The Varnish

Vegans and yoga enthusiasts assert that their dining and exercise choices are a lifestyle, one that promotes the body’s connection to food and the earth. Nowhere in LA is that truer than at The Springs, a multi-faceted space that co-founders Jared Stein and Kimberly Helms call an “urban oasis”. Following their fruitful careers on Broadway,…

Los Angeles is home to a rising number of 1920s inspired, speakeasy-style cocktail bars and lounges that serve up great drinks in a vintage atmosphere.

Eric Alperin, co-owner and chief bartender of the Varnish, is credited as one of the forefathers of the burgeoning mixology movement in Los Angeles.

In an industrial expanse of Downtown Los Angeles, a couple of blocks from the massive American Apparel factory, lies the Los Angeles Arts District, home of popular restaurant and beer house, Wurstküche. It’s a lively area filled with street art and edgy restaurants, new-age healing centers and budding art galleries. Yet, only six years ago, the LAAD neighborhood was just another blotch of indistinguishable urbanity.