Loews Exec Loves Chez Jay, SM Seafood

For "," an ongoing and open-ended series, we ask prominent figures in the community what they most enjoy about the city. In this edition, we touch base with Paul Leclerc, who was recently named managing director of .

A native of Canada, Leclerc was the hotel's executive assistant manager from 2000 until '03, when he went to Florida to serve as general manager of Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando. Now he is back and happy to be enjoying the following Santa Monica destinations (along with Loews, of course):

1. A show at . "It features one of the most unique performance spaces in the country. And its mission to help build new generations of artists is inspiring."

2. "makes the list (my wife will be happy with this one). It has a great vibe and manages to appeal to tourists and locals. I am looking forward to taking a class at (my wife will be happy about that one, too)."

3. "is by far the best 'dive' in town. We offer to take clients anywhere they want to go in Los Angeles, and Chez Jay is always on their list. Some major deals have gone down over a pint of beer."

4. . "I stop by their market on my way home from work quite often. It’s family-owned and it shows in the quality of their products. My youngest [child] is a big fan of their stuffed salmon."