Most girls oggle over Louis Vuitton purses and Jimmy Choo shoes. Me? I oggle over Eames chairs. Our original Sunday Funday plans fell through, so we decided to drool over furniture that we will never be able to afford. Off we went, to the California Design, 1930–1965: “Living in a Modern Way” exhibit that had just opened at the LACMA!
… BUT. We needed sustenance before engaging in intense oggling, so we stopped by the Ray’s & Stark Bar, which is within the LACMA premises. I’ve heard good things about it, and besides, Michel Dozois is the consulting mixologist here. I sure do miss sipping on an Italian Stallion.
The chairs in the outside lounge were all sitt-able classics – velvety Saarinens, colorful Herman Millers, and – holyshitballs – wirey, sexy Bertoia chairs. I died when I plopped my ass into this.
Husband could care less.
Complimentary vinegar potato chips. Yum.
They had a nice craft beer selection. Right: Mirror Pond Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewery (7). Left: Racer 5 IPA by Bear Republic (7).
Italian Stallion (12). Scotch, Carpano Antica, Cynar, and brandied cherries replacing the lemon garnish.
(this was one of my favorite drinks from the Neve Ice event I went to a long time ago). So burnt caramely and boozy. Love it.
We split a Sausage Flatbread (12) with spicy Nduja sausage, red onions, cacao cavallo cheese and japapenos. Very delicious.
Sad I had to remove my ass from the beautiful Bertoia diamond chair…
But there was an exhibit that needed to be check out.
Here’s some chair porn for you.
Original Barbie and Ken and one of the first Barbie Dream House…
Squee! I have you! (or at least a later model of you!)
If you love the set of Mad Men, if you are in love with mid century furniture, if you are just a California kid at heart… You must go to this exhibit. It’s open till March 25th of next year. Exhibit information here.
P.S. The permanent exhibits are pretty fun too.
Our favorite permanent exhibit is the Modern Art one in the Ahmanson Building. Aside from weird sculptures like the ones above, they also feature classics like Matisse’s cut outs, Warhol’s screen prints, and various works of Picasso. Check it out.
Ray’s And Stark Bar
5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Inside the LACMA
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 857-6180
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Be still, my beating heart! We are the same!
LOLsies — I *just* now realized that I was one of your links above. Hahahahaha. Thanks.
I NEED TO GO TO THIS EXHIBIT!!!!!
Yay, chair porn!
Hmm, thinking about picking up some Eames/Herman Miller pieces myself from DWR, the Eiffel chair included.
weezermonkey, heeeeeee!
corianda, oooh, i love me some good chair porn.
kevin, we got ours from hivemodern.com. no sales tax!
As much as mid century may be more played out than pop-up Mexican food, I’m so freakin’ jealous. You want the chair? I want the time just to go there and sit in that chair.
Btw, someone get me the HM Embody, stat. My butt nerve is killing me. And no doodles isn’t acceptable!
OMG this looks like my kind of exhibit. I love all things history down to the chair porn. I’m signing myself up to go!
Regarding WM’s tweet, DWR and R&B appear to be about the same price-wise, at least for the pieces that I was looking at. I wasn’t aware of Hive (neat site!), but it looks to be priced similarly as well, though I really like the no tax and free shipping. I imagine that Herman Miller must have some restrictions on pricing.
Tony, oh, parenthood. I definitely need a better work chair, my Thoney bentwood hurts my tailbone…
Bianca, hope you like it!
kevin, natch. but hurry soon, i think the no sales tax thing is going to change for CA residents.
ohhh that exhibition…ikitaaaaiiii
mai, you should come visit some time so i can take you!!!