At play away from her ‘Dollhouse’

Eliza Dushku has had tongues wagging all over Tinseltown lately, partly for a candid interview she gave on Howard Stern’s satellite radio show, and partly for her particularly wicked turn as an alien in a commercial for Hulu.

But mostly the talk has been about “Dollhouse,” the hot new sci-fi Fox series that premiered last month. If you haven’t caught it yet, Dushku says tonight would be a perfect time to jump on board.

“Starting up a new show is always difficult, particularly with all the high expectations,” said the 27-year-old Hollywood Hills resident. “It was leading up to Episode 6 that [series creator] Joss Whedon, the other writers and everyone close to the project began feeling that the show was really taking off.

“It’s been a huge adventure for all of us, and we’re all excited with how it’s growing.”

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Close to home

Pace is a great neighborhood restaurant, smack in the middle of the hills on Laurel Canyon. It has all organic and locally grown ingredients. I go for the cedar-plank salmon and root vegetables, but everything is so healthy and delicious. And there’s the Laurel Canyon Country Store right above it where I can grab some firewood and head to my little bungalow with friends after a great dinner.

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Three’s company

I have these two big, sweet dogs, a golden retriever named Max Factor and a Bernese mountain dog named Rigby Idaho, and on Saturday mornings we’ll go hiking on the trails behind my house. The Bernese in particular is such an athlete, she really keeps me on point. After that, Hugo’s is a great brunch place. Almost everything on the menu is pretty healthy. I love the Asian chicken stir-fry with kelp noodles -- it makes me feel like I’m being really naughty and eating like a pig, but it’s actually really good for you.

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Night moves

I love the downtown area. I used to come to L.A. just for films and started going to Disney Hall with my mother to hear the philharmonic. We love the Ahmanson too. I’m usually not out in the trendy clubs, although on any given night I love popping into Bardot for the great live shows. It’s the trendy restaurant-nightclub inside Avalon Hollywood.

I’m also a big Dan Tana’s girl for dinner. And I recently went to XIV, Michael Mina’s place. There’s a lot of eye candy going on there.

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Soaking up Sunday

On Sundays I try to meet up with friends or catch up with family. And I love reading the L.A. Times in the mornings and just relaxing at my house. Grace Slick used to own it; it’s just a little bungalow tucked into the hills with a nice backyard and a Jacuzzi.

Later, I might go to a Dodgers game with friends and then afterward, head over to a cool Thai place in Silver Lake called Rambutan. And after dinner, they have a little lounge right next door called Hush that’s the best.

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mark.sachs@latimes.com