Monday, June 1, 2009

Accomplice: Hollywood

Saturday evening began with a secret meeting with the harried personal assistant to a Hollywood starlet and ended with cheese ice cream.

The players:
  • Me
  • Marc (my bro)
  • Kristi (Marc's wife, aka Awesomest SIL ever)
  • John (Kristi's brother)
  • Alli (John's GF)
  • Lorena (Kristi's BFF)
  • Jon (Lorena's hubby)
  • Charlotte (Kristi & John's cousin)
Our group assembled at the Yellow Couch at Hollywood and Highland in Hollywood. There, we and a lovely married couple, Victoria and Natalie, were greeted by Lindsey (or maybe it was Lizzie??), who is the personal assistant to Hollywood starlet, Nikki Desmond. Lindsey, a harried and over-caffeinated young woman from Missoula, Montana, told us she was in urgent need of our help. Nikki, it seemed, had gone missing and she needed us to help find her.

Lindsey passed out a map, a locked bank bag, and a tape recorder, helped us figure out how to find the clues using the map, and then disappeared into the crowd, leaving us to our own devices to find her boss, Nikki Desmond.

And that was where the adventure began.

Deciphering a very important message

From that spot next to the fountain at Hollywood and Highland, we embarked on an adventure that took us next door to Mann's Chinese Theatre (which was closed off for the Land of the Lost premier), trying to decide if the Animal Actor we sought was, in fact, someone dressed up as Snoopy, talking to a screenwriter, a famous blogger, a Hollywood producer, trying to decide if the homeless man that wouldn't leave us alone was, in fact, part of the Kabbalientology religious extremist group that had kidnapped Nikki Desmond, pounding on the windows of a closed theater, annoying the hell out of a European tourist who had absolutely no idea why we were asking him for a key, and finally reaching our destination.

It was awesome.

If you don't know about Accomplice: Hollywood, you are missing out. The experience, which began in New York City and is produced by Neil Patrick Harris, takes a small group of participants (maximum of 10, in fact) on an interactive mystery adventure where they receive clues and have to figure out where to go next. It takes about 2 1/2 hours and is all done on foot. And it's really, really fun. The actors that participate in this adventure are really great, stay in character (the girl that called Marc with our meeting location even did that in character) and have put together an experience that is totally worth the $65 ticket price.

If you are going to be in the Hollywood area, you should seriously check this out. The creator even told us that, sometimes, Neil Patrick Harris is there to greet participants at the end. (Darn Tony Awards!)

We had dinner reservations at 8pm at a restaurant only half a block away from our end point, at a mexican restaurant called L Scorpion. That plan started to unravel, though, when we stood across the street thinking that the place looked a little bit...well...empty and dark. Sure enough, L Scorpion apparently no longer exists. Kristi made the reservation online. It would be great if the restaurant would mention to their webmaster that they aren't there anymore!

So, here we are. A group of 8. Saturday night. Hollywood. The night of a major movie premier. And we have no reservations.

We walked up the street to another Mexican restaurant called ¡Lotería! Lorena walked in and asked how long the wait would be for a party of eight. One hour. "Well," Lorena persisted, "what if I were to let you know that I am friends with (name withheld), the bartender."

The hostess replied, "Oh, we appreciate her very much. Forty-five minutes."

Not exactly the bump up the list that we were hoping for, so we gathered on the sidewalk outside and tried to come up with a suitable alternative course of action. We still hadn't decided, but Lorena and Kristi ran back inside the restaurant to talk to their friend the bartender really quick. After all, they couldn't stand right outside and not say hello. While they were waiting, someone of apparent management status came over to meet the two and told them he could switch some things around and it would only take us about 25 minutes to be seated.

Much better.

So we at at ¡Lotería! which was very good. The food was a bit different, but really delicious.

Marc's mini taco sampler plate (Kristi's not so sure about this)

After we were finished eating and had sorted out our bill, the bartender friend came over to the table and demanded to know why we weren't eating dessert. We told her we were all stuffed, but she insisted that we not go anywhere and that she would be right back.

She sent three desserts to the table for sharing: plantains drizzled in sour cream (not my personal favorite), flan (which was yummy) and ice cream made with queso fresco. Yes, it really was cheese ice cream. Everyone tried just a little bit and no one was prepared for the...uh...differentness of it. Everyone except me and Marc. We loved it and we ate almost all of it. It was really, really, really yummy. Different, yes. But delicious, too!

So that was our adventure on Saturday night. And I'd totally do it again.
Posted by Karen Peterson
This post is: 
at 6:56 PM
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15 comments:

  1. Alright lady! Yes, I totally agree that I am the awesomest SIL ever, and then after saying that you post that hideous pic of my frown! :) J/K... I think your review is perfect! And for all who read the blog, beleive me-if you visit Hollywood this is a must-do and very Hollywood!

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  2. Ahhh... I just noticed a spelling error in my comment... That pains me. B-E-L-I-E-V-E

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  3. Aaahh! I am going to Hollywood in two months! I have to try this out. I am emailing my mom right now!!! Thanks for the idea!!

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  4. The whole thing sounds amazing. Next time we make it out to California, we'll have to look into it.

    And seriously? Cheese ice cream? I don't know if I would have been that brave.

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  5. I am now drooling on the keyboard...lol. That sounded like the best night ever! Thank you for the pictures as well. I want to grab Marc's mini taco sampler plate and eat it right now.

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  6. That sounds SO awesome. I'll definitely check it out the next time I'm in Hollywood....so, not for awhile. :)

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  7. This is so fun! I love scavenger hunts.

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  8. Wow. That does sound awesomely fun!!

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  10. What?!!!
    That sounded fantastic! What a cool experience. Glad you all really enjoyed it.
    Cheese ice cream? Interesting. I'd try anything with cheese.

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  11. The whole evening sounds like pure awesomesauce! I LOVE mystery parties and stuff like that, so Accomplice: Hollywood sounds fabulous! And the involvement of Neil Patrick Harris? Even better. (Did you see Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog? I love him so.) I'm definitely going to look into this. So fun!

    And the cheese ice cream sounds divine to me, too! You live a good life, lady. We need to get together in person sometime.

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  12. I think I know what I'm doing for my next birthday. The possible chance of meeting NPH would be a wish come true. Too bad I act like a complete tool when I meet celebrities though.

    I second Nikol...we live in the same city...we need to get together sometime.

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  13. My co-worker, Tara, hearts Neil Patrick Harris & has tried to get me to watch Dr. Horrible (but I can't because I can't get addicted to one more thing)! Seriously!

    Evaporating restaurants? Reminds me of Hamburger Hamlet!!!

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  14. Kristi: What are you talking about?? That pic is super cute! And yes, it is a must to all the Hollywood-bound!

    Gina: No problem! I hope you get to do it! Let me know if you have any specific questions!

    Katherine: You should. And yes, cheese ice cream. It was surprisingly sweet and not overwhelmingly cheesy. (And it was white, not like yellow cheddar or anything!)

    Lyn: You should have seen those things in person! They looked amazing!

    Em: Yeah, in a couple of years when you get back out here... :-)

    Kristina: I think you'd totally dig this scavenger hunt!

    Rambler and Elizabeth: It really was!

    Akilah: Finally! Someone as adventurous as me!

    Nikol: Yeah, I'm still a little bummed NPH wasn't there, but it's all good. And yes, I LOVED Dr. Horrible! And we DO need to get together sometime!

    Kris: It'll be a fun b-day, that's for sure! And from what I understand, NPH is very nice and approachable, so hopefully your potential meeting wouldn't be too bad! And yes we do need to get together. (BTW, I actually live in Anaheim...BUT my bf lives in Escondido so I'm in San Diego a LOT.)

    Kelli: I think you'd dig Dr. Horrible. It's not like an entire tv show or anything. It's like a movie, you can watch the whole thing in about an hour! And I had forgotten all about that! What is it with Hollywood restaurants disappearing on me??

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  15. Sounds fun! And the food? Oh, baby---I am so hungry now....

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"You know what they say. If you don't have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me."

~Clairee Belcher, Steel Magnolias

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