Fernando Gonzalez of Flipping Design

 

FERNANDO GONZALEZ of FLIPPING DESIGN

At Tortilla Republic

616 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood 310-657-9888

Once Los Angeles-based interior designer Fernando Gonzalez begins to describe his family, it becomes clear why dining rooms have become the primary focus of his company, Flipping Design.

"My mother's a big cook, and that actually rubbed off on my sister, who is in culinary arts. We both found our passions at a young age, and it's been good to be surrounded with siblings and family members doing the same thing as me, pushing hard to do what they love," he says. "All of us are really close-knit, and I feel truly blessed to have such a loving family."

To Fernando, family is where the heart is, and since nothing brings loved ones together like the dinner table, a home's dining room should never be neglected. Knowing how much sharing meals in a fabulously decorated space means to the young designer, it came as no surprise to me when he selected one of the city's most aesthetically pleasing restaurants, Tortilla Republic, as our meeting place. Its location, in the heart of West Hollywood's Design District, couldn't be more appropriate for our conversation about his artistic background, design and his new company.

With an original establishment on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i and an upcoming location in Laguna Beach, Tortilla Republic's growing popularity stems from serving Mexican fare that favors homemade, organic and farm-fresh ingredients over lard and processed additives in an environment that is both modern and rustic. Fernando tells me that it's a place that would be appropriate for lunch with a client but is also comfortable enough for a relaxing brunch with friends.

We sit at a table just inside of the restaurant's outdoor patio, and he speaks of his childhood. He was born in Tijuana, Mexico, to a father who was formerly a singer in bands (where his artistry comes from) and a businesswoman mother (where his drive comes from). His parents' missionary work eventually brought them north near San Francisco, then to Oxnard and Riverside. Throughout this time, Fernando demonstrated a keen artistic eye and interest in architecture.

"Whenever my parents needed help doing anything handy or artistic, I was there to help. I would always be changing the furniture around in the living room or changing out the drapes for my mom. I loved books, and if I saw one with a picture of a home or a cool building, I would grab it and open it. I was captivated by the angles, colors and textures. When I was 9 and people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say, 'an architect,'" he remembers. "Around junior high, I really started to gravitate towards design shows on HGTV. I had an older sister and two younger brothers, and we had one TV in the living room. We would all run home as fast as we could because whoever got home first would get first dibs on the controller. I became a cross-country runner at the time because I was super excited to get home and watch HGTV. "

Fernando pursued his passion by studying architecture at at Riverside Community College. But once the architecture courses moved into extremely technical territory, he realized that interior design was really the field he wanted to move into.

"I like to use the left side of my brain. I love a challenge, but when it comes to math: no," he laughs. "Most of hte credits I did for architecture transferred over to interior design; it wasn't like I was moving into science."

He eventually made the move to Los Angeles close to seven years ago, but due to the market crash and financial climate of the time, he took a job in retail.

"Like my mother always says, 'If you're going to do something, do it right. Always be the best you can be in whatever you're doing, even if it's not your passion, do it right.' Working for Hugo Boss, I finally decided this was something that could give me the financial means to be comfortable," he recalls. "I worked my way up to general manager, then I decided to put all of my focus and energy into doing what I love."

It was about two or three years ago when the idea for Flipping Design first came to Fernando as he was furnishing his own apartment.

"I didn't want to go the Ikea route, where everything is medium-density fiberboard or particleboard, so I started looking on CraigsList and at estate sales and found some great pieces that were needing help and TLC. I started painting and designing them to my own taste," he tells. "Now that's basically what I'm doing, restoring and refinishing mid-century pieces, and ideally the direction I want to go is using these pieces in my designs. Let's say I'm flipping a restaurant, I would incorporate the pieces that I just refurbished into the design. I think that sets me apart from other interior designers."

Hence, the name 'Flipping' Design for the company he began last August. Fernando's ability to repurpose vintage furniture pieces and integrate them into his designs – as well as his unique focus on dining areas – sets him apart from most designers, as does his precise attention to detail. As we wait to place our order, he notices that the honeycomb pattern of the candleholder on our table is the exact same pattern that he used for the ceiling moldings of a recent dining room project he did in Hollywood.

"I find inspiration anywhere because I'm very observant and always looking at things to think of how things could have been designed differently," he admits. "Like the orange rim of this water glass is inspiring me to do something because it's so drastic, all clear on the bottom with a splash of color at the top."

Since it's the late afternoon, we decide to take advantage of some of Tortilla Republic's Happy Hour deals, some chips and guacamole, a Jalapeño Margarita for Fernando and a White Sangria with chunks of pineapple for me. He also recommends the Jalapeño Croquetas (charred jalapeño, potato puree and goat cheese coated in a panko crust and topped with cilantro crema), the swordfish and rock shrimp ceviche and the Flautas de Pollo.

We both admire how Tortilla Republic's huge glass doors bring the outdoors in, and Fernando remarks, "Bringing the outdoors in is trademark of any city that has fantastic weather like L.A. Cities like Barcelona have such great that the architectural designs are so amazing and inspirational. Acapulco, too, and even here, you find such great architecture. I grew up influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright. I love the craftsman, bungalow houses that he designed."

Since he loves craftsman- and bungalow-style homes, it's no wonder that Fernando loves the L.A. neighborhood of Silver Lake. While he currently lives just off the Sunset Strip, he would like to move to Silver Lake one day.

"I love Silver Lake's diversity. It has a hipster vibe, but it's a mix of a lot of different types of people. It's gentrified, not bougie," he describes. "Los Angeles is eclectic, and that's why I like it, and I love Silver Lake for having all of that. It's a beautiful neighborhood, yet it's rugged, raw and real."

As we sip our cocktails, he says, "I like spicy drinks, so the Jalapeño Margarita is my go-to cocktail here, but my forever drink of choice is a Dirty Martini because I love olives."

Aside from Tortilla Republic, you can also find Fernando at Bossa Nova, Akbar, Bar Stella at Cafe Stella or Malo.

"I definitely like spending time alone time to just get away from life. In the last few months I've gone to the Greystone Mansion a couple of times. I like to go there to just zone out," he says. "Nature calls me, so if I can hear the wind blowing through the trees it's feeding my creativity, boosting my battery."

Having worked at Hugo Boss, he still loves fashion and shopping.

"I can shop anywhere. I can go into H&M, Prada or a flea market and find stuff I like. If I genuinely like something, I'll wear it, whether it's from a thrift shop, flea market or Hugo Boss. Name brands don't mean as much as the cut, the style, if it fits with the season and is on trend," he says. "I do like mixing classic and eclectic pieces. Today I have a black jacket with a T-shirt and sandals."

As for his go-to furniture shops, Fernando likes Mortise & Tenon's pieces and accessories, especially their custom screen work. He also loves to walk through the Pacific Design Center where he has a favorite shop for fabric options.

"Right now, the medium that I love to use is canvas. The linen material gives walls another dimension; it's almost like using wallpaper," he describes. "I just went to the Gamble House in Pasadena, and canvas was used way back when. It was so inspiring to hear. We're using it aesthetically now, but back then, it was all they had."

Aside from using canvas in wall coverings, I ask Fernando if he has some design tips specifically for those on a budget.

"Open up a can of paint. That's what I always tell people. It costs less than $50. When you want an instant change, you can get it with color," he quickly replies. "I just wrote an article on the color blue, and in my research found that the shade of blue can change your mood when you step into a room, so I would encourage people to use more blue! Navy blue is the color of strength and often used in the business world. Hazy blues are tranquil and good in bathrooms. Subtle, soft blues are for a home office because they encourage you to focus. On a beautiful day like today when the sky is blue, you experience happy people, so that color blue gives off a good vibe, the sense of being happy."

Fernando's openness when it comes to learning new things about people, culture and even the color blue is invigorating. His passion and dedication are clear indications that Flipping Design is going to be a success.

"You can always learn something from someone, and my motto is to be constantly learning so I grow as a person. It's good to open yourself to other languages, lifestyles and cultures," he says with a smile. "When you surround yourself with people who love life and enjoy what they're doing, it helps you keep moving forward. When I encounter someone who is doing what they love, it gives me goosebumps."

Spend just a few moments with Fernando Gonzalez, and you'll get goosebumps, too.

For more information, visit flippingdesign.com.

Dina LaPolt

Dina LaPolt at her L.A. haven, SoulCycle West Hollywood

 

Entertainment Attorney DINA LAPOLT

At SoulCycle

8570 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood 310-657-7685

Dina LaPolt's life has certainly taken many unexpected twists and turns since her childhood in Upstate New York that was filled with dreams of becoming a rock star. After spending years on the road pursuing her musical passion, while simultaneously earning a bachelor's degree, she realized she wanted to become an entertainment attorney. Dina established her own firm, LaPolt Law, P.C., in 2001 and has worked tirelessly to build an A-list roster of rock, hip-hop, heavy metal, pop and singer-songwriter clients. In addition to being named one of the most influential women in music by Out Magazine and The Advocate and co-producing the Academy Award-nominated Tupac: Resurrection documentary, Dina is the instructor of a Legal and Practical Aspects of the Music Business UCLA Extension course.

She took time out of her busy schedule balancing clients, twin baby boys and preparing for the Jan. 7 start of her 14th year teaching the UCLA class to meet me at the place in the city where she reinvigorates her mind, body and spirit four times a week, indoor cycling mecca, SoulCycle. It's immediately apparent that SoulCycle is anything but your typical fitness center just stepping through the West Hollywood location's tall glass doors. The bright and airy atmosphere is accentuated by a wall full of snapshots of smiling regulars and a warm greeting from the staff behind the counter, whom Dina knows by name.

Eager to show me one of her favorite parts of SoulCycle, we head into the studio. Housing 54 bikes, the room is not cramped but inviting, with overhead lights dimmed and scented candles aglow. Music flows from the speakers, adding to the expectant, excited energy in the air before class begins. Dina points out a white wall decorated with a list of six words painted in black block letters: athlete, legend, warrior, renegade, rockstar, soulcycle. Strong, inspirational words that I realize can all be applied to Dina herself.

Dina's all set for today's SoulCycle session

Finding encouragement in her artist mother and firm motivation in her father, music has always had a role in Dina's life.

"When I was young, I was into bands like Led Zeppelin, but when I saw Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, my entire life changed. I was 12 or 13 and said, 'Wow, that's what I want to do,' so I set out, touring in a van for 10 years. It was really fun; I learned how to make macaroni and cheese powered by a cigarette lighter on a hot plate with powdered milk," she laughs. "My dad would always say, 'You need something to fall back on.' In retrospect, it gave me a lot of motivation, for failure was not an option. It took me almost eight years to get my bachelor's degree because I was constantly on tour and traveling. I graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz as a music major, but I always had a knack for business. I was running their campus concert committee, so I would book all of these shows and had this idea one day to book an enormous concert with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. I did it, and 25,000 people showed up."

Dina continued performing music while using her business savvy as a talent buyer and show promoter for clubs in Upstate New York. She consistently filled venues, regardless of the bands playing, and eventually impressed KISS' Eric Carr, who gave her a position managing bands in his Streetgang Productions company. When KISS relocated to the West Coast, Dina made the move to San Francisco where she kept managing bands and doing club promotion until her band was chosen to play a showcase at a music business conference, and she had one of the biggest epiphanies of her life.

"There was a pass for one of us to actually go to the conference, and when I opened the booklet to look at all the different things they had during the day, I thought they looked interesting. I decided to go to a panel described as 'three music lawyers talk about negotiating record deals in today's industry.' We had a show that night until 2 a.m., and the panel was early, so I ended up being late. I looked at the three guys up there – one had long hair in a ponytail, one had tattoos on his arm and the other guy had two earrings – and I thought, 'oh god, I'm not at the lawyers panel.' I asked the girl next to me, and she said, 'Yes, this is it. Shh!' I had an epiphany: This is what I want to do," she recalls. "I waited in line to talk to the one with the two earrings to find out where I should go to law school. He saw that I was holding a cassette tape and said, 'I'm not taking unsolicited demos.' I tossed it and said, 'No, I want to go to law school and do what you do.' He said, 'First you need to get a bachelor's degree. I said, 'Oh, I have that,' and he gave me a list of law schools to call. I got back that afternoon and called. That conference was in March, and by September, I was in law school."

Her fierce determination led her to John F. Kennedy University, School of Law in Walnut Creek, Calif., where she put herself through school by teaching children guitar lessons and eventually earned her J.D. while still playing in a band. She passed the bar and was sworn in on June 5, 1997. Just two days later, she received a phone call that would change the course of her life yet again.

"My ex-girlfriend's sister called me and asked if I was an entertainment lawyer yet. I said, 'Yes, as of two days ago!' She said, 'Great, I'm Miss June and on the cover of Playboy, so you should move down here.' Within four days I was living with Miss June in Sherman Oaks, and that's how my law career took off. I started representing a lot of the Playboy Playmates and worked myself up from there. That was a pivotal time for me. It was difficult for me to find a job at a law firm because even though I had a knack for the business I was always a musician, tour manager or manager, and never had a job in the music business. I didn't have the experience."

After that fateful day at the music conference, Dina had kept in touch with that 'lawyer with the two earrings,' and he was able to get her an internship at a friend's practice that represented the likes of Susan Tedeschi and Cake. She started learning the business side of the industry, but it was still hard for her to secure a paid position. She used the last money she had to sign up for a class with Don Passman at USC. She read everything he assigned and sat in front of every class each week so she could focus on engaging with him to learn as much as possible.

Around this time, Dina was also struggling with inner demons, but the light at the end of the tunnel included not only recovery but the discovery of a new passion.

"I had a horrible drug and alcohol problem. The Playmates did an intervention on me, and you know you're really screwed up when the Playmates are doing an intervention on you. But I got sober in 1998 and have been sober ever since," she tells. "I joined Crunch gym and there was a woman there, Stacey Griffith, teaching spin classes. I didn't know what they were, but she was fun, always so happy and confident. She took me under her wing, and I started spinning. My friend and I would schlep to her classes at 6 a.m., and I lost 30 pounds. I also had a pack of people who didn't drink or use drugs, they just did spin class. There was such a camaraderie. We all loved music, and Stacey would play my developing clients' music in class. It really became something."

Stacey eventually moved to the East Coast and started working for the very first SoulCycle in New York City founded by Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice in 2007. The fitness routine quickly caught fire and spread to 25 locations throughout the country (and they're going global with a location in London opening next year), attracting 6,000 riders to class each day. From their first 45-minute class, everyone from Lady Gaga, Max Greenfield and Lena Dunham to Eli Roth, Emily Blunt and Kelly Ripa has become a devotee. Each class is $30 (plus $3 shoe rental if you don't have your own clip-ins), and there is also a 60-minute SoulSurvivor endurance ride or a 60-minute SoulBands class that uses resistance bands to tone your muscles.

Dina and one of her favorite SoulCycle instructors,
Heather Peggs (left)

We stand in the SoulCycle shop that's full of branded tanks, tees, hoodies and other apparel when Dina's instructor for this afternoon's class, Heather Peggs, walks by. Along with MB Regan, who used to teach movement for the National Shakespeare Conservatory, Heather is one of Dina's favorites. The former acrobatic dancer and music executive, who was named to Billboard's Top 30 Music Executives Under 30 in 2009, is full of energy as she tells me that she's included two of Dina's clients in the soundtrack for today's class.

"What I love about SoulCycle is that it's about positive affirmations and you're not competing in the class. You are together, a team of people, and the instructor's very motivating," Dina offers. "You see the words on the wall – athlete, warrior, etc. – everything's about positivity. If you can do this, you can do anything. That's what really gets me going. When I come, I feel empowered. When I leave here, I know that I'm capable of anything."

Coming from the frenzied pace of life in New York, Dina took to the laid-back environment of Los Angeles with ease.

"When I came out here, taking my new York work ethic and putting myself in the middle of Los Angeles, I just soared from the minute I came here. I was used to my parents' you've got to do something attitude. I never stand still because I wasn't brought up that way. Coming to L.A., I finally had an environment where I could just go, go, go because Los Angeles gives you as much as you can take. It's a never-ending energy source, if you have enough energy to keep up with it, and the weather just makes it unstoppable. In New York, you might have a whole agenda worth of things to do that day and then you get an ice storm or five feet of snow and suddenly everything is done. We don't have that in L.A.," she says. "What I love most about L.A., though, is the that there's such an emphasis on taking care of yourself. New York is a very selfless environment, and L.A. is a very selfish environment. I go to spin class at lunch, and no one blinks an eye. I have to leave early to go to Pilates or get a facial, and no one blinks an eye. It's not only accepted in L.A., but it's encouraged, and I encourage that with the people that I work with, too. I tell them that they have to take care of themselves, and they say, 'But I have to do this, this and this.' If you don't detach, go take the night off and do something good for yourself, you're going to do all of those things half-assed. If you take the night off, you're going to come back tomorrow and be loads more productive."

To keep up with the many demands on her plate, Dina visits SoulCycle four times a week, in addition to yoga and Pilates classes.

"My kids were born in February, and in March I had this back pain that wouldn't go away. I went to my chiropractor, but it couldn't be fixed, so they sent me to their orthopedic doctor who ordered an MRI. She gets the results and says, 'You have three bulging discs in your back. I'm writing you a prescription for Pilates.' I said, 'What?! I don't even like Pilates, I'm type A personality, I need to be drenched in sweat to think it's working. Pilates is for pussies,'" Dina laughs. "She said the alternative was pain medication and surgery, so I tried Pilates. Within 60 days, I had no back pain, and, not only that, people kept telling me that I looked great. Pilates changed my body, so I've kept with it twice a week at Back to Total Health Wellness Center where they have acupuncture, vitamins, orthopedics and a Pilates studio all in one."

The LaPolt Law office is located on the Sunset Strip, so she has several lunch spots that she frequents in the area. Urth Caffé, Veggie Grill and Talesai ("the best Thai food in L.A.") are her favorites. On the weekends, Dina and her wife usually take their twins to the Grove, where the love the lights and music, or for a walk around Dina's old stomping grounds in West Hollywood, where the family is looking forward to relocating to after the New Year.

"West Hollywood Park is so great for the kids, and now that we're moving back to the neighborhood, we can just walk out our door with the stroller to Starbucks," she says. "We take our kids to Fit For Kids where they do Baby Belugas twice a week, and we'll be able to walk there now."

Dina lights up whenever she brings up her two boys, and she is, of course, filling their lives with music.

"When the kids were born, they responded to music and singing immediately. We have music on in the house constantly. When they were about a month old, one of my clients was doing the Ultra Music Festival so I was streaming it live on the iPad, and my one son, Buddy, would not take his eyes off the iPad for over an hour," she remembers with a smile. "I always sing to them, especially to get them to sleep, whether it's music from The Sound of Music or Mary Poppins."

Aside from sharing her love for music with the twins, Dina is passionate about exposing all aspiring musicians to the business side of the industry.

"I would tell the people in the music department at my college that they needed to have a music business minor, but they just wanted to focus on technique in the curriculum. And now, let's cut to 20 years later, that university is calling me to ask me for help setting up a music business program. They're trying to recreate the class that I teach at UCLA to compete with schools like Berklee College of Music and Juilliard that have had business programs for 15 years," she shares. "They can't keep putting people out on street with a music degree who can play a mean arpeggio and memorize a Rachmaninoff concerto but know nothing about the business."

"I am so blessed and grateful that I have been in the music business my whole life and was never forced to take another career. I feel like I'm giving back by teaching this UCLA course. A lot of people have taken this class over the years who have gone on to become vice presidents at record and publishing companies or managing artists like Christina Aguilera," she continues. "It's such a good feeling to see them give interviews and say, 'I learned everything I know from Dina La Polt' or have them come up to me at the Grammys and say, 'I'm working at this place now, and if it wasn't for you…' That is worth more than a million dollars."

For more information, visit lapoltlaw.com.

Cathy Diane Tomlin

Actress Cathy Diane Tomlin at Veggie Grill

CATHY DIANE TOMLIN

At Veggie Grill

8000 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles (West Hollywood) 323-822-7575

"I had been in New York for a long time, acting on TV and doing a little bit of theater. I had a long-running gig as sound engineer for an off-Broadway show, 'I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change,' and once the show closed I wanted to see which direction my career should go in, thinking of what would shake things up the most. So, I came out here, and that's really shaken things up," actress Cathy Diane Tomlin tells of her decision to return to Los Angeles, the city where she was born and raised.

Since moving back to California in 2009, Cathy has won roles in films such as Red Wing with Frances Fisher, Bill Paxton and Luke Perry, as well as several plays and television programs ("Grey's Anatomy," "Days of Our Lives"). We get together to talk about these roles and growing up, moving away and relocating back to Los Angeles at one of Cathy's favorite restaurants, Veggie Grill. Being a vegetarian, she loves the many menu options and the convenience the fast-casual, meat-free establishment offers.

"There aren't a ton of vegetarian restaurants that I like in L.A. It's been hard for me to find that one place that I like a lot, but Veggie Grill is kind of it," she admits. "I live in South Los Angeles, but I tend to be in this area a lot – Beverly Hills, Studio City – to go to auditions, so I come here a lot."

Cathy usually orders the All Hail Kale salad, which is marinated kale and cabbage topped with corn salsa, agave-roasted walnuts, quinoa and a ginger-papaya vinaigrette. She usually adds tempeh to the salad but opts for some Blackened Chickin' today. Veggie Grill is also known for its delicious "Bean Me Up" Chili, savory sweet potato Sweetheart Fries and spicy Buffalo Wings. Aside from veggie-steak tacos, sandwiches and wraps, there are several tempting desserts to be sampled. Cathy raves about the Carrot Cake, made with fresh carrots, walnuts and Veggie Grill cream cheese frosting, and I become smitten with the crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies that are made in-house every day using organic flour, cane juice, walnuts and dark chocolate chips.

She came to love several vegetarian hot spots in New York while she acted in theater productions, Michael Clayton with George Clooney and daytime soap operas like 'As the World Turns" and "One Life to Live." She also became enamored with the city's public transportation system and eventually found herself embracing Los Angeles' too.

"When I left, there was no real public transportation here, and when I first got back I didn't have a car, so I learned to love public transportation in Los Angeles," she remembers. "It sounds weird, but I felt a sense of freedom being on the bus or subway that you do have, but you don't, when you're in a car – you have to worry about parking, gas, insurance, maintenance, traffic. It was always great to sit on the train and read a book."

Growing up in South Los Angeles, there was one place where you could always find Cathy, the movies.

"I lived in the movie theater. Once I was able to go on my own in junior high, I would go with my friends. If there were three or four movies playing, I would somehow manage to sneak in to see a couple of them," she confesses with a smile. "I would spend hours and hours at the movies. That was really what I loved to do."

Her passion for film continues to this day. While Cathy often unwinds by going on a picnic in one of Los Angeles' many parks, she laments that there aren't more free, outdoor movie screenings taking place around town.

"Something I really loved in New York were outdoor movies. During the summer there were outdoor movies every day of the week in different locations, and there were all free. I had already seen a lot of the movies, but it was fun being outside under the stars, having a picnic and being among humanity. One of my favorites was in Bryant Park, which is near Times Square so there's the hustle and bustle of people going to and fro the theater and everything. On Monday nights at 5 p.m., everybody would start piling into the park to put out their blankets. It was a whole adventure," she recalls. "The only place I know of here is at the cemetery [Cinespia at Hollywood Forever], but there's something nice about a free movie and not having to worry about parking."

Taking inspiration from all of the films she was consuming, Cathy started acting in junior high and honing her craft in classes. Theatre of Arts was one of those training places that gave her a good head start into what she's doing now, and it was during her time there that she gained a valuable piece of advice that she has kept with her to this day.

"I had a teacher named Ruben Moreno who said, 'An audition is a performance.' So many people look at auditions like, 'Oh, it's just an audition. What if I don't even get the job?' But the way to get over that is to remember that this is what you love to do, you have three minutes to wow them and give them the best performance you possibly can," she informs. "Whether you get the job or not, you have to really put everything out there. That's what acting is all about, whether you have an audience of one person or a hundred people."

Cathy continued performing in play productions in high school, and even though she obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering (with Honors) from Tuskegee University and began a career in the field, she maintained a passion for acting.

"I did productions during my freshman and sophomore years of college even though they didn't have a theater program. There was a drama teacher and one or two drama classes within the English department, and he would direct a couple of productions per year. I did as much as I could for as long as I could until my schedule took over and I couldn't anymore, but it never really left my mind," she says. "Once I got out of college and moved from Alabama to South Carolina to I start my engineering job, I was going home every day, watching TV and thought, 'What else is there to do? Theater – that's what I love to do.' I looked up the theaters in town and called the first one I found to find out when they were having auditions. That was the start of me getting back into performing, so there was just a small gap of time in college when I didn't do anything at all."

Her love of math and science is something that she hopes to combine with her acting skills in a science-fiction or action film one day.

"I would love to work with Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams. When I watch all the Star Trek movies or the new version of 'Battlestar Galactica' on television, I wonder, 'Why didn't they call me?' There is some real meat to them, gravitas of the storylines, and in general, that is the sort of work I want to do, whether it's science fiction or present-day drama," she tells. "I love science fiction, action and musicals, too. I'm not a singer or dancer, but there's something so wonderful about musicals. A lot of people who are more rooted in reality look at musicals and say, 'It's so unreal. They would never just start singing in the middle,' but there's something about the music, dancing and film put together that makes it really special. If I could do all that, it would be icing on the cake."

Cathy is doing just fine focusing on the aspects of performing that she excels at, though. She is a member of L.A. theater companies like Theatre West, the Group Repertory Theatre and Theatre 40, acting in several of their plays. She is consistently auditioning and booking television and film jobs, and one of her most recent roles is in Will Wallace's Red Wing, a socially thought-provoking drama based on George Sand's novella Francois le Champ. In it, she portrays Isabelle Riley, the sickly foster parent of the film's hero, Francis (Austin Harrod and Glen Powell). I ask her if there was a specific process she went through in order prepare for the character.

"I wanted to immerse myself in Texas culture and not really focus on where the impetus of the story came from [Sand's novella]. After the first audition, the director asked me, 'Could you grow your hair out a little bit? I don't want you to look so professional.' I replied, 'OK, I can do that,' and I think I have a tendency to work from the outside in. A lot of times it's about the wardrobe and the appearance; the character builds from there for me," she says. "That was very true for Isabelle. I focused on what she felt like on a day-to-day basis because she's the kind of person who doesn't really have a future; it's all about getting through today."

As Cathy finishes her All Hail Kale salad, she tells me about her current role in a production at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills, which is broadening her acting experience by adding more comedy to her repertoire.

"Right now I'm in rehearsals for 'Light Up the Sky' by Moss Hart, and I have to say this is the most hysterical play that I've ever worked on. I tend to do dramas and haven't done a lot of comedies, but the actors in this play are are so comical," she begins. "My role in this play about theater is an observer because she's put into this world where she knows nothing. My character is a ghostwriter who is writing the autobiography of the main character, Irene Livingston, and all these other people are immersed in theater while she doesn't know that much about the craziness. She's sitting back going, 'What the heck have I gotten myself into?' It's so much fun to do; it's going to be a great show"

As Cathy continues to be cast in projects, she remains dedicated to the craft of acting, taking ongoing classes in technique with the likes of Will Wallace and Stuart K. Robinson. There is no question that when Scott, Spielberg or Abrams give her a call, she will be ready.  

"I''m very surprised at people who say, 'I'll try it for a couple of years and see what happens, see where my career goes.' The thing about acting is, you have to be in it for the long haul if you want to be successful," she says. "You have to keep at it for as long as you can, that's really what you have to do."

See Cathy Diane Tomlin in "Light Up The Sky" Nov. 21-Dec. 22 at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills. For more information, visit cathydianetomlin.net.

Worn Free's Steve Coe

Steve Coe at Food + Lab in West Hollywood

STEVE COE of WORN FREE

At Food + Lab

7253 Santa Monica, Blvd., West Hollywood 323-851-7120

Steve Coe is not someone who enters a room without much notice. From his tall stature, unruly mane of curly hair and jovial, outgoing personality, the British transplant definitely turns heads. But in most circumstances, what initially draws one's eye to Steve is his T-shirt. For over a decade, his apparel companies – Bogus, Worn Free, Special Lucky Winner and Lost Propertee – have produced shirts that have appeared on the likes of Ryan Gosling, Jennifer Aniston, Keith Urban and Eddie Vedder, in fashion magazines, on TV shows and in shops all over Los Angeles.

The day we meet at one of his new dining discoveries, Food + Lab in West Hollywood, Steve wears a dark blue tee from his Special Lucky Winner label, emblazoned with colorful flying animals, exactly the kind of unique design his brands are known for. His friend, a noted "picky eater," recently took him to Food + Lab for the first time, and with their expressly organic, nitrate- and hormone-free, carefully sourced ingredients, it's easy for practically anyone to be happy with what they select from the menu.

Mother-and-son team Esther and Nino Linsmayer are at the helm of the eatery, which has a second location in Silver Lake, and most dishes come from recipes honed from Esther's years of culinary training. She, and her Organic Curried Chicken Sandwich, is one of the reasons that Steve so enjoyed his initial visit to Food + Lab.

"I met [her] the last time I came here and said 'This is good,' and she said, 'I know, I made it,'" laughs Steve. "I like that, when you actually see who creates the food or makes the recipes."

Food + Lab is a bit east from where he lives, but Steve frequently goes to Jones, which is just a block away. He also likes to go to Greenblatt's Deli and sampling tacos from various trucks around the city.

"Food in L.A. in general is incredible, especially the Mexican food, the sushi, the Korean food, the Vietnamese pho here is nuts. I like El Compadre, probably more for their Cadillac margaritas than the food, but I love it. I like the Katsu-ya in Studio City because I used to rent a place from Gail Zappa that was right next door to it, a little house behind this animation studio, so I used to go there a lot," he shares. "I lived in New York for a year, and I've been in L.A. for about seven years. It's easy, not in a bad way. There are so many things you take for granted here. The weather's great; it's sunny every day. Where I'm from it rains all the time, so even if you just pop out for half an hour, it's like you're on holiday. You can be at the beach in minutes. I don't like the fact that there's not much street culture, that's the only problem with it. It doesn't work as a city the way that cities normally work. It's more a collection of small villages."

As I sip some of Food + Lab's homemade Southern Mint Iced Tea, Steve enjoys a cup of coffee and their Beloved Hard Boiled Egg Sandwich with farm-raised bacon, watercress and aioli on wheat bread. After he takes a bite, he unconsciously lets out a "mmm," so it's obviously hit the spot.

"Cooking's a very creative thing. I always wanted to be a chef growing up. My best friend and I always wanted to open a restaurant. I did my work experience in kitchens, and it's seriously hard work. Doing design and photography is much easier, you don't have to get up so early in the morning," he laughs. "My granddad was a chef in the army. He was one of those people who was good at whatever he did. He could draw incredibly, took amazing photographs and cooked in the army."

Steve's grandfather instilled a love for photography in him, as well as a keen ability to trust his own eye and artistic instincts.

"He was a massive influence on me. One of my earliest memories was in the darkroom. I was about 4 years old, and I remember him showing me this blank piece of paper. He dipped it into this stuff, and a picture came out. I thought, 'It's magic' and was transfixed from then. I was 11 when he gave me my first camera and started to explain photography. What was great about it and what I found invaluable was, for him, my eye, how you see things and take the image, was much more important than the technical aspects. Those, you can learn. I learned in a free environment where I could just go crazy and I had someone who could develop my photos for me. Unfortunately, he died when I was 12, but for that year I remember taking a hell of a lot of photos, and I just carried on with it."

Growing up, Steve's father was a musician, so the art form was a fixture in their home.

"There was a bit of everything. I remember the Beatles a lot and the Stones," he says. "The first concert I went to that I bought tickets for, I was 15, and it was either a Bob Geldof solo gig or Paul Weller – I can't remember which one was first. I was a big fan of the Jam growing up, so I've seen Paul Weller a bunch of times."

Young Steve used the four walls of his bedroom as an outlet for his burgeoning love of imagery and design.

"I had the little room in the house, and it was packed with loads of shit, literally wall to wall photos, posters and records. I just crammed as much stuff in there as I could," he reveals. "I was a big Jimi Hendrix fan when I decided to learn to play the guitar. I'm left handed, so he was a real hero for me. I used to have the Axis: Bold as Love album cover, which I love. I've always been fascinated with album covers; it's such a lovely form of communication. Sometimes if there's an artist that I don't know but I like their cover art, I'll buy the record for the cover. Half the time it works out well, and the music's good, too."

He continued to explore photography and other visual art forms as he moved on to college and beyond.

Food + Lab's deli case

"When I was at university I took Animation and Film, and you could take photography as a side thing. I just wanted to be in the dark room, so I took it. I used to come out with some crazy stuff. The teacher would say, 'You're doing it all wrong,' and I would be like, 'No, I'm not. This is what I wanted.' That's the magic of it, you don't have to necessarily be very precise unless you want to take photographs of food or products. If you just want to make crazy images, you can do what you like. I got into super 8  as well when I was at college, so I used to do a lot of stop animation and make weird little films. Then I worked in television, and they kept trying to put me in a technical path rather than creative, which I didn't like, so I stopped doing that and did photography. I did photography for about two-and-a-half years, and some magazine saw what I did and thought I did it with a computer even though I didn't. So they gave me Photoshop, Illustrator and an iMac to see what I could do on a computer. I started messing around with computers, and for good or bad I started doing more computer-based designs."

Thus, Steve began doing graphics work and tinkering with different design concepts. His friend was a screen printer and asked him to do a few designs.

"Unbeknownst to me he was ripping them off and selling them in DJ magazines as slipmats and whatnot, and then one of my friends who was a DJ showed me. The experience made me realize that I could do this stuff and people would buy it," he shares. "Another friend of mine, we started doing a film project and took our money from working on that and put it into a T-shirt company called Bogus. The concept behind Bogus was the shittest ideas that we could possibly come up with would be the ones that we would [turn into shirts]. As a design, it couldn't take more than 20 minutes to come up with and could only be done once, no retakes, and it was put on a shirt or it was lost forever. We used to sell a lot to places like Urban Outfitters. One shirt said 'Don't Give Me Any Drugs,' another said 'Jehovah's Fitness.'"

Steve also worked as a photo archivist, cataloguing images of iconic celebs, and in the late 1990s, was struck with the idea for Worn Free while watching Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke. He was drawn to Chong's 'RORER 714' top in the film, and thought it would be cool to be able to buy clothes like actors wore in movies or musicians wore on stage or in photos like the ones he had been archiving. In 2005, he launched Worn Free with Kevin Casey, a label that reproduces T-shirt designs worn by legendary musicians, such as Bob Marley, Frank Zappa, Iggy Pop, Kurt Cobain, John Lennon and many others.

"What's great about Worn Free is that everything we do is attached to a photograph, so I get to talk to some really amazing old-school rock photographers, like Bob Gruen, Kate Simon and Roberta Bayley," he says. "It's nice hearing their stories and seeing the photographs. I could look at photographs all day, It's one of those things that I've always been a bit in love with. That's the great fun about it. It combines all of my favorite things into one job/hobby that I get paid for."

Each Worn Free tee comes with a photograph of the specific artist wearing the same shirt as a tag designed to look like a backstage pass.

"The backstage passes are real expensive to make because they're a satin material and only certain printers can print them properly. It's not necessarily the most practical thing, but it's just a nice add-on to have for the shirts," Steve tells. "We're doing some now that are postcards or recycled cards, depending on the customer. For Urban Outfitters, we found that with the way they fold the shirts, the backstage passes got crumpled easily. So, we're doing theirs on cardboard because it keeps the image more pristine."

Steve's latest venture is called Lost Propertee, established as an outlet for pretty much anyone to see their shirt design ideas come to life.

A Worn Free John Lennon shirt

"We wanted to open the forum up to the public, but we didn't want to do it where you'd have to be a designer. We were just interested in people's weird ideas. You send us your idea, we get one of our illustrators to draw up a T-shirt and then we pay you for whatever shirts we sell, or you can double the money if you want to turn it into T-shirt dollars and buy other shirts on the site," he says. "The thing is, most everybody I've met, even my mum, has got a T-shirt idea that they want to make, and now they can."

Before parting ways, I ask Steve to share what he thinks some good holiday gift ideas might be from Worn Free:

"The Muhammad Ali robe is just the perfect thing. Everyone puts it on, raises their fist and does a champion's stance. We've got some great photos of people doing that. Lil Wayne wears one of our robes every night he goes on stage. When he does his encore he comes out with the Muhammad Ali robe on."

"The best thing we're doing at the moment is a Holiday Stocking Filler. We just send you a random T-shirt for $15, and it's nice because it really is random. We give out great designs and crazy old stuff that we haven't sold for years."

"There are so many different artists that we have on the label that it's just about finding that present that's personal. And that's the other thing that works out with Worn Free: You're not just wearing a Stones or Pink Floyd T-shirt, you're wearing something that was personal to the artist who wore it originally. There's some great background stories to a lot of the shirts, especially with John Lennon. The Working Class Hero shirt is based on a song that he wrote, You Are Here is part of his and Yoko's philosophy on life about living in the moment. We can really retell those stories with the shirts. If you're a fan of John's then you'll know that little bit of background already, and it's almost like a badge of honor. It's great to be able to work with icons like that who break so many boundaries and borders that everyone associates with."

For more information, visit wornfree.com and lostpropertee.com.