The revamped poolside restaurant at the W Hotel in Westwood is that strange creature that can morph depending on what time and day you visit.  For the trendy, professional set, peak time is happy-hour when you can loosen the tie, pose around the pool and guzzle cocktails under an open sky.  But if you were to drop in for dinner on regular week night, party central transforms into a tranquil haven where the only music you’ll hear is the breeze wafting through lantern-laden trees.

One thing remains consistent and that’s the food.  Run by the The ONE Group, which also created STK, this pool adjacent eatery boasts Executive Chef, Robert Liberato of Getty Center (Los Angeles) fame.  The dinner menu is terse but tasty with standouts that include delicious black garlic diver scallops, blue crab deviled eggs and a fried chicken sandwich that is as perfect as any can be possibly be.

The cocktail menu, while conspicuously lacking a whisky concoction, is still creative enough to offer drinks like the Peach Tree cocktail which fuses flavored vodka with ginger kombucha, honey and lavender; besides, if you desire, the bartender will gladly drum up a perfectly proportioned Manhattan for you.

— Ghalib Dhalla.

The Hideout at the W Los Angeles – West Beverly Hills 930 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024 Phone: 310-208-9765