when in rome…

…there’s one thing i love about downtown l.a. and that’s the lack of hollywood. it’s a mixed bag of nuts and no one tries to pretend otherwise. i’ve grown up up in dtla spending a huge chunk of my youth on it’s streets and the grit and isolation are part of it’s appeal. people do come in from the westside. i get that. new territory, a break from the hollywood rat race. it’s why i live here. so, when warren beatty shows up at villains tavern early thursday evening, i didn’t think anything of it. in fact, i tend to give celebrities the unexpected: peace and anonymity. half the time i don’t even recognize them in person. so i maintain my business and enjoy the food, libations and present company and assume said celebrity does the same. therefore it pisses me off when said celebs seeking that relaxed experience, drag their hollywood baggage along for the ride.

warren beatty rolls in with a few friends and we barely blink. next thing you know, they’re hustling the doorman over to take a red cable with clips and cordon off a section for their entourage. the betty warren b. is with, then trots up to ask us to shove over a table so they can include it in their space. total class. last time i checked, my money was as green as his and there were no reserved tables. way to go warren! no one can accuse you of trying to fit in. what’s even worse was that after accommodating them once, they tried to cordon off even more space and they hadn’t filled a third of the seats they already had! seriously, i wasn’t moving again so i turned my back and kept up with my evening. i know they got the hint because they finally put the cord around my table including it in their party. what made the situation even more ridiculous is the fact that the cable wasn’t meant to be used as a velvet rope and was so thin, the waiters couldn’t see it in the dark! finally common sense prevailed and the cable was removed and guess what? no one wanted to approach warren beatty, ask for his autograph, pitch a script or anything. people treated him like regular person. how refreshing! if you want to be left alone try not to draw attention by encircling yourself in a pen! if you want to come downtown, great. we welcome the dollars. come on down but help us maintain that chill, relaxed vibe by leaving your hollywood pretensions at home.