Each year, since 2012, Atherton resident Mikey Hoag has gathered guests for a gala she founded, Part the Cloud, to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. This year, the event takes place on Saturday, April 30, at the Rosewood Sand Hill, a fitting location given its proximity to the plethora of research centers in Silicon Valley dedicated…

San Francisco-born and Paris-raised Amalie Gassmann, who signed with IMG Models while still in high school, recently found herself West Coast-bound during a break from her studies at Bard College in upstate New York. The full-time film student who has walked for Sonia Rykiel, landed a Lanvin perfume campaign, and worked with beauty brands including…

As daytime temperatures soar—just in time for a poolside Thanksgiving feast in many parts of California—sandal weather is back. Such an event sends us en masse to our closets for a classic pair of strappy flats just as the rest of the country is pulling on boots. But what happens when you need to replace…

It was love at first site for Café Gratitude CEO Lisa Bonbright when she discovered the lauded vegan restaurant during a visit to the Bay Area, where the restaurant originated. She collaborated with the founders to bring the beloved eatery to L.A., opening the first Southern California outpost in Larchmont Village in 2011, and the…

Ask San Francisco residents where they go for enchiladas with mole or carnitas, and they are likely to name an eatery or taqueria in the city’s Mission district. They are equally likely to spontaneously provide driving directions to Oakland’s Doña Tomás. Co-owners Dona Savitsky and Tom Schnetz opened the restaurant in the city’s Temescal neighborhood in 1999,…

Jennifer Dyer, founder of Los Angeles–based design firm Jeneration Interiors, is well-versed when it comes to reinventing spaces. Dyer, whose designs have been featured in shelter publications including Luxe Interiors + Design, Lonny, and California Home+Design, has outfitted everything from private residences for young Hollywood starlets to single rooms for the Pasadena Showcase House. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville…

Faircloth & Supply designer Phoebe Dahl thinks globally and acts locally. She founded her Los Angeles-based fashion line with a one-for-one business model; one Nepali girl goes to school for every garment sold. To date, over 2,000 girls have received two school uniforms, school supplies, and a one-year scholarship to attend classes through a partnership…

Pressed Juicery co-founders Carly de Castro, Hayden Slater, and Hedi Gores haven’t always been so health-conscious. But, inspired by the way cold-pressed fruits, vegetables, and herbs transformed their lives, the trio of friends launched Pressed Juicery in 2010, bottling and selling their delicious concoctions in a charming Brentwood storefront. Last year, they dreamed up Freeze,…

For eleven years, tastemaker Nilou Ghodsi has been meticulously curating clothing and accessories from designers such as Isabel Marant and Ulla Johnson at her Venice boutique, Heist. The 2,000-square-foot shop—fashioned with exposed brick walls, Barcelona-style chairs, and industrial-inspired chandeliers—is lined with finds including relaxed cotton button-downs by Frank & Eileen, leather satchels by Jerome Dreyfuss, v-neck…

There’s an art to handwritten notes scribbled on uniquely-designed card stock. This always becomes abundantly clear over the holidays when mailboxes fill with generic cards that don’t reflect the giver’s aesthetic. Julie Van Daele—herself a firm believer in letter writing—was inspired to launch Well Received, a line of stark modern stationery, when faced with such ordinary…

Carol Ann Emquies, co-owner of Salt Air eatery, spends a lot of time in Venice. The New York native and founder of Blinken Interiors (she also doubles as the restaurant’s interior designer), has also been busy creating spaces in Paris and New York. When she’s not at the restaurant or working on private residences, she’s…

Thomas Schoos isn’t any ordinary designer. After all, he and his design team—comprised of Schoos Design and The Schoos Group—is responsible for creating environments at restaurants from Herringbone in Los Angeles and Morimoto Napa, to hospitality projects including The Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica and Alfred Hitchcock-inspired Hotel Vertigo in San Francisco. But, the designer, who recently completed Beach…

Interior designer Kristi Nelson, owner of KM Nelson Design is making her mark in Los Angeles with projects ranging from a modern bungalow in the Hollywood Hills to a storybook-inspired estate in Beverly Hills. The stylish innovator, who earned a Master’s degree in Studio Art and Art History from the Paris American Academy, has appeared in…

Jeannie Fraise, owner of San Francisco–based design boutique and interior design firm Lotus Bleu Design, doesn’t shy away from color, bold prints, and pattern. Her Hayes Valley design shop, layered from top to bottom with splashes of color from bright lemon yellow to lime green and tangerine, is stocked with items from area rugs and throws…

Kuniko Yagi, Executive Chef of Hinoki & The Bird in Century City, hasn’t always spent her time in the kitchen. In fact, the Japan native and self-taught chef once held a job in finance. Yagi, who graduated from Ferris College in Tokyo, initially got started as a server in a Japanese noodle house in Los…

Interior designer Grant K. Gibson, creative genius behind eponymous San Francisco-based boutique design firm, has spent more than a decade creating one-of-a-kind spaces from a winery in Napa to a private residence in Marin for a family of four. The Los Angeles native—whose travels and buying trips have taken him to far-flung countries such as…