Thirty years ago, comedian and actor Tig Notaro didn't have a clear direction in life, so he followed some childhood friends who wanted to get into entertainment to Los Angeles. With a secret desire to do stand-up comedy, Notaro decided to try his luck at various outlets in the city, which became the beginning of his successful career.
“I crashed on my friends' couch near the Hollywood Improv on Melrose, and a couple months later I got my own studio in the Miracle Mile area,” Notaro says. “I love all the options for everything in Los Angeles: the entertainment, the restaurants. I like to stay active. A lot of people love the hiking options in Los Angeles, and I'm one of them.”
In Sunday Funday, the people of Los Angeles tell us step by step their ideal Sunday in the city. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Notaro appears in Season 3 of Apple TV's “The Morning Show” and is a series regular on Paramount+'s “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,” as he was on “Star Trek: Discovery.” She is also a touring comedian and hosts “Handsome,” a comedy podcast, with Fortune Feimster and Mae Martin. The trio will tape a live show on May 4 in Wiltern with the cast of Netflix's “The Hunting Wives.” The live shows include interviews, but they also “incorporate some ridiculous stuff,” he says. For example, upon learning that some of the hosts always wanted to learn how to tap dance, Notaro “hired a tap instructor to come to our live show in Austin and teach us how to tap dance in front of an audience.”
Notaro lives near Hollywood with his wife, actress Stephanie Allynne, his 9-year-old fraternal twins, Max and Finn, and three cats, Fluff, Linus and Skip. When he's not on tour, his ideal Sundays include trying vegan restaurants, strolling through bookstores or museums, and doing something physically active with the family.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
6am: upstairs with the kids
Since we have active kids, we still get up at 6 a.m. or 6:30 a.m. on Sundays, but we're not in such a rush to get going. Stephanie and I often have coffee and chat together in the living room. I love that part of the day. Stephanie can prepare breakfast, but Max and Finn are quite self-sufficient and can prepare certain small meals for themselves. Max is starting to get interested in cooking, so he makes himself breakfast. Our family is vegan, but he eats eggs, so he often makes an egg sandwich with avocado.
9am: Daily morning walk.
After breakfast, we usually take a morning walk around our neighborhood. That's something I like to do every day, regardless of what's going on. Now that I'm not on tour as much, tennis is back on my agenda. So I would go to Plummer Park in West Hollywood and play for a while, then join the family for lunch.
11:30 am: Walk with a side of chickpea sandwich.
I love Trailsa cafe in Griffith Park, where you can eat outdoors. Serves simple food and has good vegan options. I usually buy their chickpea salad sandwich. The food there is great. Then we would visit Griffith Observatorywhere there is a lot to see. There are many great trails in the park, so we would do an hour-long hike before leaving.
3 p.m.: Scan the shelves for rock biographies.
Bookstores are fun, so we would head downtown to the last bookstorewhich is located in a historic building with many old books. I really love everything plant related and I'm a big music fan. That's why I love looking for vegan books, nutrition books, rock biographies, and autobiographies. It's fun to explore the stacks.
If we didn't go to the bookstore, we'd probably go to LACMA. Our kids are big art fans and want to attend every new exhibit. They love Hockney, Basquiat and Picasso, to name a few.
4 p.m.: Cuddle with beauties at a cat cafe
Then we would make a quick stop at [Crumbs & Whiskers]a kitten and cat cafe on Melrose for coffee, snacks and petting the cats. It is best to make reservations in advance. There are cats everywhere that need to be adopted. You can visit them and pet them, or find a new roommate. I would love to take some home, but we already have three.
5:30 pm Italian or sushi, but make it vegan
We are an early dinner family. A restaurant we like is Pura Vita in West Hollywood. It's the best vegan Italian food and for non-vegans, no one can tell the difference. It is the first 100% plant-based Italian restaurant in the United States. They make an amazing kale salad and I love the San Gennaro pizza. It has cashew mozzarella, tomato sauce, Italian sausage crumble and more.
Then there is plant in Marina del Rey. It's right on the harbor and you can sit outside and watch the boats come and go. They have sushi, salads, and other plant-based entrees. They have a delicious spicy tuna roll made with watermelon. They are magicians.
or there is Crossroads kitchen in West Hollywood. They play the best classic rock and the atmosphere is exclusive and elegant. The appetizers we always have are called Moroccan Cigars, which are vegan meat substitutes fried in a rolled dough. I really like the grilled lion's mane fillet, their mushroom fillet with truffled potatoes or the scallops Milanese, which have a choice of chicken or tofu. I put the chicken with arugula on top. I always love having a decaf espresso with dessert, which can be a brownie sundae or banana pudding.
7:30 p.m.: Comforting watch or word games
After dinner, kids usually like to watch an episode of “Friends,” a show enjoyed by all ages, sports, or “The Simpsons.” Or we would play a game where we would each add a word to a sentence and create a strange or funny long sentence until one of our kids said period. Then they will try to remember the complete phrase and repeat it.
9:30 p.m.: Bubble bath and then bed.
The kids usually go to bed at 8:30 pm and bedtime for us is 9:30 pm. Stephanie and I would read or chat. I like to take a bubble bath, if people must know. For me, the best Sundays mean finding a good balance between relaxing and being active. I feel very lucky that my family and I can do those things together.
