It was around my fifth outfit change for dinner at BOA Steakhouse — the West Hollywood restaurant where "influencers go to see and be seen," as a New York Times headline recently proclaimed — that I was reminded of my first taste of LA glamour: crashing a party at Mark Zuckerberg's Bel Air mansion.
"Crashing" might not be the right word, but technically I wasn't invited. A friend of a friend — the kind you only find in LA, with an ex-boyfriend who happened to be a superstar DJ twice her age — was on the list and said I could go without her. My friends and I dressed in our "best" outfits (bodycon skirts and lace bandeaus) and tried to play it cool as we sat in the backyard patio, surrounded by glamorous women with fresh blowouts and Christian Louboutin shoes. We called it quits after 30 minutes.
It's been eight years since Zuck's party, but that feeling of insecurity felt fresh as ever as I headed to BOA, where Gen Z is at the top of the A-list. The restaurant has become a familiar backdrop in the paparazzi pics and Instagram grids of YouTube and TikTok's biggest stars. Its most expensive steak even has a starring role in Bryce Hall's profile photo.
But what is it like to dine in influencer paradise? Is it teenagers galore? Is the food any good? Would I feel like a 21-year-old lost in a billionaire's mansion again, wearing the wrong clothes and far less expensive shoes?
I decided to find out.