The Insider | Alison Van Pelt By ALEX HAWGOOD

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The Insider | Alison Van Pelt

By ALEX HAWGOOD

| August 22, 2008, 10:00 am

Van Pelt in front of one of her paintings at her studio. (Maggie Kayne)
The Insider is a recurring profile of tastemakers in the fields of fashion, design, food, travel and the arts. Here the Los Angeles-based painter Alison Van Pelt shares a few of her style essentials. A new exhibition of her latest body of work, “If I Were Ed Ruscha,” will show at the Museum of Contemporary Art China in Hong Kong in November. (The museum officially opens this fall.)
Name: Alison Van Pelt
Age: Old enough to know better!
Occupation: Artist (painter)
Home base: Santa Monica Canyon
Retail standby: Madison, Ron Herman, Fred Segal, Planet Blue
Music venue: The Green Door
Favorite concert: Jack Bambi
Music: Whatever Maggie put on my iPod Provisions: PC Greens, Whole Foods, Yummi
For gifts: Hermès
Restaurant: Patrick’s Roadhouse and Axe for breakfast; Vito for the caesar salad; penne vodka at Laconda Portofino; truffle ravioli at Giorgio; jalapeño yellowtail at Nobu; sea bass at Chaya; truffle macaroni at the Beachcomber; coffee at Cafe Luxxe
Drink: Champagne or tequila
Party central: My bed
Momentary style obsessions: Jenni Kayne, Tom Binns, Lanvin                                                     Reading material: “Loving Frank,” by Nancy Horan; ridiculous number of magazines; The New York Times
Art pick: Kaz Oshiro
Museums: LACMA,MOMA,MOCA SMMOA
Movie: “Roman Holiday”
Vacation destination: My friend’s boat (wherever it is)
Something you are looking forward to this summer: The beach with my dogs
Alison’s Santa Monica Canyon Neighborhood
Here are some of Van Pelt’s favorite haunts in L.A. that she visits regularly. The map below is interactive; click on the blue markers to learn more about Alison’s spots.
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&s=AARTsJpeeEElbFzt97MNAMjVutV4rxYwSg&msa=0&msid=103739794770934605257.000454fad2bf41b813ac0&ll=34.042419,-118.488922&spn=0.369828,0.549316&z=10&output=embed&w=400&h=325]

• Patrick’s Roadhouse — Silvio takes care of you and makes great fresh smoothies. And close to home
• Axe — Best (and biggest) pancakes. Everything’s organic
• Vito —  They make the caesar at the table. (Check out the wine list.)
• The Beachcomber Cafe — Remember “Alice’s Restaurant”? Right there on the pier. The Tiki room is great.
• Nobu — Yum.
• Caffe Luxxe —  best cappuccino
• Jenni Kayne (e-mail) —  everything is gorgeous.
• The Green Door — Jason Scoppa does a smooth (yet rocking) jazz night on Tuesdays.
• PC Greens — They take care of you at the juice bar.
• Ron Herman (Malibu) — They let my dogs run around the store.

Paintings from Alison Van Pelt’s “If I Were Ed Ruscha” exhibition.