Making room for friends and family

Lisa Kudrow became a small-screen legend as part of the “Friends” crew from 1994 to 2004, but she’s palling around on screens of all sizes these days.

The actress is working on a genealogy-based series for NBC called “Who Do You Think You Are?” and stars in the recent DVD release of the theatrical comedy “Kabluey.” You can catch her online playing a therapist at www.lstudio.com in a series of shorts titled “Web Therapy,” and she’s also got several movies in the works, including “Hotel for Dogs,” coming to theaters in January.

When she’s not filling screens, Lisa’s kicking back at her L.A. home with her husband, Michel Stern, and son, Julian.

A good start

We like to try new restaurants. I went out to BLT Steak on Sunset in West Hollywood recently and that was fun. They bring you free popovers to start, and you can’t hate that. I had a filet mignon, and they have different sauces.

Staying in

We enjoy inviting people over to the house and having some food prepared and served by an unbelievably good place in the Valley called Baked It Myself. They make everything look really beautiful and they have fantastic food, a huge variety, and fantastic desserts. You can even have a server and someone to clean up.

Geronimo!

I learn a lot of things to do from the birthday parties I go to with my son, and the last thing we did that was ridiculously fun was iFly at Universal CityWalk. You wear this parachute-type jumpsuit and they have these tubes that blast air and keep you suspended as if you’re sky diving. It was a group of 10-year-old boys and one girl, and they were just over the moon about this place.

One-stop entertainment

Another of our favorite things to do with our son, Julian, is to go to Jerry’s Deli and get a bunch of food and then go to Pinz next door to bowl and play video games. I like to bowl sometimes.

Coton club

For some reason I’m always having to buy men’s shirts for gifts, and there’s this place called Cafe Coton that has really great-looking all-cotton shirts, and they’re not super-expensive. It’s like a no-frills store just full of cubbies.

Get creative

Parents are always looking for a place to take their kids on weekends, and this Sunday there’s a great event called the P.S. Arts Express Yourself festival at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. It’s huge, and there are all sorts of booths of art and music activities for kids, and all the proceeds go to restoring arts education in schools.

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mark.sachs@latimes.com