Accommodations: The Peninsula Beverly Hills located at the corner of Wilshire and South Santa Monica Blvds. in easy walking distance to the famous boutiques of Rodeo Drive.

196 luxuriously appointed rooms include 36 suites and 16 “villas” set in the hotel’s lush tropical gardens. There’s a 60 foot rooftop pool surrounded by private cabanas, an adjacent terrace where California and Spa Cuisine is served in a casual el fresco environment, a modern fitness center, and the Peninsula Spa offering an extensive array of treatments.

All day light dining and afternoon tea is served in The Living Room and The Club Bar offers entertainment and cocktails and snacks at night.

The hotel’s main restaurant, The Belvedere, specializes in modern American cuisine served in an elegant dining room or a garden patio, weather permitting.

24 hour concierge and room services are available as well as a courtesy chauffeur service within Beverly Hills. Because of its size and its gardens, The Peninsula is a place of understated luxury that feels a bit more like a private estate than a metropolitan hotel.

Rates range from $425 (excl tax) for a superior room to $3,500 for the Peninsula Villa and the Peninsula Suite.

Besides browsing the high-end designer clothing and jewelry stores of Beverly Hills’ central shopping district and a salon appointment at Gavert Atelier on Brighton Way, we enjoyed a dress-up dinner at The Belvedere and a more casual evening with local friends at on of their favorite places, Joe’s Restaurant on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice. (www.joesrestaurant.com)

The Belvedere

The menu is sectioned into “First Choices”, “Small Bites” and “Second Choices”, and a four-course seasonally themed “tasting” is offered al la carte or fixed price.

The wine list contains reasonably priced choices of domestic and imported labels, including half-bottles. With ten appetizer and twelve entree offerings, as well as the tasting menu and daily specials. (reduced portions of selected appetizers make up the “Small Bites” section), the menu reads like a promising culinary adventure. A set of amuse bouche preceded our first choices of a mixed green salad (not listed but prepared on our request), Nantucket Bay Scallops and a morel mushroom bisque from the tasting menu, accompanied by a half bottle of Sancerre. Our entree selection included roasted Peking duck and the fish special, seared Artic Char, along with a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Unfortunately, the tastes of the plates didn’t quite live up to their descriptions, i.e. there was little evidence of a “Black Arkansas Apple Emulsion” promised with the duck, and not much flavor to the “Roasted Pumpkin Brown Butter” served atop the scallops. Service is professional and unobtrusive, and the elegantly appointed room allows for a relaxing and intimate dinner. The check came to $280.00 inclusive of tax.

We did better pleasing our taste buds at Joe’s Restaurant, a lively place seemingly frequented by locals in the know. The menu, slightly in favor of fish lovers, features modern American cuisine prepared with a bounty of seasonal ingredients. We visited shortly before Thanksgiving and found the kitchen using a variety of squash, root vegetables, mushrooms and autumn fruits like pear, persimmon, quince and cranberries. Tasty starters included porcini mushroom ravioli in a wild mushroom, parsley and parmesan broth and a Maine lobster salad with fresh hearts of palm, fennel puree and celery hearts. Offered were also 2 salads, tuna Tatare and Day Boat scallops, as well as three appetizers featuring foie gras as a terrine with porcini “ice cream”, seared alongside grilled Big Eye Tuna, and a torchoy with brioche toast and quince jam. Entrée selections listed New Zealand red snapper, yellowtail and sturgeon, along with chicken, sirloin and Kurobuta pork for the carnivores. We were most intrigued by the two tasting menus offered, but had to pass since the chef requires the whole table to partake in these multi-course feasts. The so-called “Autumn Menu” paired a grilled escolar in coconut curry froth with one of tea smoked duck breast with tamarind puree. An adventurous sounding dessert promised the sweet and spicy tastes of yam and gorgonzola gratin with butter pecan ice cream and black pepper reduction.

The more extensive “Tasting Menu” opened with an appetizer of grilled Maine lobster followed by a fish course of line-caught Haddock with Kabocha squash gnocchi, and a dish of Venison with cauliflower mushrooms in apple-ginger froth and red wine reduction. A dessert amuse and a chocolate tea cake with all the trimmings closed out the meal. At $58.00 and $68.00 respectively, these menus would not only please any gourmet but also the cost-conscious diner. Appetizer prices range from $8.00 to $18.00. Those four entrées from $24.00 to $28.00. Service is attentive and friendly, and the noise level is below that hindering dinner conversation. There’s a small bar near the entrance and valet parking is available.