Favorite place to eat in SoCal: It's really hard to choose just one, but the place we go with our daughter Saffron a lot…Saffron's favorite restaurant is Tsubaki. It’s in Echo Park, just a few feet off of Sunset. It's amazing. And Courtney [Kaplan, Tsubaki’s co-owner and sommelier] just won a James Beard award for her sake list. Her sake list is the best outside of Japan I've ever had.

Best kept SoCal secret: I love the shop New High Mart. It’s a Japanese company; they get rare Japanese stuff, housewares, clothing. It’s by appointment only so you have to email them, but I’ve been shopping with them for years. They find artisans from around Japan and they get incredible things...pottery from, like, a hut in the middle of a forest in Japan, things you can't even find in Tokyo. It's crazy.

If it’s a Sunday, go early to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market, famous for its vast range of offerings including produce, of course, but also cheeses, seafood, flowers, dips, baked goods…. “Ken’s Top Notch is the best, for stone fruits, citrus, really everything,” says Gergis. “Weiser Farms for potatoes and melons, so good. And Tamai for strawberries.”

Next stop is Barnsdall Art Park to visit the PST Art exhibit Beatriz da Costa: (un)disciplinary tactics. Costa, who died in her 30s from cancer, worked often with members of the technoscientific community and was intrigued by the intersection of art and robotics. In honor of the kind of projects Costa would undertake, this exhibit features pigeons with tiny backpacks who will be released by trainers to fly from Barnsdall to Crenshaw Dairy Mart and will track the air quality via their backpacks.

Stop in at Gergis’s restaurant Saffy’s, not far from Barnsdall, for a coffee and a pastry or something a little more hearty. Named after Gergis and Menashe’’s daughter Saffron, the cafe has a whimsical, friendly mood and a delicious Mediterranean-inspired menu. Or pop across the street to Found Oyster. “I love their Jonah crab dip and oysters,” recommends Gergis. “with a glass of very cold white wine.”

The non-profit formerly known as LAXART has recently changed its name to The Brick, a nod to the exposed brick walls in the organization’s new, lofty home. The Brick is hosting PST ART exhibit Life on Earth: Art and Ecofeminism, a look at the eco-feminism movement, started in the 70s and 80s, that links gender oppression and the exploitation of natural resources.

Another restaurant Gergis loves is nearby Kuya Lord for “amazing Filipino food,” she raves. “Kuya means brother, it’s like a term of endearment in Tagalog and Lord Maynard Llera is the chef. It’s tiny, but they’ve won a ton of awards” In fact, just recently, Kuya Lord won a 2024 James Beard Award, the only LA restaurant this year to receive the honor.

Go next to Los Feliz, home to beloved independent bookstore, Skylight Books, a neighborhood staple for over 20 years. “Everyone likes Skylight books,” says Gergis. “Everyone.”

Gergis is a regular at the clothing store Ozma in Frogtown. “It's a woman-owned company, and it's all natural fibers, all organically-dyed. Really minimalist and beautiful. I wear everything from them."

"[OZMA is] right next to the best sandwich shop, Wax Paper!”