Beverly Hills Favorite Choice for Healing, Find out Why Patients Choose Vivie Therapy

Feeling Pain? Beverly Hills Vivie Therapy can help with 100s of 5 Star Reviews

We talk so much about food and drinks, nights out, and travel all the time, but we don’t always talk about our bodies and our health; keeping ourselves in shape and in fitness.

Vivian Eisenstadt from Vivie Therapy

That’s why I wanted to talk with Vivian Eisenstadt from Vivie Therapy.

Joe Winger:

Can you tell us a little bit about your professional background and what kind of certifications it takes to be the owner of Vivie Therapy?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

I am originally from Brooklyn, New York, and I got my bachelor’s in Athletic training from Brooklyn College.

I went on to get a second bachelor’s in Health Science from Turo College in Long Island, where I also got a Masters in Physical Therapy.

Then moved to Los Angeles where I worked in Cedars Sinai outpatients, Physical Therapy Center.

While I worked there, I actually went on to get an extra credential called Orthopedic Specialist.

Then when they opened Cedars Sinai Spine Center, I was one of the physical therapists who went there and integrated physical therapy into the spine center to collaborate with the spine doctors and help them understand actually what physical therapy was.

I became a director of a pilates-based physical therapy center in Brentwood and then later in Beverly Hills.

That inspired me to open up my own place.

I first opened up in a gym on Robertson Boulevard, and now I have been working on my own, in my own space since 2005.

I went on to get a Spiritual Psychology Degree in 2014, which I really think has taken my ability to help a person heal holistically.

By holistically, approaching physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, chemical at the same time. When you address them all you get more. Totality and healing and more long term results.

Joe Winger:

Something you said a minute ago that I want to touch on and go deeper on is you help the doctors learn more about physical therapy.

What did you teach those doctors about physical therapy?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

The doctors actually didn’t really know much about physical therapy as most doctors don’t know.

It might’ve changed over the past 20 years.

But doctors are taught chemicals and drugs and surgeries. Physical therapy is actually how to avoid all of that, or how to get past that phase to get ultimate healing.

Physical therapy is an art by which, when a person gets injured, the body will heal, but there are speed bumps along the way to healing, such as the creation of scar tissue, or creating habits that you had when you were in pain, like limping, that you don’t want to have because that’ll lead to other issues and will not help you heal correctly.

So physical therapy is about getting better quicker and getting better in a way where you prevent future injury and where you could be stronger.

If somebody gets injured because their body was out of balance and their weakest spot is what got affected, as physical therapists, we evaluate the entire body and see, where is the source of the pain.

Like you can have an ankle that is always in pain, but it could be coming from the fact that your lower lumbar vertebrae in your back are out of place.

So physical therapy is a really good way for someone to analyze where your pain is stemming from in a different way than doctors do.

In a way that if it is repaired, you get fully better and move on with your life.

Joe Winger:

Almost like a body detective. Is it more affordable than most surgeries and hospital operations?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

Unfortunately, the insurance companies try not to pay.

So I have so many patients where we’ve submitted our reports and they’re just finding reasons not to pay, but for some reason they listen to doctors and they’re like, “Oh, you need a shot. Here’s a shot.”

It’s amazing the different listening that insurance companies have. You will save money in the long run when you go to a physical therapist.

If you go to a proper physical therapist who will help you not only heal from your current issue, but help you address the underlying causes and the underlying reasons, like neck pain due to poor posture.

Then you come in, we teach you how to sit straight.

So not only are you making your back feel better, but you won’t end up in my office again.

I tell my patients that the best compliment you can give me is to send your friends to me.

I don’t want you in my office. I just want you to refer your friends and family.

Joe Winger:

I’m assuming there’s a wide range of services you offer.

Vivian Eisenstadt:

We have physical therapy evaluation, which is about an hour where I help detect where your pain is coming from and all the different things that are feeding into it.

So you have the evaluation, which includes the treatment, and then we decide what kind of path we want to go on together.

Massage Therapist on Staff

Follow up sessions are an hour, and then we also have a massage therapist on staff. An amazing one who’s been working with me, Marcia, since 2002.

You might just need a lot of deep tissue work, so you’ll get a couple of massages.

Then we also have modalities that help your body feel better as a whole.

Detox Foot Baths

For instance, detox foot baths that pull out the toxins from your body. The less toxins in your body, the more you feel better.

Infrared Sauna

We also have an infrared sauna, another way to detoxify.

We get a lot of people post chemotherapy or radiation, or if you’re on meds for a while and you want to sweat them out. So we help you sweat them out in the infrared sauna.

Lifestream Generator

We have a machine called Lifestream Generator, which puts a high frequency of electricity through your body, and that works on every level because our brain is made up of electric signals.

If you put a high vibration in you, it kicks out the low vibration.

So we’ve seen people feel emotionally different after they come here, like sleep better or feel more motivated or have more energy throughout the day or just be able to process things that they weren’t able to process without it.

Joe Winger:

Are there common, everyday people living their life – nothing traumatic may have actually happened to them – yet they could heal better, they could feel better by coming to visit you?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

What’s fascinating is that when people think that they need to feel better, they think of like a massage. Okay.

Physical therapy is people that are actually trained to analyze your body and find out where your imbalances are and then directly go and start working on them.

Not just work around your body and hope they get somewhere that feels good. The longstanding effects.

People come to me usually because their lawyer sent them for a personal injury case or their doctor sent them for physical therapy or they know that they need physical therapy because of an injury.

But over the past, but once they come in and I give them a couple of treatments, they didn’t realize that they could feel as good as they feel.

They thought that their “normal” was the way you’re supposed to feel, but their “normal” is out of balance in general.

Once you get put in alignment and put in balance, you don’t remember how it feels until you’re feeling that way again.

Then you’re like, “Oh my God, I didn’t know that I could feel this way.”

You don’t know until someone does it to you because nobody promotes wellness as preventative. We do. But not enough people listen.

I always say people come to me when they’re ready to get better and not a day before.

I try not to make them feel bad about it.

I truly believe that people step into my office when they’re ready to get better and some people come in and they’re just not ready to get better.

You can just see it in just our interaction. And that’s okay too.

Everybody’s on their own agenda and their own souls path.

So I help the people where they’re at.

Joe Winger:

I went on Google and Yelp, just wanted to see how many physical therapists were in the area. And you probably know this, there’s a lot.

If someone’s out there looking for a physical therapist, why would they choose Vivie Therapy?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

That’s an easy one. The reason why people would want to come to Vivie Therapy as opposed to other ones is because I am a sole practitioner.

I am a physical therapist who will be with you the entire time.

Most of these physical therapy centers are playing the insurance game where they’re trying to get as many people an hour because they have to deal with all those insurance issues that I mentioned where they don’t pay a lot so then it’s a numbers game.

I have dedicated myself to being an extremely good diagnostician.

So we figure out what’s not working very early in the game, and then we get straight to work.

As you can tell by my over 200 reviews by now, that I come in, I do my job, I get you in and out of here as soon as possible, as quickly as possible.

You get quality of care. You are heard here.

I am here to listen to what is going on for you. Most of the time, the patient is what tells me what’s wrong with them.

Unlike in most doctor’s offices and many physical therapy offices, I’m not on autopilot.

I’m present. I’m in the conversation. I’m here to see why you’re in my office and what you want to get out of it.

Then we just get straight to work.

Joe Winger:

You have a lot of machinery at your office.

Can you walk us through some of the more popular pieces?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

Being a physical therapist, I have the standard physical therapy modalities, ultrasound, electric stim, infrared light, which is amazing at getting the cells to stimulate them to work harder in an area.

But I also have all the Pilates equipment that you would need.

I have spinal traction.

I have some alternative modalities that have helped me when I had Epstein – Barr and got my own body into remission, a Whole Body Vibration Machine, which you stand on.

It was originally created by the cosmonauts so they wouldn’t lose muscle strength and bone density in space. When patients go on there, I feel that they get better in 2/3 the time. Because we’re not just working on the muscle or the tendon that’s injured, but we’re making the body actually pump your blood around and move your lymph around and put oxygen in the cell and release serotonin, testosterone ,growth hormone, all that the whole body vibration machine does.

So unless you have an underlying illness, I start my patients on that machine because it’s literally like working out and getting the body into a healing state.

I find that has made such a big difference and it also turns on your muscles.

You could ask somebody to turn on their transverse abs for posture. But if you’ve been sitting in a chair your whole life, your body just forgot the signal.

Now, the good thing about muscles is that once you turn that signal on, muscles have memory.

So the whole body vibration machine actually uses lower motor neuron contractions to turn on those muscles.

Then afterwards, when I ask you to find them, there’s a chance you could find them.

Joe Winger:

When you’re talking about all this, I can see your eyes light up. You’re inspired. You’re passionate.

Is there a moment that just sparked you, realizing you wanted to devote your life to this?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

I was lucky. [Author] Wayne Dyer has this thing called “The shift.”

It’s a moment in your life where you remember [everything about it]: where you were, what the temperature was, like a light bulb, the aha effect.

I was a tomboy my whole life. I was a basketball player, but in The Jewish Hebrew schools where your average height is 5’6”.

Then I went to Brooklyn College and the average height is 5’11” for someone who wants to be on the girls basketball team.

So what’s a little me to do?

I became an athletic training major and for our field trip, we went to an outpatient orthopedic physical therapy place and I walk in and: “Aha!”.

That was it. There was life before that and life after that.

This will satisfy the doctor / lawyer side of the family. And I’ll be able to work with sports for the rest of my life if I want.

I went back to school, got the list of classes, and that was the end of that.

It’s funny because when they tell you to go and do residencies when you’re in physical therapy school, you’re like, Oh, you got to try this.

You got to try geriatrics.

You got to try cardio.

You got to try everything.

I’m like, Nope. I know what I’m doing.

That’s exactly what I did from the first job I had out when I was done was in an outpatient orthopedic physical therapy place.

Joe Winger:

So you have a new patient. They come into your Beverly Hills office. Is there a common misconception by new patients that you have to help break through?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

There’s a couple of things that sadden me a little bit.

One is people really just don’t know what physical therapists do. At the same time, I’m different than most physical therapists on top of that.

Most people go to other facilities where they’re given to one person and given some ultrasound and then given exercises.

I don’t hang out in other physical therapy places often, so I have nothing to compare it to.

But when people come here, they’re in gratitude over how much we accomplish in one hour.

They feel, in general, 50% better quickly.

Then the other 50% takes a while.

The fact that I’m able to actually make a 75% shift in their symptoms by the end of the first visit. That’s the expectation you should have.

Some people have gone to therapy for 6 months not knowing what they should expect just because their doctor told them to go.

I tell people that if you don’t feel significantly different over a month or two, then that might be your plateau and you should look somewhere else.

People have to be an advocate for their own wellness and not just hand over the power to whoever is treating them.

Joe Winger:

Let’s talk about the life cycle of a patient.

Can you walk us through an average or a common problem from beginning, middle, end to any patient story working Vivie Therapy?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

Yeah, postural issues are my bread and butter.

People sit at computers, they sit in cars, they’re just sitting all day. So we get a lot of neck pain and headaches and tingling down the arms and low back pain.

First, I isolate exactly where the pain is coming from.

I teach ergonomics, how to sit the right way, proper stretches to do throughout the day.

The same way you bring your car in to get your tires [rotated] and your oil changed.

For the same reason you have to take care of your car, you have to take care of your body.

So if you’re gonna be sitting at a computer for 8 hours a day, you’re gonna have to set your timer and get up every couple of hours.

Do a little stretch in the doorway or stretch when you get home. Stretch in the morning before you go to work.

Make sure you’re sitting correctly.

Make sure that your laptop or desktop is in the right angle.

Take appropriate breaks, drink enough water. Handle your stress.

But everybody’s a different amount of each of that.

Fixing the immediate issue is part of looking at why are they in my office.

Joe Winger:

All your different patients. All the different industries you’ve services. Any memorable stories?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

One thing being in the entertainment industry, in Hollywood, is I get a lot of actors. Literally actor’s tools are their body.

So I’ll get patients that are in the industry, that are in front of the camera, and they’re standing like crap. They’re sitting like crap.

I’ve seen their Callbacks improve because how you hold your body… How you do anything is how you do everything.

So when an actor has a nice elongated neck, broad shoulders and an open heart chakra. They’re presenting themselves to the camera, chances of them getting hired improve significantly.

So literally their job depends on it.

They come in because their neck hurts. But the truth is their neck hurts because they’ve been [hunched] over the computer and on their phones.

Another thing I’ve seen is a beautiful actress who I just started working with. She went to an Oscar party and she was wearing the most beautiful dress and her posture was so crappy and it made her look so ugly.

What’s the point of getting yourself together if you don’t know how to present your body physically to match the time, energy and effort it took for you to put on the beautiful dress and get your makeup done by five people?

Another one was a pilot that I had.

Imagine if the guy that’s flying your plane is not focusing on what he’s doing because his neck hurts?

When I saw the pilot and I made his neck feel better, he started telling me about just how distracting it is to be in pain while he’s trying to fly a plane with the 300 passengers on it.

So the importance of pain not being the primary thing you think about in your life is just life altering.

Another one is doctors.

Doctors don’t know what physical therapy is in general. When I work on them. I feel like they haven’t learned what physical therapy is and what it does. The reason I say that is that patients should advocate for themselves.

When they go to a doctor, the doctor is going to want to give you drugs or surgery, not because that’s all he gets paid for, even though that’s all he gets paid for, but because that might be all he knows.

Instead of having somebody stick needles into your body, they could possibly hit a nerve.

Ask your doctor to take you to physical therapy.

To give you a prescription to physical therapy, and be adamant about it.

Be your own advocate.

You can just go to a physical therapist and then go to a doctor if the physical therapist feels that what they’re doing can’t make you feel better.

Unfortunately, because of the way that the wellness industry has been presented in the past 50 years, people think of going to a doctor first when they’re in pain.

Where I hope in the future, unless it’s something severe, if it’s just an ache or a pain, choose to go to a physical therapist first, then go to a doctor.

Joe Winger:

I know you love your neighborhood. Talk about your favorite things in Beverly Hills.

Vivian Eisenstadt:

I like my mornings where I take my four dogs on an hour walk. It’s very quiet in the neighborhood. That’s where I prepare my day, talk to my East Coast friends because they’re three hours ahead.

My mornings are always pretty sacred, special and consistent for me.

Then after work, I like going to restaurants, Hillstone in Santa Monica. Excellent.

I love that I live in Pico Robertson, which is 20 minutes from Hollywood, 20 minutes from the water, 20 minutes from downtown, 20 minutes from the restaurants I want.

I’m very localized.

I’ll get patients from Brentwood, Malibu, Santa Monica, Palms, Culver city, West LA. Mid Wilshire, Koreatown, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Hollywood.

Some people really travel to see me because of word of mouth.

I’m proud to say that I’ve probably hit my tipping point in terms of working with personal injury lawyers around here, working with doctors around here.

At this point, word of mouth. If you’re happy, you’re going to tell people what to do when they need you, when they need someone like me as well.

Joe Winger:

A lot of people who are reading this are foodies. Any great food spots in your neighborhood?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

Just in the Pico Robertson area. Yeah. Dr. Sandwich. The food is just that good. I get the chicken shawarma bowl to-go. You’re pointing to all the things you want in it, you can have everything that’s in there.

Peppers, cauliflower, mayo cabbage, with the hummus, tahina and their laffa bread.

[For me] each bowl lasts three meals. So you get your bang for your buck.

Trattoria Bella Roma SPQR

I think it’s not such a best kept secret of the neighborhood, because I see a lot of people that come from West LA and West Hollywood come down, like people travel to this place,

It’s an authentic Italian restaurant with the guy from Italy making your food.

I just like hearing him talk about the food because he’s talking about the soup and the “no sugar, no this..” and he’s got gluten free penne. So he’s catering to the neighborhood.

But the food is spectacular.

I like places that I could bring people, they go, “Oh let’s go there again sometime!” You always want to impress your friends in the neighborhood.

Some people eat to live and some people live to eat.

Summer Fish and Rice

Another place around here. Summer Fish and Rice. It is one block south of Wilshire, right off Robertson. And again, good food, good sushi. An amazing spicy tuna crispy rice. I don’t know if I want to talk about this place because it’s crowded enough as it is. You don’t want too many people knowing about your places.

Joe Winger:

Tell us what kind of dishes you make at home.

Vivian Eisenstadt:

I make Every plate, they send it to you with the cards and I become a chef with every plate.

The food is so good because you just follow it verbatim. Last night I had chicken with garlic rice and carrots, this soy buttery dressing on top.

Another time I had chicken lettuce cups. Another time you make some burgers with fresh fries. I’m just saying I am not a cook. I am a direction follower from Every Plate.

Joe Winger:

Whether it’s cooking food or eating food, is there any therapeutic value with the food we love?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

Usually when you crave something, it means your body needs it.

If I’m craving tomato sauce, it usually means I’m low in magnesium. And you are what you eat.

At every moment we’re coming from a physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and chemical place. When you move one, you move them all.

That’s why they say drugs and alcohol, low vibration, so people feel sluggish

Things with nutrients and high vibrations, you feel better.

At every moment, your body’s either going towards balance or away from balance.

When you give your body what it needs nutritionally, you’re going to be more towards balance.

When you do things that hinder your body’s wellness, you’re going away from balance.

Homeostasis is your body’s homeostasis. Consistent, trying to balance everything you’re giving it. Of course, what we put in our bodies is literally what makes us or breaks us.

So you need to remember that.

But know your game so you know how to play. I’m an excessive moderate. I never tell somebody it’ll only be one way. What’s the use of living longer if you’re living miserably?

It’s not about how long you live. It’s about caring about yourself and loving yourself.

What does it look like when you love yourself?

Usually when people are physically abusing their body, there’s a mental and emotional part of that. So it’s one thing if you’re going on a vacation and you’re eating wonderful food because you’re just enjoying your space.

Or whether you’re eating sugar and ice cream at night because your marriage sucks.

There’s how and why you’re doing what you’re doing matters as much as what you’re doing.

I believe that the intention of what you’re doing will affect how your body takes it in.

Joe Winger:

As we wrap up Vivian, tell us all the ways to learn more and to get in touch with you?

Vivian Eisenstadt:

For more information, you can go to www.VivieTherapy com.

You can also reach us by phone at 310 623 4444. We are also at VivieTherapy on Instagram, Vivi Therapy on Facebook, Vivi Therapy on Twitter,

I also created a word for pain free. Vivie.

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Holiday Dining at Mastro's Beverly Hills, FYC Bar + Kitchen AND Holiday Tamales from Tito's

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Holiday Dining in Beverly Hills: Mastro’s, FYC Bar + Kitchen AND Holiday Tamales from Tito’s

By admin — 3 days ago

Holiday Dining at Mastro’s Beverly Hills, FYC Bar + Kitchen AND Holiday Tamales from Tito’s

On Christmas Day from 3-10 p.m., FYC Bar + Kitchen at the luxury boutique Hotel Amarano in Burbank will be serving a special 3-course menu for just $70 per person (not including wine or cocktails).

Holiday Dining in Beverly Hills

The menu will include Butternut Squash Soup OR Radicchio Cup Mushroom Salad with avocado, chives & balsamic vinaigrette;

Apple Wood Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon with jumbo prawns, mashed potatoes, baby carrots & Brussels sprouts OR Pistachio-Crusted Roasted Sea Bass with citrus sauce, mashed potatoes, baby carrots & Brussels sprouts – and desserts such as Chocolate Lava Cake, New York Cheesecake, Apple Tarte Tatin or Crème Brûlée – along with coffee or tea.

Holiday Dining in Beverly Hills

For classic Beverly Hills luxury, Mastro’s Beverly Hills will be open Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, serving their fresh oysters, caviar, decadent seafood towers, steaks and sides galore, along with luscious desserts and handcrafted cocktails – even a succulent Rabbi’s Daughter Kosher Bone-In Ribeye 16oz Steak for anyone celebrating Hanukkah (or who just likes great steaks).

For the month of December, Mastro’s is offering a special holiday cocktail – Under The Mistletoe.

For those who want their holiday meal from the comfort of their own home, Mastro’s Beverly Hills will have their famously decadent side dishes to go this year!

The following sides will serve up to 4 people, and cost $62 each:

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Green Beans with Sliced Almonds

Creamed Corn

Creamed Spinach

For a sweet limited time finish, Mastro’s will have a gorgeous Pecan Pie as well as a special Cinnamon + Pecan Butter Cake – a twist on their famed Butter Cake – both available now through December 30.

To order Mastro’s Sides, guests just need to call the restaurant to order from December 1-22 they can pick them up on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Mastro’s will be open Christmas Eve from 3:00 PM – 10:00 PM, Christmas Day from 2:00 PM to 9:00 PM, New Year’s Eve from 5:00 PM to Midnight and New Year’s Day from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.

You can find their full menu here & as you likely know, the ambiance at Mastro’s every evening is like a party, with live music and white glove service.

They also have 2 private dining rooms for large parties of 40-50.

Lastly – we love the tradition of Christmas Eve tamales, but they take hours to make.

The beloved, family-owned since 1959 Tito’s Tacos offers both a succulent Chicken Tamale – cilantro grilled chicken and Anaheim green chiles wrapped in homemade corn masa & steamed in a corn husk OR a Veggie Tamale, fresh veggies and pinto beans, wrapped in homemade corn masa and steamed in a corn husk.

You can buy them individually or by the dozen and the best part is that you can get them delivered straight to your door.

For more info, go to www.TitosTacos.com

Orders can be placed online for delivery or pickup on or before December 23.

More about Mastro’s Beverly Hills, FYC Bar + Kitchen and Tito’s Tacos below.

About Mastro’s Steakhouse Beverly Hills

Mastro’s Steakhouse in Beverly Hills is a premier dining destination combining world class service with an elegant yet energetic ambiance, making it a popular choice for celebrities, locals and visitors.

Located at 246 North Canon Drive, Mastro’s features live music nightly, with signature menu highlights such as bone-in filet mignon, USDA Prime, Japanese A5 Wagyu, and True A5 Kobe steaks; lavish seafood towers featuring fresh oysters, shrimp, crab and lobster served in a swirl of dry ice mist, decadent lobster mashed potatoes, and Mastro’s famed Butter Cake, to name a few.

Open for dinner from 5:00 p.m.-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

For more info, visit www.mastrosrestaurants.com

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Palm Springs: Executive Chef Michael Hung Unveils flagship restaurant, Navigator, New Elevated Dining Voyage in Heart of the Desert

By Contributor — 5 days ago

Palm Springs: Executive Chef Michael Hung Unveils flagship restaurant, Navigator, New Elevated Dining Voyage in Heart of the Desert Play Ground

Executive Chef Michael Hung Unveils flagship restaurant, Navigator, New Elevated Dining Voyage in Heart of Palm Springs

The Palm Springs Surf Club announces the opening of their flagship restaurant, Navigator, on Friday, November 15^th, 2024!

Photo Credit: Oscar Flink

This innovative new dining destination bridges the worlds of desert living, hospitality, and surfing.

Guests will experience dramatic views of the San Jacinto Mountains, explore the expansive 13-acre property complete with resort amenities, and marvel at the sights and sounds of surfing in the state-of-the-art wave pool.

Photo Credit: Oscar Flink

Leading the Navigator team is acclaimed Executive Chef Michael Hung. As the Executive Chef of Navigator and Director of Food & Beverage for the Palm Springs Surf Club, Chef Hung brings his culinary artistry to this highly anticipated opening.

Executive Chef Michael Hung

Chef Hung’s impressive career spans from renowned New York kitchens Daniel and Aquavit, through San Francisco’s celebrated establishments, including the James Beard Award-winning team at Jardiniere, led by the renowned Chef Traci Des Jardins and Michelin-starred La Folie with Chef Roland Passot.

His culinary path has included Faith & Flower in Los Angeles which earned accolades from Esquire, Los Angeles Magazine, and Travel + Leisure.

Hung’s talent continued to shine with Viviane at the Avalon Hotel, praised by Los Angeles Times esteemed food critic Jonathan Gold and renowned San Francisco Chronicle food critic, Michael Bauer.

Chef Hung brought his expertise to the luxury hotel and hospitality scene in Palm Springs as the Executive Chef for Steve Hermann Hotels, where he revamped menus at The Colony Club at The Colony Palms and SO.PA at L’Horizon Resort and Hermann Bungalows, earning a Michelin Guide listing for The Colony Club.

Photo Credit: Oscar Flink

Now, at the Palm Springs Surf Club, he applies his expertise to both Navigator and the larger resort’s food and beverage offerings, promising an elevated dining experience rooted in a global culinary perspective.

Photo Credit: Oscar Flink

Navigator’s Menu will highlight modern American cuisine infused with influences from renowned surf locales, including flavors inspired by Portugal, Morocco, Mexico, Indonesia, and Hawaii. Each dish is crafted with the finest local ingredients, blending global flavors with a California sensibility.

Signature offerings include Olive & Herb Dinner Rolls with Tomato Jam, Crispy Wagyu Beef Cigars, Hawaiian-style Garlic Shrimp, and large-format dishes such as a Pan Roasted Whole Rainbow Trout or the 20-oz Ribeye with Bone Marrow Gremolata. Chef Hung’s thoughtfully curated Vegan options,Sides, and inventive Desserts like the Crème Catalan Parfait and Valrhona Dark Chocolate Mousse promise an array of flavors for every palate.

Photo Credit: Oscar Flink

The Wine List, curated by Beverage Director Anthony Dougherty emphasizes California’s finest labels, while Dougherty’s Bar Menufeatures a refreshing selection of Handcrafted Cocktails and a robust Tap Beer program highlighting local producers.

Photo Credit: Oscar Flink

Service will be led by renowned restaurateur, Cameron Hirigoyen, who for 30 years owned and operated San Francisco’s classic Basque restaurant, Piperade. Cameron brings her graceful poise and deep knowledge to Navigator’s dining room.

Navigator’s design pays homage to the oceanic heritage of South Pacific navigators—surfers who traversed seas by the stars, currents, and wildlife. The restaurant’s décor reflects this maritime inspiration, with custom teakwood furniture, woven textile ceiling treatments, and a hand-carved outrigger canoe serving as a focal point for the dining room. The ambiance combines nautical aesthetics with a luxurious, natural warmth, creating an upscale, intimate setting for guests to relax and dine in style.

“We are thrilled to welcome Michael Hung to the Palm Springs Surf Club family,”

Colin O’Byrne

managing partner

“His creativity and expertise are an ideal match for Navigator and our overall vision at the Palm Springs Surf Club, which is to offer guests an elevated dining experience and amenities alongside the world’s premier surf pool.”

Navigator at the Palm Springs Surf Club officially opens for Dinner on Friday, November 15^th, 2024, and will be open every Monday through Sunday from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Lunch is served Monday to Friday from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Navigator serves Weekend Brunchevery Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

The Happy Hour menu is available from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm Monday to Friday and from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday. For more information or reservations at Navigator, please visit www.NavigatorPS.com or call Navigator directly at 760.205.3634.

Navigator

Palm Springs Surf Club

1500 S. Gene Autry Trail

Palm Springs, CA 92264

T: 760.205.3634

www.NavigatorPS.com

About Palm Springs Surf Club: The Palm Springs Surf Club is an unparalleled destination, blending state-of-the-art wave technology with luxurious resort-style amenities. Guests can enjoy various attractions, from a winding lazy river to private cabanas by the wave pool, creating a perfect oasis in the heart of Palm Springs. With three bars, two restaurants, and dynamic event spaces, the Palm Springs Surf Club offers distinctive culinary and beverage programs, designed to cater to every taste and every occasion.

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Los Angeles Falling in Love with the Flavor from Mother / Daughter team behind Sonoma’s Dancing Wines

By Joe Winger — 2 weeks ago

LA Wine Lovers Falling in Love with the Flavor from Mother / Daughter team behind Sonoma’s Dancing Wines in Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County.

The team at Dancing Wines is developing a collection of sensory brands that celebrate life through taste, touch and aroma – inspiring you to find your inner dance and show the world what truly moves you.

Dancing Wines’ red wine trio includes Old Vine, Duo and Estate — three limited-release wines made from hand-picked grapes that showcase the full breadth of the Dancing estate.

Lauren Russell (L) and Cynthia Russell (R) from Dancing Wines Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma

Today’s conversation with the dynamic Mother / Daughter team Cynthia and Lauren Russell from Dancing Wines ha been edited for length and clarity.

For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.

Joe Winger: What is the most important message you’d like to share today?

Lauren Russell: I think one of them is dancing is art and art is life.

Another is love needs no explanation. I think really the thread between those is we’re trying to create a product and an experience that brings people together and invites them to find their inner dance, which is something we say a lot.

So we want to encourage people to find their unique rhythms. And wine is also really lovely because it is a vehicle that brings people together to enjoy a moment and diverse people together.

I think my Mom [Cynthia] can speak to this as well, but one of the things we thought about when first exploring wine was just how daunting the whole atmosphere is around the consumption of it and the buying and using all the right adjectives.

Especially for my generation I feel like there’s a bit of a learning curve. So I think one thing we really want people to take away from the brand is just like, just enjoy it. Love needs no explanation and you can’t drink wine when your mouth is full of adjectives. We’ve created a great wine just for you to be able to enjoy and to describe however you want and enjoy whenever you want.

Source: WeAreDancing.com

Cynthia: Yeah, I think the measures we created we have a beautiful heritage property that the soil and the climate create this great wine. And me being of an older generation where wine was very intimidating, even though I know a lot about it.

And drinking it for a very long time. I’ve lived in France. I’ve lived in California. It’s still when you order in a restaurant, you’re scared. Do I know enough? I’m going to be embarrassed. Is this the right pairing? And what the good news is that wine making in the world has become so sophisticated that if you are buying wine from a place that is special, including all.

Sonoma or France or Italy, the wines are good, they’re really good and all you have to do is be comfortable with yourself and enjoying it. And so that’s what we’re trying to do is take a product that has thousands of years of history as being a part of our culture and make you comfortable with just having fun, enjoying it and celebrating what wine can do to bring people together.

Source: WeAreDancing.com

Joe Winger: You have a really unique story that you restored a vineyard up in Dry Creek. Can you talk about experience and what you learned from the restoration?

Cynthia: We lucked out. It was a Covid purchase. We spent a lot of time as a family together in very small confined spaces drinking a lot of wine.

We [thought we] might end up needing a place where we have more outdoor space and can be together. So we bought this property more as a farm and then discovered that it was a unique part of the world.

Zinfandel grapes have been growing in this small region for over 150 years.

It was called America’s grape back in the time I think [the] 1850s. Okay, we have these vineyards. They’re really old.

There was one owner at this property for 60 years, an older Italian gentleman. And a lot of the area is multi generation, fourth generation Italian families who came over and cultivated this grape.

We never intended to make wine and yet we were scared to let this history and heritage die.

So we took classes and tried to figure out, can we make wine?

It’d be such a shame to let this history go in this special place.

We made a great discovery, which was that you don’t have to be an expert on wine. You just have to have great soil and a great climate.

Then we launched from there.

Source: WeAreDancing.com

Lauren: We’re always towing the line between the respective tradition and traditional winemaking and the land and all of the old vines and creating something new.

She [Mom, Cynthia] always brings a lens of respect for the older generation and ways of life and what wine has meant to her throughout her life.

I’m always pushing the other direction. We always land somewhere in the middle.

You’ll see that in the brands, it has really playful branding and packaging. But, our winemaking is a bit more traditional. We’re a sustainable vineyard but we have old vines and we respect what the land has to offer and what it’s been offering in that region for a long time.

It creates a better product and brand for us because we get to cater to both audiences.

Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma

Joe Winger: You have a collection of sensory brands. Can you talk about what that collection is, what inspired the idea, and what we should be looking for?

Lauren: All of the products have been and will be inspired by the backdrop of the vineyard.

When we talk about wine, we talk about this kind of multi sensory experience, whether that’s aroma or where you’re having it, who you’re enjoying it with.

We came into wine knowing that it was going to be not just about taste or smell, but about the holistic experience of what wine could do for someone.

Sort of the thread between all of our products are taste, touch and smell. Again, like finding your inner dance and allowing you to express your personality.

We’re launching a trio of fragrances, which are loosely inspired by the terroir and the vineyard.

Cynthia: We have a fresh perspective on Sonoma. Every time we arrive, we have this nose full of these incredible senses:, the smell of moss, crushed grapes, barrel, fire and oak.

Yeah. So we’re like, wow. Every time we arrive, we’re like, wow, this is really cool.

This is so distinct and unique and just elevates your experience of being there.

We are going to bring more experiences to the brand when we can, like having an artist in residence, creating visually beautiful contributions.

We have an art collection there that inspired us to bring art to the brand. It’s largely from a diverse group of artists from the West Coast who are very colorful and young and also push boundaries. So our idea with the senses is like we’re trying to This is a brand that you enter into our world and you get to experience people and life in a way that’s very unique and bold and

Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma

Joe Winger: What are both of your backgrounds outside of wine?

Lauren: I was raised in Connecticut and went to Dartmouth for undergrad, was a creative non-fiction writer, so always had that storytelling bent.

After school, I worked at a lot of businesses in marketing. Uber Eats, Refinery29, right before the pandemic, I worked for AB and Bev that was my first kind of foray into alcohol.

Then during COVID, I got my MBA at Columbia. We all got this massive reset of our priorities. I come from an entrepreneurial family. This opportunity arose

Cynthia: We’re a family who really believes in experiences. I have dabbled in many different areas. I went to Scripps college. I actually was a dance major until I was not. I became an international relations major. I lived in France for a while. Then moved to New York City and worked for JP Morgan trading stock, money market securities.

I didn’t find that was my passion, so I went to Harvard Business School and I got a master’s in business. Then I worked for American Express where I started a weekend travel program. It was a little startup within the travel segment of American Express. I got my “sea legs” of starting a business.

I quit that business because I had kids, then I started my own mail order company then I decided again, that maybe I needed a little more education.

I went back and got a doctorate at Columbia in organizational leadership.

I have a consulting firm on the side where I consult leaders and organizations about how to handle complex challenges in a complex world.

So my daughter [Lauren] gets through business school and we decide to marry all these wonderful experiences together and create something really new and unique.

Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma

Joe Winger: Let’s talk about your wines.

Lauren: We launched with our rosé which is really beautiful. It’s an intentional rosé. From our Primitivo grapes and we harvested them early and intentionally for rosé.

It has this really beautiful distinct, watermelon, almost Jolly Rancher aroma, and it’s really playful and full, but also dry. And it’s been a really big hit so that was a fun debut for us.

We just launched our trio of reds, and what makes them unique goes into the story about the restoration of the vineyard.

We’re still learning our land and learning from it.

We chose to harvest from different blocks and treat the wines in a similar fashion and bottle them separately to see what personalities they expressed.

One is the Old Vine Zinfandel, which is from our oldest head trained vines which is the deepest, moodiest, richest wine. It’s really lovely.

Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma

Then we have an estate wine, which is actually from Primitivo, a different word for Zinfandel. That one is a bit lighter.

Then we have a third, a duo which is a blend of both. And so it’s really helped us to understand. And they are quite different.

They’re obviously all Zinfandels in their expressions, but they’re all quite different.

People say Zinfandel is like a map of the land and I think that’s really true here. Which is super cool.

But we have two forthcoming sparkling wines because I think it really speaks to our ethos about being playful and to my generation.

Cynthia: It’s really fun for us because being on the East coast, Zinfandel is a really unknown varietal and we think it’s underrated. Californians know it’s been around for a long time. It has a lot of possibilities with food. And so what we’re trying to do is bring to light this really good wine and do it in a slightly different way.

We pick ours earlier, trying to have it be less jammy, juicy, heavy; lighter, less alcoholic than some of the more traditional Zinfandels that are on our street.

That’s really trying to address the changes consumer changes.

Our wines are chillable, super easy to eat with most any food, especially ethnic food, spicy food.

2022 was our first vintage. 2023 is already in barrels and we’ll be bottling that in probably in March. But it’s going to be a little different because the climate was different that year.

The rosé was just a fluke. Our winemaker wanted to try a Zinfandel rosé. Most people love it. It’s so distinct and unique.

Our 24 Rosé will come out in March. The reds will come out in the early summer. We’re going to bottle the sparkling in January, but that will be at least a year until you’ll see that. The pétillant naturel will probably be launching at about the same time as the rosé

Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma

Lauren: What’s fun about having both an early release sparkling and a [second, additional] later release [sparkling wine] one is going to be lighter, more effervescent, maybe geared towards the younger generation and the other will have that toastier champagne flavor.

Joe Winger: Do you have a favorite wine and food pairing?

Lauren: This one’s so hard. Rosé and oysters or any seafood is just awesome. Sparkling wine and a burger is one of my favorites.

In terms of red, when I think of Zinfandel, it’s Thanksgiving foods. It speaks to the hominess in our story. Bringing everyone around the table. Kind of experiential pairing.

Cynthia: Yeah, that resonates with me.

We have a lot of ethnic food, so it holds up really well to spice, to sweet and sour, salty and sweet. So it’s great with Indian food, Mexican food. Apples in your pork chops.

A burgundy is usually killed instantly by those kinds of flavors. It’s too fragile.

[Ours] is not fragile, but it still has so many nice aromas and flavors to enhance whatever you’re eating.

Lauren: It’s great with pizza. Pizza and a nice glass of Zinfandel

Source: WeAreDancing.com

Joe Winger: What’s something magical about Sonoma that you learned through this journey?

Lauren: True of both Zinfandel and Sonoma it always has this underdog energy to Napa. One of the hidden gems, we wake up really early and drive to the Redwood forest to watch the sun rise through the trees.

We eat a burrito because we have terrible burritos in New York.

There’s an amazing food community, 3 Michelin star restaurant, chefs, farm to table.

Cynthia: The distinct part of Sonoma is how important nature is to everyone there. It’s not just about wine. It’s incredible nature.

We both traveled a lot, lived in a lot of places. I’ve never seen such natural beauty in such a small area.

Lauren: That’s what the idea of our products is too. We have to bring people here in some way, differently than just having them taste the wine.

So as many dimensions as we can bring people into that realm to experience [00:29:00] that it’s like definitely the dream.

Joe Winger: Whether it’s social media, website, or other ways, what are the best ways for our audience to find and follow Dancing Wine?

Lauren: We have our website, which is wearedancing.com. We also are on Instagram, which is at DancingSonoma.

in Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County.