Sophia Kercher

At first glance, Michael Olajide Jr. — with his silver metal eye patch, superhuman-strong wiry frame, tight red Spandex and sneakers with giant silver-and-black wings — looks more like a cyborg than a fitness coach. His new Aerospace La Brea studio, with sleek all-white walls and high ceilings, feels equally......

The thrill of the hunt for furniture is only, well, thrilling when you have time on your side. Enter Salvare Goods, the charming salvaged-goods shop swelling with one-of-a-kind finds from factories, churches, barns, schools and eclectic homes. Salvare's owners have done the hunting for you. The sweet, doe-eyed Selina Becker and......

The striking, 1950s-era Mimoda Studio's floor-to-ceiling windows frame long-necked ballerinas, freewheeling movers and shakers, and bendy improv dancers. Guests enter through the adjacent and ever-happening Paper or Plastik Café, where on the second-story mezzanine they can eye elegant twirls and spins as they brunch. The ballet classes are led by......

The best pockets of Los Angeles feel like small towns, and the quaint Larchmont Village is one of those areas. The neighborhood's charm is anchored by Chevalier Books, a cozy independent bookstore that has been open since 1940. Avid readers return for the well-curated shelves, the helpful staff's handwritten recommendations......

Past the Hindu deities, past walls painted the color of the seven chakras and adorned with framed images of bearded gurus, is a heated room vibrating with positive energy as Solange plays softly in the background. This classroom is the epicenter of Russell Simmons' 8,000-square-foot yoga fortress, Tantris, where regulars......

Massage devotees in Los Angeles are all too familiar with skyrocketing prices for a massage that may or may not lead to a discounted quasi-spa joint that smells like sweaty feet and too much Hugo Boss cologne while a CD skipping Mozart plays in the background in a mediocre session......

There are certain locations in the city that transcend time and space. The small, tranquil Barai Day Spa is one such place. Here, in a room sectioned off by curtains to create personal sanctuaries, Barai offers affordable (and last-minute) Thai and Swedish massages that may make you forget worries, pains......