Just off Rodeo Drive, in the middle of palm trees, mansions, and everything else you think of when you think of Beverly Hills, sits one of the most luxurious properties you and I will ever see, the Beverly Hills Hotel. It's in the hotel's extravagant rooms and bungalows that celebrities like Nicole Kidman escape the tabloids, and it's in the hotel's basement that we sought out our own escape, a malted milk shake at the famed Fountain Coffee Room.

The Fountain Coffee Room consists of a counter, a few tables, a couple of surly waitresses, and one highly-skilled short-order cook. (I would recommend getting a counter seat so that you can watch him work.) Our fellow dinners included a man and his disaffected son suffering through a silent, post-tennis match breakfast, a young girl who has no problem telling the waitress exactly how to cook her order, and a number of young men who either were in or wanted to be in the business of making movies.

Though we went in for malted milkshakes (which were quite good), it seemed a shame to not also eat a little bit of food, so we also ordered an egg salad sandwich and a bagel with lox. Neither of these plates necessarily go that well with malted milkshakes, but we had shown up more for the atmosphere than the food, so didn't mind being chastised by the waitress for failing to finish.