How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Jordana Brewster
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In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
When Jordana Brewster landed the role of Mia Toretto in 2001's "The Fast and the Furious," the actor didn't have a driver's license. "They forced me to," she said. "And thank God because I don't think I would have gotten it otherwise. As a New Yorker, there's no reason to." Brewster shared this anecdote from behind the wheel as she wound her way through Mandeville Canyon in search of a reliable cell signal. Once she found one, the rolling conversation transformed into a parked one, and the Brentwood resident apologized for a scheduling snafu. "I was headed to go get a coffee and then go to another appointment," she explained.
That roadside pause on an early Monday morning in May was a rare stationary moment for Brewster, whose decades-long career currently appears to be in overdrive. Her pandemic comedy movie "Who Invited Charlie?" (co-starring Reid Scott) dropped in February; the film "Fast X" (her seventh outing as Mia Toretto) was about to zoom into theaters on May 19; and the sci-fi thriller "Simulant" (co-starring Robbie Amell and Simu Liu) wasn't far behind, headed to the multiplex in early June.
It's a fast and furious pace that the newlywed (she married businessman Mason Morfit last September) and mother of two young sons carries over into an ambitious slate of weekend activities too. Exhibit A? Her ideal Sunday itinerary.
5:30 a.m.: Multitask on the treadmill
You're going to cringe at this — most people do — but ideally, even though it's a Sunday, I need to get up before my kids are up. I have two boys — one is 9 and one is 6 — and I need to get up at around 5:30 a.m. so that I can get my run in before they're up. Because if I don't, they'll wreck my run right off the bat. They're asking for stuff, and I get into mom mode. I'm not able to multitask like that. So I get up really early and I run and I get that out of the way, which really sets me up for success for the rest of the day. That's the first thing I do.
I'm on a treadmill for about 30 minutes. That's when I read the paper or listen to my favorite podcast, depending on the day. That's sort of like my meditation.
8 a.m. Grab a cup of joe — and say hello to Jose — at Caffe Luxxe
Then what we'll do is we'll go to the Brentwood Country Mart and get coffee. My first stop is Caffe Luxxe. I used to get four shots of espresso over ice with some oat milk, but I've cut that back to one [shot of espresso] because I realized that was not a smart choice. But it's really cute because my favorite dude, Jose, is always there. He knows my kids. We follow each other on Instagram. He'll be like, "Hey Julian, I saw that you were playing soccer" to my son. We know what's going on in each other's lives.
It's a very nice ritual that we have, which I think is difficult to find in L.A. I grew up in New York and I find that in New York, you're very connected to everyone around you sort of by necessity because you're not in your car as much. So I try to find that in L.A. as much as possible. My Sundays have kind of evolved over the time I've been here. When I was a single actor living in L.A., it was very different — as if I was kind of floating around with nothing anchoring me. But now, with kids, it's awesome because it's like, "Oh, wait, you have to be at this lacrosse game, this soccer game and then this birthday party." So it's very scheduled, which I actually love.
9 a.m. Time for a baguette and some breakfast sandos
I'm a big bread fan. I love, love, love bread, specifically baguettes, which need to have the right amount of crustiness on the outside and softness on the inside. I've found a bakery called Milo + Olive that I'll go to with them. I'll get a baguette and I'll get my boys some breakfast sandwiches.
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11 a.m.: Take the boys (and the dogs) on a hike
Then, if we don't have an early game, I usually like taking the boys and the dogs — I have two dogs, a standard poodle and a Portuguese water dog — for a hike. I really love Will Rogers [State Historic Park], it's so beautiful. Then, after that, it's really all about the sports because the boys have lacrosse, soccer and flag football. So it really depends on the season.
1 p.m. Grab lunch in Malibu
The perfect Sunday lunch would be at Cafe Habana Malibu. Not that I'm drinking margaritas at lunch, but it does have the most delicious margaritas. And the food's also really good, and they're super nice about dogs coming in. They're also super kid-friendly. There's a nice outdoor area where you can kind of be loud and messy, and they're cool about that. And it feels like a nice neighborhood restaurant with delicious food, and then the shopping around there is really, really good.
That makes for a good long day in Malibu. Go to Cafe Habana, walk around the shops, let the kids play around. They have a really good playground right there — two playgrounds actually — so you can just sit and drink coffee and watch them from afar, which is really good. So that could take us from like 1 [p.m.] to 3 [p.m.], and then we'd work our way toward the Petersen.
4 p.m. Pop into the Petersen
If there ever isn't a game, the Petersen [Automotive Museum] is one of the several places we love to go. My kids are super, super into cars, and I actually like to go and check to see whether [the "Fast & Furious" franchise is] being represented adequately. Right now, they don't really have us on exhibit. There's also [the] Vault downstairs you can pay to take a private tour of and see what's on hold, and right now, we're on hold. We're in the basement, which I object to!
Read more: Inside the unique traffic jam of moving exhibits at L.A.’s Petersen Automotive Museum
There's also the Santa Monica Pier that we go to all the time — my little one loves to ride roller coasters, so that's a big Sunday one for us — and Sky Zone Trampoline Park [in Van Nuys], which was closed during COVID, which was a massive bummer, is open again, so we're there a lot. If it's the Petersen, we'd spend about two hours there. Then I'd take the kids home, and then it would be time for date night.
7:30 p.m.: Table for two at the Tower Bar
The perfect Sunday would include date night with my husband at the Tower Bar. It would start with a martini — a Grey Goose martini with olives and no vermouth. I do not like vermouth at all, so it's just a straight up martini with olives. And then Gabé [Doppelt], who was the maître d' there until recently — would send out zucchini chips, which are so good.
Read more: Former magazine maven to maître d’: Gabé Doppelt dishes on her first few weeks at Sunset Tower
The main courses are kind of boring. It's the sides that are really indulgent. I usually get the beet salad, the truffle fries and the mac and cheese and then the blackened whitefish, which isn't really that exciting. It's really about the sides, the zucchini chips and the drinks.
9 p.m.: Catch some late-night laughs — or watch some TV
I'm usually in bed by 9 because I get up so early, but if it's an extra-crazy night, we'll go see a show at the Comedy Store [on Sunset Boulevard] or the Hollywood Improv on Melrose. We're friends with comedians Strider Wilson and Chad & J.T. and love watching them perform, so if they're performing, we'll do that after dinner, or sometimes, we'll reverse the order and see a show and then go to dinner. That's a fun night out.
If we're not having a night out, I'll usually end the night by watching some TV. If I'm watching with my 9-year-old, I have to limit the content. We recently watched "Forrest Gump" and we watched it in three parts — because it's a long one — and it was really embarrassing because I was just sobbing at the end and he was like, "Mommy, are you OK?" If I'm not watching with him, I love to watch "Succession," and I recently started watching that new Rachel Weisz show, "Dead Ringers." I love that show. It's super dark. She's brilliant, and the show is just really, really good. I can watch dark content before bed — no problem.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
