48 hours in Los Angeles: a road trip itenerary with an electric car
Coffee, recycled clothing and great food with influencer Grace Mattei
Los Angeles resident and influencer Grace Mattei takes us on a tour of the city’s coolest hangouts, hottest food spots and trendiest clothing joints in a Porsche Taycan electric car
When Grace Mattei and her husband moved to Los Angeles in early 2020, she couldn’t have predicted that within a matter of a few weeks the world would change considerably. It meant that when she had a chance to explore her new home town fully, she had a lot of catching up to do – and quickly. With the help of a Porsche Taycan electric sportscar, she gives us a guide to how to spend 48 hours in Los Angeles, revealing the coolest places to hang out, whether for dinner or to shop, to get the best coffee or pick up a tasty donut… or just great locations that are highly Instagrammable. We also find out what she especially loved about her Porsche Taycan experience.
Women outside Porsche dealership, white Taycan behind her
Porsche pick-up: Grace Mattei gets set for her 48-hour LA jaunt
Day one • 10am: Beverly Hills“There are some iconic streets in Beverly Hills, but none are quite like Canon Drive. It’s lined with palm trees – you will have seen it in movies and TV shows – and it’s particularly cool to drive down in the Taycan because of its huge panoramic roof. Whether you’re sitting in the back seats or the front seats, it’s just so cool to look up and see all the trees above. The Porsche Taycan electric sportscar really fits in with these surroundings. I didn’t know that I was going to be driving an electric car until a day or two before. And at first, I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t expecting it to be so powerful. It’s super quick.”

Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles CA 90210
Day one • 11am: Melrose Avenue“Melrose Avenue is so fun. If you are going to spend 48 hours in LA, there are great cafés and a ton of fun clothes shops there. It’s where you will find the iconic pink wall of the Paul Smith store, which so many people head to take photos in front of. I always get a drink from Coffee Dose before I hit the stores here. Shopping of any kind is, of course, fun. But I especially love the stretch of Melrose with all the vintage shops. It feels like there is one after the other, because there’s so many. It’s all about the exploration. Whether you are ‘thrifting’ or looking in the vintage shops that are obviously a little more curated, the hunting is the cool bit. I love that. When you find something that fits you – especially if it’s cheap – is even more brilliant. I like the Reformation vintage shop, but I also like Crossroads a lot too. That’s a great one. It’s less vintagey and more curated, affordable secondhand stuff.”Coffee Dose
www.coffeedose.cafe/
8101 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles CA 90046

Paul Smith
www.paulsmith.com/uk/shop-locator/los-angeles
8221 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046

The Reformation
www.thereformation.com/pages/melrose-vintage
8253 Melrose Ave, Hollywood, Los Angeles CA 90046

Crossroads Trading
crossroadstrading.com/location/hollywood-melrose-ave/
7409 Melrose Ave, Hollywood, Los Angeles CA 90046Day one • 8pm: Highland Park“After a day walking around Melrose, we drove back east to Glendale where my husband and I live, before heading out to dinner in nearby Highland Park and to one of our go-to spots. It’s a place called Joy and it’s Taiwanese food. My husband and I try to eat mostly plant-based food. The menu here is really simple but they have the best Dandan noodles you’ll ever taste – and they’re vegan. They’re so incredible, which is why I get them all the time.”www.joyonyork.com/
5100 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Woman wearing black & white chequered clothes leaning on Porsche
Check mates: Grace and the Porsche Taycan got along famously
Day two • 10.30am: Abbot Kinney Boulevard“Abbot Kinney Boulevard is kinda similar to Melrose, with lots of good restaurants and trendy shops – but it’s also right by Venice Beach. We saw quite a few other Porsche Taycan electric sportscars as we walked around here. One of my favourite places to go in the morning on Abbot Kinney is Blue Bottle Coffee. They have this specific iced latte that they make that my husband always gets me – the New Orleans-style Ice Coffee – that is so delicious. And nearby you’ll find Blue Star, which is all about the donuts. I get a passion fruit one and it’s so, so good.”bluebottlecoffee.com/cafes/abbot-kinney
1103 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, Los Angeles CA 90291

bluestardonuts.com/
1142 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, Los Angeles, CA 90291
Woman driving Porsche Taycan, palm trees visible through sunroof
The palm tree-lined Canon Drive is a great spot for Instagrammers says Grace
LA is a large city but it’s really a conglomeration of smaller towns, each one with their own unique vibe and feel
Grace Mattei | Influencer and LA resident
Day two • 1pm: Abbot Kinney Boulevard & Venice Beach“After a morning walking around the stores on Abbot Kinney, it was time for lunch at a place called Butcher’s Daughter, which despite the name is a vegetarian place. I had the Healing Harvest Bowl – cauliflower rice, quinoa and watermelon radish. With extra avocado! After that, we headed down to the beach for a little bit to walk around with our dog, Cous Cous. I love Venice Beach. I feel like it’s the place people think of when you say LA and a must see if you have 48 hours to spend in LA. Along with Santa Monica, for me it’s quintessential southern California. I love skating and there’s nothing better than doing it along this stretch of Venice. It’s such a vibe. I think that that’s what is fun about LA in general – yes, it’s a really large city but it’s really a conglomeration of smaller towns, each one with their own unique vibe and feel. Our dog loves it here. We bring our little guy – he’s only seven pounds – with us everywhere. He was really comfortable in the Taycan and slept really well.”www.thebutchersdaughter.com/location/the-butchers-daughter-venice/
1205 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, Hollywood, Los Angeles CA 90291Grace on roller skating“Skating is just so much fun. If there’s a lot going on in my head about work, or if I am overthinking things, just cruising on your skates is just so enjoyable. It’s great not to have to think about anything for a moment. It’s the same when I drive. In LA you’re often sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, but when you can, I love to cruise on the highway. Driving is my time. My husband is a podcast person in the car, but I want music. I played a lot of Lizzy McAlpine in our Porsche Taycan electric sportscar. Her music is really quiet and beautiful. Or I’ll play a throwback playlist from the 1970s – especially if it has some Earth, Wind & Fire on it.”
Woman standing by white Porsche Taycan at charging point
Grace found charging in LA quick, convenient and stress-free
Day two • 8.30pm: West Hollywood“On our last night with the Taycan we picked up some friends in Pasadena before heading to West Hollywood for dinner. That’s one of the things that I loved about the Taycan – that you can fit four people in comfortably. We all felt very important when we turned up outside Bottega Louie. It’s an Italian on Santa Monica Boulevard where there’s an indoor seating section but also a front patio and back patio, too. We sat outside on the back patio. As well as great Italian food, it’s really well known for its pastries. When you walk in the front section, they have a whole case full of macarons – every colour of the rainbow. They have these pastries that are so beautiful to look at. They look like they are made of glass. So pretty.”www.bottegalouie.com/pages/west-hollywood-updated
8936 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA 90069Grace on a hidden LA gem to drive to in the Taycan“When I moved here, a friend told me about this really pretty lookout point where you get a great view across the whole city. It’s a short drive from where we live in the Porsche Taycan electric sportscar, up through a windy canyon road called the Angeles Crest Highway. It’s a gorgeous spot, a perfect way to end the day when you spend 48 hours in LA. There are tons of different places where you can just pull off and look back at the city. And it’s really pretty at night. Los Angeles just sparkles.”
Woman exiting white Porsche Taycan outside neon-lit bar
LA is great by day but at night, it really sparkles, says Grace
Grace on charging the Taycan“One of my first thoughts when I got the Porsche Taycan electric sportscar was ‘What am I going to do if I run out of battery?’. But in reality, there were a whole bunch of charging stations everywhere we went in LA. I live a few minutes away from the mall. There are charging stations there. We drove a lot, so I put mine on quick charge when I dropped into a Whole Foods supermarket. They really weren’t that hard to find. It just became habitual to charge it when I wasn’t using it.”Grace on what she loved most about the Porsche Taycan electric sportscar“Of course, it felt so powerful. Unlike other cars I’ve driven, I never stressed about missing an exit on the freeway – there’s plenty of power there to make it in time. It doesn’t feel like any other car because it kind of gives you such a sense of confidence when you drive it. And it’s so quiet. It’s like a spaceship inside too – so futuristic. I love the way that the touchscreen extends all the way across the dashboard. And as I said when we drove down Canon Drive, that panoramic glass roof in the Porsche Taycan electric sportscar is so calming. And there’s the fact that it has space for luggage at the front and rear. My husband loved the 3D Surround View cameras – it can be difficult to park in LA so that was really helpful. When my parents flew into LAX airport, I went and picked them up in the Taycan. I didn’t know how much stuff they were bringing with them. I was worried that it wasn’t going to fit but I needn’t have worried with all the luggage space at the front and the back. My dad was on his phone talking loudly in Greek, bragging to his friends! And a fun thing I loved was that when you get closer to the car, and you have the key on you, the door handles pop out automatically. Little details like that really make the Taycan an event.”
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