By Johnny Jet April 25, 2017 Original Story A few years ago, I read about how an aviation geek (I’m one too) named Anthony Toth had created a mock of a Pan Am 747 in his garage in Redondo Beach, California, and was inviting his friends over for dinner to see it. Toth said he became obsessed with Pan Am at the age of five when his parents took him on his first 747 flight to see his grandparents. He slowly started collecting Pan Am memorabilia, and in his forties he bought the lower deck of a retired 747-100 aircraft from an airplane graveyard in the Mojave Desert. He then pimped it out to recreate the golden age of flying. […]

By Robert Klara April 26, 2017 Original Story For the past three years, adventurous gourmands, wealthy eccentrics and Hollywood A-listers have clamored for seats in what just might be L.A.’s most exclusive restaurant. Bestia? The Edmon? Providence? Nah—those power scenes are merely for the rich and famous. The truly adventurous have been competing for a reservation at the Pan Am Experience. From the outside, it certainly doesn’t look very exclusive. The restaurant is located in a beige brick warehouse behind razor wire in the industrial wastelands of the city’s Pacoima neighborhood. Yet once a week, a fortunate few assemble there to travel back in time. The complex at 13240 Weidner St. is home to Air Hollywood (more on that in a minute), and […]

By Ian Zelaya April 27, 2017 Original Story 1. ‘VOGUE’S DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EVENTS GIVES PLANNING TIPS AHEAD OF MET GALA: Eaddy Kiernan, Vogue‘s director of special events, is the event-planning mastermind of the annual Met Gala, which takes place on Monday. Kiernan recently gave tips on hosting a Met Gala-worthy event. Vogue: “So what exactly does Kiernan recommend? ‘Dim the lighting, but not so much that people can’t see each other. I like lots of candlelight, and think fresh flowers are really important. Even making sure that you have flowers in your powder room can make a big difference.’  Kiernan, for her own part, favors a good garden rose. But she doesn’t necessarily believe that a professional arrangement is […]

What we really want to see is “The United Experience” By Rain Noe April 28, 2017 Original Story While the experience of driving is better today than it was fifty years ago, flying commercial has become worse. That has given rise to a rather bizarre, nostalgia-driven restaurant in Los Angeles: The Pan Am Experience, where people pay $300 a head to sit in a reconstructed 1970s-era 747 and have a 4.5-hour, six-course meal with caviar and booze. The experience is meant to evoke the days when flying was a luxury and chances were slim that you’d get your teeth knocked out on the tarmac in Chicago. The stewardesses carve your food up for you in the aisles while you studiously […]