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I"U I1 !L lS H EO F O R T H E A M E :R IC A N E X W F l E S S ~ k A T IN U M C A R D M E M B E R _ e M A R /A P l? {'- 19

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HONIEBASE as Angelesla brea avenue

Very Biedermeier There are onlytwo originals of this table by Josef Dan-hauser, the leading designer of Biedermeierfurniture in the 19th century. The repro-duction shown here ($5,400) can be hadat Vienna Woods, a small, family-runworkshop specializing in furniture of thatperiod. Pieces are made of flame birch,European cherry, or walnut, and veneersare made in the workshop and cut to thesame thickness as they were in Danhauser's

time. Proprietor Janusz Maskiewicz has beenat it for 30 years, having leamed the craft in

Poland. "I grew Lipwith Biedenneier," he says."It's always been part of my life." 351 South La

Brea Avenue; 323-954-9595; fax 323-954-0448.

Virtue is an attic of vintage ceramic pieces fromthe 18th to 20th centuries, many of them quirky,including one by an artisan identified only as "theJapanese Picasso." 149 South La Brea Avenue;323-932-1789; fax 323-932-1844. ~

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Plantation Hand AWest Indian-East Asian inter-pretation of tropical gentilityis the gist of the just-openedPlantation. "I like a masculinelook," explains co-owner anddesigner Craig Olsen. "That'swhy I use a lot of leather, sol-ids, herringbones, and stripes."We especially liked the cognacleather couch (above; $2,795)for its deep seat, and the Ca-fino leather chair (51,795). 144South La Brea Avenue; 323-932-0511; fax 323-932-0485.

Material Guy "I'm not aname person, 1 don't like to val-idate things with names," JasonAsch, the owner of DiamondFoam and Fabric (left), tells mebefore revealing that Tom Ford,Tom Hanks, and Ringo Starrshop here, LA.'s fabric ware-house extravaganza. You forgivehim his little bit of false modestybecause he so clearly loves thefabric world. "Look at this, Ger-man chenille," he exclaims, fin-gering the fabric. "It has chenillein the warp and the weft. That'swhat makes it unique!" Themanufacturer is small and is benton quality, damn the cost-justthe approach that wins Asch'saffection. Still, there are practicalreasons ro shop here, price beingforemost. (Italian chenille is $65-$80 a yard. "It's $260 at Ralph,"Asch says.) Timeliness roo. Aschgets new pattems our faster thanthe big houses because he's notcreating a line, just adding boltsto the already overflowing stock-room. Nice touch: the breadand cheese on the counter. 611South La Brea Avenue; 323-931-8148; fax 323-931-2086. ~

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