole, Sicily's Feudi del Pisciotto and Piedmont's Pecchenino. These are beautiful wines that are perfect for late summer.


World Cabernet Day is coming up on August 31-you can celebrate with Feudi's Missoni Cabernet Sauvignon Terre Siciliane IGT, a deep ruby wine which goes well with porcini mushrooms and aged cheese. Feudi del Pisciotto collaborated with some of Italy's finest fashion designers, including Versace, Valentino, Missoni, Carolina Marengo, Alberta Ferretti, Gianfranco Ferré and Giambattista Valli, to create the packaging for Pisciotto's designer wine line. A portion of the proceeds from these modern wines is donated to the restoration of fine Sicilian art.

Beauty

If you are looking for a pick me up to combat summertime dehydrated skin, try Beauty Bar Clinic's Hydrafacial. The med spa is newly open in Hollywood.

"The Hydrafacial is ideal for celebrity clientele as it delivers immediate results in making the skin look brighter and healthier," said Ashraf Eleish, president. "It's great for red carpet events due to the brightness and skin clarity that it can deliver. Especially for those who unfortunately have to deal with problematic skin, the Hydrafacial can correct those issues without the use of invasive cosmetic treatments. So, same day results with amazing post make up applications."



The Hydrafacial is a popular treatment for Beauty Bar's array of celebrity clients like Paris Hilton, Kate Winslet, Drake, Justin Bieber, and numerous "Real Housewives" stars.
The medical grade resurfacing facial uses vortex fusion techniques to exfoliate, extract, hydrate and infuse essential serums that are packed with vitamins and ingredients which benefit the skin and make it look healthier and brighter than ever before.

Other treatments at Beauty Bar include botox and the noninvasive fat reduction technique, cool sculpting.

Posted By Discover Hollywood on August 30, 2017 09:47 am | Permalink