"Up in the mountains above Malibu, Saddle Peak Lodge is one of LA’s best destination restaurants. This massive place has history dating back to the Pony Express, but nowadays feels more like you’re eating dinner at Richard Branson’s hunting lodge in Montana. There are three separate floors, themed rooms (including an attic filled with tiny boats), and a sprawling patio overlooking the mountains that’ll accommodate any group size. There’s a big chance you’ll be seated next to a roaring fireplace, staring point-blank at a taxidermied deer, and eating giant plates of rare meat with your distant cousins, and you know what? You will feel great about it here." - jess basser sanders, brant cox, brett keating