How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Eva Longoria
(Illustration by Lindsey Made This; Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
Sundays have always been a “sacred” day for Eva Longoria.
Growing up in Texas, the Golden Globe-nominated actor would go to Sunday Mass with her family before heading to one of her favorite restaurants, Luby’s, where she’d order a fried fish platter with mashed potatoes, corn, buttery dinner rolls and as much soda as she wanted.
“I would still order that today,” she says. “It was such a Sunday treat.”
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
After more than a decade, the “Desperate Housewives” star is making her grand return to the small screen in “Land of Women,” which premiered this month on Apple TV+. Longoria plays New York socialite Gala, who’s forced to flee her comfortable life after discovering that her husband is on the run from some dangerous criminals. To hide, Longoria’s character brings her teenage daughter (Victoria Bazúa) and aging mother (Carmen Maura) along with her to Spain’s dreamy wine country. The endearing, bilingual dramedy marks Longoria’s first time acting in Spanish.
Eva Longoria has shaped her career beyond acting, adding director, producer, philanthropist and activist to her slate of achievements.
“It feels like TV is so gloom and it gives me so much anxiety,” says Longoria, who is also an executive producer on the show. “Every series is about a dystopian future, the world is going to end, an asteroid is coming or everybody is a zombie and I’m just like, ‘Ugh!’ I just want to escape. I want to have blue skies. I want to look at a show and say, ‘I want to go there.’ That’s what this show is.”
Although Longoria typically avoids leaving her house on Sundays — which she calls “dormingos,” meaning “sleepy Sundays” in Spanish — she concocted her ideal day in L.A. for us, which she’d spend with her husband, José “Pepe” Bastón, and 6-year-old son, Santiago, whom she calls “Santi.”
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Eva Longoria and Carmen Maura star in Apple TV+’s Spain-set family comedy, premiering Wednesday, that adds a dash of romance and danger.
7 a.m.: Cook ‘first’ breakfast for my son
I usually make my son his first breakfast at home because he wakes up and gets hungry. He likes boiled eggs. When I was young, I wouldn’t eat egg yolks. I don’t know where he got this from, but he also doesn’t like egg yolks. Then he’ll have some turkey sausage. I’ll always have some refried beans and fresh flour tortillas [on hand] because I make them for the week. Then we’ll lay in bed and watch a movie.
9 a.m.: A ‘bougie’ second breakfast at the Polo Lounge
On Sundays, we like to take my son to the Polo Lounge because he’s bougie. My son is very bougie. He likes the pancakes there, so Sunday mornings, we like to just wander into the Polo Lounge and get our son some silver dollar pancakes. I like the cappuccinos there. They also have a great avocado toast — that sounds boring. They have really good huevos rancheros as well, which my husband really likes.
10:30 a.m.: Pick up BBQ essentials
After breakfast, we’d stop by Jayde’s Market to pick up the food I’ll be cooking that afternoon. Jayde’s is a local market that has everything I need, including my tequila brand, Casa Del Sol. I can pop in, grab what I need and get back to my Sunday.
11 a.m.: Work out, then hop into the pool
Usually Santi will go into the pool and Pepe and I will go work out, even on a Sunday ’cause Sunday is so lazy, we can work out whenever we want. Our gym is right in front of the pool so we watch him as we work out, then we’ll join him right after.
Japanese yakitori. Middle Eastern kebab. Argentine and Chilean asados. Thai satays. Korean barbecue. All contribute to the great cacophony of how we cook with fire in Los Angeles.
12:30 p.m.: Sunday BBQ with family and friends
Then I usually start prepping a barbecue at home. I always make Sunday barbecues. Our friends and all of the kids come over and they hang out in the pool. That’s definitely our tradition. We always grill so it’s usually rib-eyes, burgers, hot dogs or sausage links. Then I’ll make a salad — most of the time it’s potato salad — and we’ll make tacos out of all the meat. We’ll grill chicken and rib-eye. We always make tortillas and I always make guacamole. I have my Siete chips, the green ones, which are a must in our house. We usually graze a buffet I set out. Nobody leaves. It goes into night and then I end up cooking dinner as well.
7 p.m.: Dinner at Petit Trois
Once everybody is gone, we’ll put Santi to bed. We do bath time, books and then we usually lay with him until he falls asleep. Then we’ll catch a bite at Petit Trois in the Valley. Ugh, it’s my favorite. I like the chicken liver mousse, the mussels and also a nice glass of wine. Their menu is seasonal so it’s always different. Usually if we get the mussels, we’ll have the white wine, but if we have a steak, we’ll have a nice Bordeaux.
Sometimes it’s a toss-up between Petit Trois and Wally’s in Beverly Hills. [Wally’s has] great lentils, baked brie cheese inside bread topped with truffles, truffle pizza, an amazing bone marrow dish that is to die for and amazing charcuterie and cheese. They also have great cocktails. I like to get a Fogliano, a Negroni with prosecco. Of course, they have a great wine list. At Wally’s, you can have one glass of a really good bottle; you don’t have to buy the bottle.
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9 p.m.: Tea and TV before bed
We’ll come back and Pepe and I will both take our magnesium tea. We’ll drink it in bed. He likes to watch things to go to bed, so he’ll put on a series or a movie, and then he’s out within two minutes. Then I’m stuck, addicted to some random series.
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