Food, family and fisticuffs

EVAN HANDLER has guest-starred in scores of top-drawer TV series (perhaps most memorably as Charlotte’s Jewish husband on “Sex and the City”), and he’s a regular on Showtime’s “Californication,” starring David Duchovny. But what really jumps out from his résumé is this mid-’80s entry: “Dropped out of ‘Biloxi Blues’ on Broadway after being diagnosed with leukemia.” Handler wrote a 1996 book about the experience (“Time on Fire”) and has another one coming out next year. He lives with gusto in L.A. with his wife, Elisa, and their seven-month-old daughter, Sofia.

The right stuff

On Friday night, my Italian wife and I like to cook, and we’re sticklers for ingredients. Just the shopping can take us all over town. For produce we go to Whole Foods on Fairfax and 3rd, though they don’t stock DeCecco pasta anymore, so that’s another stop. For meat, we like Huntington Meats across the street in the Farmers Market. For fish, we go to the other end of town -- Santa Monica Seafood on Colorado. For cheeses and olives and sun-dried tomatoes, it’s the Cheese Shop of Beverly Hills on Beverly Drive, and Parmigiano/Reggiano at Costco on Washington and Lincoln. By the time we get everything gathered, we’re so tired we usually order a pizza.

But if I’ve been working late on a Friday, my wife will already be asleep, so I might like to go out for a drink before heading home. Sometimes I’ll stop at Hal’s on Abbot Kinney in Venice, or Father’s Office, on Montana. Another place I like is the Tropicana Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel, in Hollywood. But the women there are aggressive. They mean business at the Tropicana. So, while I have a good time, I tend to disappoint them in the end. I’m faithful to my wife.

Santa Monica idyll

Saturday is “Make believe we still live in Santa Monica” day. We drive to Palisades Park and spread a blanket to let Sofia play and breathe some ocean air. Maybe later we stop in at Cafe Luxxe on Montana, or go to Urth Caffé, where they make nice designs on their cappuccino foam.

For dinner, there’s excellent Italian food at Locanda Veneta and a killer Kobe beef burger at Napa Valley Grille on Glendon.

Trading blows

On Sunday I try to exercise. There’s an exquisite bike ride along Rambla Pacifico and Piuma Road that Lance Armstrong turned me on to when I met him a few years ago. The only problem is it’s extremely difficult, so I’ve only done it in my car. (Don’t tell my trainer.) If I want to take an actual bike ride, I head for the Grove, which is only a mile from my house. We take our daughter there to watch the water fountains and other children.

Sometimes I box at a gym where David Duchovny goes. I’ve tried to get him to fight me a bunch of times, but he won’t do it. He’s afraid of me.

Once I’ve burned a few calories, I like to pack on several hundred more as quickly as possible. The round Belgian chocolate brownies at Le Pain Quotidien not only accomplish this with dazzling speed, but they taste really good too. You can find them all over town including Melrose Place in west Hollywood.

In the evening we might see a movie. Like everybody else, I like the ArcLight in Hollywood. The place makes it almost impossible to enjoy a film anywhere else.