Soho House opened their first restaurant in L.A. last February 2009. The Italian restaurant is the second Cecconi’s; there is also one housed in London’s SoHo House. The Brit eatery sits in Morton’s old spot on Melrose and Robertson, where Vanity Fair use to hold their annual Oscar party. Last night was the opening night of Audrey Bernstein’s new Tuesday night party at red-hot, spanking-new night at Cecconi’s. Audrey was sweet enough to come by my own birthday party at the L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills before-hand to wish me love. Audrey will also be hosting a Thursday morning “Breakfast Club” at the restaurant each week. Hand-picked groups are invited to toast an early morning gossip session about all things fabulous. Audrey invites groups of eclectics like celebrities, casting directors, journalists and philanthropists to come and socialize. What a breathe of fresh air!
LEFT: Construction between phases … welcoming Cecconis with a face life to beloved Morton’s, RIGHT: Old Vanity Fair party at Mortons, RIP. Photos from Los Angeles Times.
If you have lived in L.A. anytime in the past ten years, you should have heard about Audry & Apple’s Monday night party at Les Duex. “Talk about chic people chilling!” – said L.A. publicist turned White House Hipster-in-Chief, Yosi Sergant. Along with the most notorious gatekeeper in town, and owner of Identity Management, Andrew Brin, this team was unstoppable.
Oh Audrey (oh-audrey.com) is a modern lifestyle website that includes an entertaining weekly lifestyle/cooking show, daily advice from experts, Audrey’s Favorites, an extensive viewers help section, and more… It captures (and lets the viewers in on) the Social Life of today. Oh Audrey is accessible, organic and off-the-cuff, encapsulating the earthy glamour of entertainer extraordinaire Audrey Bernstein. Audrey remains the go-to girl for top national publications for advice on style trends, party planning, and general taste-making. Oh Audrey is the next logical step in bringing together her diverse and prodigious experiences with a lifestyle web site where crafts, cooking, fun, and glamour are not mutually exclusive.
Audrey has now taken to the web with her own Oh-Audrey empire. Oh-Audrey is a web-based cooking show with L.A. insider and Cuisine-a-lite Audrey Bernstein. Audrey’s fabulous social circle, including celebrity friends and experts, come to her for advice on hosting, baking and entertaining. Oh-Audrey is part Swiss finishing school, party Hollywood premiere party and part William-Sonoma with famous people instead of ugly moms. A day’s work for Audrey might range from learning to bake an authentic French Brioche for a special breakfast, feeding her rabbit or jetting off to Istanbul to entertain at a party for Zac Posen. Here what the rest of Los Angeles is saying about Audrey:
“Audrey is the quintessential catalyst. She embraces every detail of life and incorporates it with nature and food. She is the magician you need at all times!” — Diane von Furstenberg, designer
“Oh Audrey is for our generation, it’s funny, it’s real, it’s not “perfect”. It’s a place to go to when you need advice for cooking or entertaining. It fills a void of what’s out there now. Audrey’s personality comes through, she has her own style that transcends trend, which is very rare.” — China Chow, Actress
Fans of the site include Tatiana Von Furstenberg, Chan Marshal (Cat Power), Ione Sky, Kirsty Hume, Rosetta Getty, Resurrection Vintage, Magda Berliner, Liv Tyler, Peter Davis (expert too), Liz Goldwyn, and Susan Trac (Jar restaruant).
Also expected to join the special guests on Audrey’s web show are Colombe Jacobson (Who want’s to be the next TV food network star), Donovan Leitch, Amanda Anka’s sister (Ameilia?), Bryan Rabin, Kate Somerville, Kate Schelter, Rose Apocada, “Cooking with Amy” and “3-hive”.
I first met Audrey a couple years ago, when my mother decided to finally get serious about her over-sized chocolate chip cookies – she say she wanted them to be “big enough for a fireman, or someone on a Harley”. I’d heard Audrey opened an adorable bakery and was starting a cooking show, since Les Deux’s original owners sold it and moved back to France.
With Audrey’s flair for baking and understanding of marketing on the LA landscape, I knew she’d make a perfect fit for my mom’s soon-to-be new company. So we met for lunch one day at a cafe on Vermont Blvd. in Los Feliz, near her Silverlake house, we had been to once to lure Audrey into meetings us by leaving a batch of cookies on her door.
Audrey gets asked to do all sorts of things like this. When Stone Rose West Hollywood’s Sofitel, they called up Audrey to fill the place with all the “right” people. Cecconi’s has recently done the same, invitng Audrey to be a guest dessert chef in their kitchen, then inviting her to do a weekly Tuesday night party, and then giving her a standing reservation for her highly publicized Thursday morning “Breakfast Club.” This entertainment-marketer-turned-chef, and founder of cooking show websiteOh-Audrey.com, brought the idea to Cecconi’s owner last fall and it has kept its steady rumble since.
My mom actually did sell her cookies for one week on Via Rodeo in Beverly Hills via the coffee cart there but she realized she really only took pleasure in baking if she was doing it for someone she loved. So our near partnership with Audrey never came to the fruitful venture it was sure to be … but my mom still provides her with cookies.
Audrey’s previous birthday: Boots of Britain Birthday Party for Audrey Bernstein Sponsored by Palmes d’Or Champagne
Tatiana von Furstenberg, Apple Via, Antonia Steinberg, Audrey Bernstein and Sandy Hubshman
LEFT: Owner of Decades Cameron Silver and Audrey Bernstein at Lisa Perry’s ‘POP’ Shop-In-Shop at Decades in 2008 / RIGHT: Audrey Bernstein with Ahmet Zappa at Target’s launch of Cynthia Rowley and Ilene Rosenzweig’s New Home Collection “Swell” in 2003
Audrey with Mick Jagger, Shannyn Sossamon, Jake Gyllenhaal and at Cachet’s One Year Anniversary at Les Deux in 2001
Audrey Bernstein – Los Angeles Magazine April 2007
Audrey in Glitterati Magazine July 2008
Audrey in her former life as a pro-snowboarder. Yeh!
Audrey lives in Los Feliz with her two bunnies. They do everything together, even see the same chiropractor. When audrey’s bunny got sick last year, she gave it the red carpet treatment and brought her to a vet who explained the rabbit had a pinched disc in her back and referred her to an animal chirppractor, who offered to work on Audrey too during the sessions with her rabbit. What a twofer!
http://www.ohaudrey.com/
Uncredited photos from Wireimage and Audrey Bernstein
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