{"id":486948,"date":"2026-01-02T11:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T11:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/486948\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T11:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T11:15:18","slug":"how-to-have-the-best-sunday-in-l-a-according-to-pete-holmes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/486948\/","title":{"rendered":"How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Pete Holmes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"la-sf-Pete-Holmes-drop-cap.png\" <\/p>\n

Pete Holmes understands the art of conversation \u2014 especially the way to get people to open up about their secret weird tendencies. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s what helped Holmes, known for his youth pastor aesthetic and wholesome jokes, build his more than 20-year-long comedy career (his next show is Jan. 21 at Largo at the Coronet<\/a>) and create his semi-autographical HBO series \u201cCrashing<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Sunday <\/a> <\/p>\n

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.<\/p>\n

In 2011, Holmes launched \u201cYou Made It Weird<\/a>,\u201d an interview-style podcast that delves into topics like the meaning of life, mental health, art and everything everything in between. More than 1,000 episodes later, he is celebrating the 14th anniversary of the show and has recently signed with podcast network Lemonada Media<\/a> (which is also home to Julia Louis-Dreyfus\u2019 \u201cWiser Than Me,\u201d \u201cThe Sarah Silverman Podcast\u201d and \u201cHasan Minhaj Doesn\u2019t Know\u201d). <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never for a second considered stopping, which is a good sign that you\u2019re doing something you\u2019re supposed to do,\u201d says Holmes, whose guests have included John Mulaney, Maya Rudolph, Anna Kendrick, Kenan Thompson and Henry Winkler. Once a week, Holmes co-hosts the show with his wife of eight years, Valerie Chaney. <\/p>\n

His nervous system also assures him that he\u2019s found the right project. While Holmes says he feels \u201ctense\u201d before his stand-up sets, there\u2019s a sense of comfort in sitting face to face with someone and simply having a conversation. \u201cWhen I\u2019m doing my podcast, especially in person, there\u2019s very, very little tension,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s the thing in show business, I\u2019ve found, that winds me up in a bad way the least.\u201d <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how Holmes would spend an ideal Sunday in L.A. with Chaney and their 7-year-old daughter, Lila.<\/p>\n

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

8 a.m.: Visit <\/b>a<\/b> coffee shop<\/b> with a sense of humor<\/b><\/p>\n

My daughter and I are both morning people, which really works out because her mom is not a morning person. So we get up early and we\u2019ll color, make breakfast, that sort of stuff. But if we were all getting up together \u2014 which is what my wife would want to do even though she doesn\u2019t like it \u2014 we would go to Bru<\/b><\/a> in Los Feliz. I love recommending Bru to people because it\u2019s in an \u201cI Think You Should Leave\u201d sketch. Tim Robinson is leaving a job interview and he\u2019s pulling the door, but it\u2019s one that you have to push, and he doesn\u2019t want to look stupid so he keeps pulling it. They actually have a little plaque<\/a> up that says something cool about it without being too obvious. I like drinking espresso by itself, Val likes oat milk lattes and Lila would get a steamed milk because she wants to feel like a grown-up. It\u2019s very cute. <\/p>\n

10 a.m.: Read at least seven children\u2019s books at Skylight<\/b><\/p>\n

Afterward, we\u2019d go to Skylight Books<\/b><\/a>, which is nearby. I can tell you from experience, they\u2019re incredibly generous with allowing you to read your kids seven books without any trouble. On principle, I\u2019ll buy at least one of the books on our way out, because that\u2019s exactly what people are talking about when they\u2019re like, \u201cShop local.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

11 a.m.: Drink a terrible dark green juice <\/b><\/p>\n

Then we\u2019ll walk to the Punchbowl<\/b><\/a> and I\u2019m gonna get a terrible dark green juice that nobody wants and would make a goat go blind. I love it because I\u2019m 46 and now I eat almost exclusively for how it\u2019s going to make me feel. So it\u2019s very uncool but that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing. My wife and daughter are going to get a smoothie called the honeybee, which is very sweet and delicious. <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Noon<\/b>: <\/b>A pancake for the table<\/b> at Kitchen Mouse <\/b><\/p>\n

We would go to Kitchen Mouse<\/b><\/a> in Highland Park. It\u2019s really hip. The last time I was there, I ran into Phoebe Bridgers<\/a>. Literally rock stars are at Kitchen Mouse and there\u2019s a little kids area where my daughter can play with like a fake hamburger and a child she just met. I get the same thing every time: the breakfast sandwich and a snickerdoodle pancake for the table. If you and I went to breakfast together, I would never ask, \u201cDo you want a pancake for the table?\u201d because I don\u2019t need you to be my accomplice. I know you want a pancake for the table because guess who wants pancakes? Everyone. This is going to reverse the juice that I had earlier, but it\u2019s going to be worth it. <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

2 p.m. Enjoy an Angry Samoa donut at the park <\/b><\/p>\n

We have friends who live in Highland Park, so we\u2019d visit them and we\u2019d all take a walk to Donut Friend<\/b><\/a>, and eat the donuts at the little park nearby. The park has giant bugs and a tube slide. When you\u2019re 46 and have kids, sitting down is your heroin. Not to keep mentioning veganism, but Donut Friend has really good vegan donuts. You gotta get the Angry Samoa<\/a>, which is a Girl Scout cookie. <\/p>\n

I once went to Donut Friend while I was tripping on LSD and it was the funniest thing that\u2019s ever happened to me. I think it might\u2019ve been my birthday and I was coming down. I\u2019m not a crazy person. I just couldn\u2019t believe that there was another person standing there with all of the donuts in the world. It felt so overwhelmingly loving that they were like \u201cWhich donut can I give you?\u201d I was just floored by the generosity. I was probably making an a\u2014 of my myself like laughing in that sort of hippie way. Not like a drunk way but like a benevolent alien who couldn\u2019t believe that this planet had donuts. They gave me one and I wish I could\u2019ve seen myself eating it. My wife was there. She doesn\u2019t do psychedelics, so she was just watching me, sort of babysitting me, to be honest. While I\u2019m eating the donut, she was just laughing so hard at just how happy I was. I wouldn\u2019t do that on a normal Sunday. That\u2019s a rare thing for me, but that\u2019s a true Donut Friend story. <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

4 p.m.: Feel fancy at <\/b>the <\/b>Huntington <\/b><\/p>\n

The greatest hack of parenting is the <\/b>Huntington<\/b><\/a>. Speaking of Phoebe Bridgers, she mentions in her track \u201cGarden Song,\u201d<\/a> jumping over the fence [at the Huntington], which I always think is a cute detail. I think they filmed \u201cBeverly Hills Ninja\u201d at the Japanese Gardens there. One of my favorite L.A. things to do is the white glove tea service. It\u2019s not that expensive and you just feel fancy. We\u2019ll also stop at the Chinese [garden] and get noodles there because every step of the way there\u2019s just constant eating. <\/p>\n

7 p.m.: <\/b> Vegan food done right<\/b><\/p>\n

If it were just Valerie and I, I would want to go to Crossroads<\/b><\/a> [Kitchen]. I love it to death. When the pandemic happened, they would text us and ask if we were OK and if we needed food. We were like \u201cWhat do you got?\u201d and the manager brought it over. If anyone\u2019s wondering if that\u2019s like a famous thing, I really don\u2019t think so. I really just think they\u2019re really about serving the community because I\u2019m not famous like that [laughs]. We\u2019ve been there enough, we\u2019ve had enough conversations and it\u2019s a real staple for us. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a vegan restaurant and I\u2019ve had meat-eating friends say that their carbonara is their favorite. It\u2019s not like one of those vegan places that\u2019s trying to trick you or deep-fry their way around things. They\u2019re just actually making you eat really delicious things that just happen to be like artichokes. I\u2019ve had so many birthdays there and you can tell this is where people who are looking for the best food in L.A. are going. <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

9 p.m.: Catch whatever is playing at Largo <\/b><\/p>\n

My favorite thing that I get to do once a month is Largo at the Coronet<\/b><\/a>. I literally once had a dream about a magical venue that feels safe and the crowd is always good and you just felt warm. Like if twinkle lights became a venue. That\u2019s Largo. It\u2019s the only place where if somebody\u2019s visiting L.A., I would say just go to Largo. It doesn\u2019t matter who\u2019s performing. One night it might be me, the next night it might be Chris Fleming, and then it might be Sarah Silverman. Then it might be improvised Shakespeare, and then it might be a live podcast. It doesn\u2019t matter. If Flanny [Mark Flanagan] booked it, it\u2019s exceptional. He\u2019s from Belfast and he\u2019s sort of mythic. <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

11 p.m.: Eat at Norms<\/b><\/p>\n

Norms<\/b><\/a> is literally one block away from Largo, and if Val and I were really having a kid-free night, she, Flanny, and I would go there to eat our celebration. Judd Apatow does the show a lot and he loves food, so he\u2019d be there too. You get a milkshake or you get some fries, but it\u2019s open for 24 hours. I think L.A. gets a bad rep for not having diners. Granted in New York, they\u2019re everywhere. <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Midnight<\/b>: Enjoy \u201cblue couch time\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter what time it is when we get home, we have to watch at least one episode of something. \u201c30 Rock\u201d or right now we\u2019re watching \u201cBlack Rabbit,\u201d but that\u2019s not a good wind down show. Our couch is blue so we call it \u201cblue couch time\u201d and it\u2019s a ritual we just don\u2019t miss. It doesn\u2019t even matter what we\u2019re watching. We just want to be on that couch, even if it\u2019s just for 12 minutes. I can\u2019t go from the car to the bed. I want to go from the car to something else, then to bed. That\u2019s why houses have entryways or a mud room. There\u2019s supposed to be a threshold that you cross over, take off your coat and your shoes. You\u2019re entering a new space. For us, it\u2019s the blue couch. <\/p>\n