"BeverlyHills" news and stories

You might not know exactly where the Beverly Hilton is in Beverly Hills, but you certainly know about the Beverly Hilton if you watch the Golden Globe Awards, which are hosted there every year. The "new" owner, who purchased the hotel from Merv Griffin two years ago, has planned to tear down some existing structures on the hotel's property to build condos, including the old-school Trader Vic's restaurant. Apparently, the legendary Polynesian restaurant, famous as the godfather of the Mai Tai, is one of the hotel "elements that no longer work."

I went to graduate school in Philadelphia, and lived only a few blocks from the famed La Colombe Torrefaction. I was a student, it was far too hip for me - but I did stop in once or twice for a croissant and what Food & Wine Magazine calls their "silky cappuccino," naming the caffeinated hotspot the top U.S. coffee "bar."

So coffee is served at bars, not shops, now? The magazine also picks Ritual Coffee Roasters in San Francisco, Ninth Street Espresso in the East Village, New York; Aloha Island in Beverly Hills and Ruta Maya in Austin. Naturally I think they're ignoring some legendary spots here in Portland (hello, aren't we coffeeville?), like Stumptown Coffee and Ristretto Roasters.

As I've only quaffed java at one of their top five spots, though, I can hardly be a judge. What do you all think: are they missing anyplace else that's truly paradise in a French Press?