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"He shall sit solitary by avoiding the company of men, he shall hold his peace by meditating upon the joys of heaven, and he has risen above his state by tasting celestial delights."
Saint Bonaventure
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#1 - The Bona Vista Social Club
High atop the Bonaventure’s central cylinder is an icon of American engineering — the revolving restaurant. It seemed fitting that we begin our culinary adventure in this great rotating chamber, looking down upon our fair city, enjoying a happy hour beverage.
The lounge turns at a slow, yet still nauseating 75 minutes per revolution. I say nauseating because only an inner ring of tables and chairs actually rotates. This creates a dizzying effect as columns and crusty patrons pass you by, against the outside, which is also moving. We all felt uncomfortable the moment we sat down.
The service is painfully slow, not unlike the rotations. It’s not much of a surprise, however. Most everything in the Bonaventure runs on its own time, immune to things like “schedules” or “the outside world.” The Bonaventure is its own world.
That said, the food is actually pretty tasty. We sampled a shrimp quesadilla and the spinach and artichoke dip. The cracker to dip ratio was poor, but it tasted good enough that we were able to overlook it.
At 5pm, everything on the happy hour menu is $5. A 6pm it goes up to $6. At 7pm, you guessed it, $7. At 8 everyone still inside is killed.
What might be the most amazing thing about the Bona Vista Lounge is the premium drink options. These come displayed on a shitty card shaped the hotel itself. The options are staggering.
There’s a margarita shaped like California, a daiquiri in a boot, a banana “thing”, and best of all…
The Cloud Buster. $18 dollars worth of sugar and low-shelf liquor. You really can’t go wrong. The goblet is truly the cup of a king, and will serve as a trophy to signify the best, and worst, of Bon-Adventure.
Cheerio, good chaps. Cheerio.
Bona Vista Revolving Cocktail Lounge
Food: ****
Service: **
Value: ***
Bizarre Factor: ***
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"Architects in the past have tended to concentrate their attention on the building as a static object. I believe dynamics are more important: the dynamics of people, their interaction with spaces and environmental condition."
John Portman, Architect
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Bon Voyage
The Westin Bonaventure Hotel.
Herein lies the site of an epic adventure about to unfold. The Bonaventure is a Los Angeles icon, an enduring gem amongst a wash of underwhelming mid-century architecture. Already immortalized in cinema, print, and interactive media, it is hard to imagine architect John Portman’s 1974 masterpiece surprising anyone in 2010. But most people have not stepped inside and witnessed the progressive and often times baffling array of features, design, and commerce.
The Bonaventure, in addition to being a hotel and self-sustaining commercial district, boasts a total of 19 different eateries, ranging from a first-class revolving restaurant on the 34th floor to Subway. But the Subway has beer. Which further advances the fundamental thesis that the Bonaventure is the greatest living structure known to man. (Westin Dining | Food Court & Shops)
Over the course of the vernal season of 2010, “Bon-Adventure” will commence, documenting each and every dining option available at the hotel. For this purpose, I have invented the term “Cuisinaut”, a portmanteu of cuisine and astronaut, to describe the nature of the journey ahead. This web log shall document — in utmost, critical detail — what it is like to experience nom noms at this monument of our fair city, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula.
Godspeed, Cuisinauts.
