Named after the English card game, Whist is the elegant restaurant inside the Viceroy Hotel (and outside near its pool) designed by superstar/socialite Kelly Wearstler. But the menu provides plate-watching as exciting as the people-watching.

Chef Warren Schwartz, most recently at Saddle Peak Lodge, brings more reason than ever to sit in the cool environs with all the pretty people. Before he came along, Whist always seemed to play second fiddle to the Cameo Bar—the cabana-lined indoor-and-outdoor bar that draws Westside hotties in droves—probably because the menu was too heavy for the restaurant's whimsi-cool Brit/Regency decor. But Schwartz worked magic at Saddle Peak, turning game dishes into haute cuisine, and has given a much-needed lighter touch to Whist. Often from local farmers markets, the season's best produce is the focus in uncomplicated yet creative dishes. The Sunday buffet brunch, with a mammoth spread inside featuring waffles, omelets, sweetbreads and a rotating variety of protein- and sugar-rich indulgences, is a decadent way to toast the weekend; it's pricey but worth it ($55 for food, an extra $15 for limitless champagne, mimosas or Bloody Marys). All that's missing are the manservants to fan you with large palm fronds.