My Favorite Weekend: Mark McGrath

The past year has been a momentous one for Mark McGrath, frontman for the band Sugar Ray. For starters, he’s finally gotten engaged to longtime girlfriend (16 years long!) Carin Kingsland, and in April the couple welcomed the birth of twins, Lydon Edward and Hartley Grace.

As if that weren’t enough to keep him busy, he’s also the new host of the syndicated game show “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!,” which premieres Sept. 20 on VH1 and MyNetworkTV.

“It’s like karaoke on steroids,” says McGrath of the show, “and you have a chance to win $50,000. It was already a proven franchise with Wayne Brady as host, so I’m just going to try to stay out of the way and be the gatekeeper. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Kind of like his weekends.

Class is in session

On a Friday we’ll go to the twins class we’ve been taking at this place on Ventura called Babies First Class. There are about 10 other couples there with twins. It’s a lot of fun commiserating with the other parents, and we always end up learning some secrets and getting some good advice.

After that, if our nanny isn’t too tired from the week, she can stay late and Carin and I will have a little date night at Jones on Santa Monica, right across from Formosa. It’s been there forever and for me it feels like home. I remember going there after my band got signed in 1994. Our bass player’s cousin ran the kitchen. Great drinks, great steaks.

All around town

On Saturday morning I’ll go for a workout at Equinox on Sunset. It’s got great sight lines for watching all the other people working out, because I need to be inspired. And I like the energy there and the TVs are nice. After that, I’ll grab Carin and the kids and we’ll go for a walk around Hancock Park. It’s an idyllic neighborhood, which is why they use it so often for commercials, movies and TV shows. Beautiful houses, and there’s so much history there.

Nearby is a good place for lunch, Pink’s, which is a must if you haven’t been there. The lines are usually long, so it’s best to get there right after they open. But even if you have to wait, it’s worth it.

Night life

On Saturday night we’ll hook up with another couple or two and head out to dinner. I think Boa does the best steak in L.A. It’s a stunning-looking restaurant and the food is insane, so it’s a good night to let the diets go and just order a steak and the mac and cheese, the creamed corn and that wedge salad with blue cheese and you’ll be good.

A more mellow place, especially if we didn’t feel like getting dressed up, is Oakfire Pizza on La Cienega. They’ve got TVs to watch sports, you can have a pitcher of beer and a great pizza. Then if we want to keep it going we’ll go to the Dark Room on Melrose. It’s just a very under-the-radar bar that has the best jukebox in town.

Home or away

On Sundays I’ll watch football for 16 hours, but if my fiancée really feels like going out, we like the brunch at the Sunset Marquis, which just had a big remodel. We’ll go with some other couples, and brunch will last as long as the kids will allow.

And then no Sunday in L.A. will be complete without a walk around the Grove. Babies and strollers were made for the Grove — out in the fresh air, great for people-watching. It’s also a good celebrity-spotting place; I think TMZ just camps out there. And yet it feels so un-Hollywood. I’m from Orange County, and the Grove feels as if it could be plopped anywhere there and it would be right at home.

mark.sachs@latimes.com