Iconic Los Angeles - Musso & Frank Grill

Good Evening Lovelies!

Two weeks ago, Bridget and I went out for "A Classy Hollywood Night" and it should come as no surprise that we had a fabulous time!  Instead of a full recap of that night, I wanted to highlight the two venues we visited as they are both classic Hollywood spots!  We started at the iconic Musso & Frank Grill.

Musso & Frank's history is long and incredibly glamorous!  Opening its doors in 1919, it has outlasted its counterparts and become the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Hollywood.  They opened when Hollywood Boulevard was little more than a dirt road and famously, Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, and Douglas Fairbanks would race down the street on horseback to dine here.  As you probably guessed, the loser would have to foot the bill.

Musso & Frank's has the best napkins you will find anywhere!

Bridget and I intentionally arrived early for our reservation in order to enjoy a cocktail at their amazing bar.

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Thanks to our Mad Men Cocktail Hour training, I was able to navigate the menu of vintage cocktails quite easily.  I felt super sophisticated!

We decided on Sidecars.  And. They. Were. Amazing!

The bar is located in the New Room.  It was moved from the other side of the restaurant in 1955 when what was then called the Back Room closed.  The Back Room, or Writer's Room, was an exclusive area where writers could write and drink undisturbed.  This space is no longer part of the restaurant and has opened as a bar in its own right - appropriately called The Writer's Room.

It's rather surprising that there haven't been a slew of things filmed in Musso & Frank's over the years, but two of the few are favorites of mine.  Ed Wood filmed the scene where Ed Wood meets Orson Wells in the Old Room.

Also filmed here, a few episodes of Mad Men.  This should come as no surprise since many of the locations used for the series are located in Hollywood, Downtown L.A., and Pasadena.

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Once you visit Musso & Frank, the booth shots used in the series are unmistakable, yet it was a scene (that I cannot find any visual evidence for) that was filmed at the bar that made me sit up and take notice.  The entire establishment is so unique that it cannot be mistaken for any other spot.

The ambiance of Musso & Frank's is absolutely amazing!  You step through the doors and step back in time.  Is there any other place that still has coat racks for each table?!?  I would put money on the fact that there are MAYBE a handful of others out there.

After we were seated, we received delectable bread, a menu, a wine list, and also some backstory about this slice of Hollywood history.

I think they are a being humble and a bit modest by using the tag line "Some Place to Eat" since for decades this was THE place to eat.  And to drink.  (And as far as I'm concerned, it still retains that status.)

Another interesting read was the menu.  There is so much about this place that I adore and one of the things is the sense of family and tradition.  It is still family owned and much of the menu has gone unchanged for almost one hundred years!  Which can make for some very interesting meal choices!

In addition to offerings such as Baked Escargot, Cold Smoked Tongue Sandwiches, Calf's Liver, and Lamb Kidneys, there were also so many appetizers that we had questions about that I think we were starting to try our server's patience...  But really, you can't see an Appetizer Frank without asking what exactly that is - for the record, it is tomato slices topped with sardines and hardboiled eggs.  Or see something like Half Avocado and wonder if there is something more to it - there is not.  Perhaps if we'd been more adventurous (or had multiple Sidecars at the bar), we would have ordered the mystery items and let the chips fall where they may.  

Also, my belief that I need to come here for Brunch was solidified when I spotted Flannel Cakes on the menu.  I'm not certain what they are, but I am certain that they would pair quite nicely with a mimosa.

Items which we are not used to seeing on a menu aside, there were so many things that looked absolutely delicious that we were having quite the time trying to decide.

And then we lost our minds.

Yes, it looks ridiculous.  Yes, it was ridiculous.  And yes, Bridget almost cried when she did not have enough room to finish her steak and I wasn't that far from doing the same when I was forced to leave some of my swordfish.  A-Mazing!!!!  While the fried zucchini and the asparagus were good, the stand out sides were the creamed spinach and the potatoes au gratin!  When I think of Old School dining, those are the two vegetables I think of and Musso & Frank has PERFECTED them over the last 94 years!  Ridiculous.  Seriously.  Ridiculous.

After we'd admitted defeat and had our table cleared, we ordered some Port to enjoy while we sat and took in our surroundings/ digested our fabulous meal.

 We took in our surroundings for so long that we not only had a little tiff...

Don't worry, they print a whole set of menus each day that reflect the date and specials, this was not defacing Musso's property.

But we essentially shut the place down!  This was quite beneficial when we made friends with the waitstaff as we were leaving and they had time to give us a little tour and some fantastic tidbits of information.

As I touched on before, the now separate Back Room or Writer's Room is predominantly where the writers hung out (go figure) starting in the 1930's.  According to one article I found, the booth that we inhabited that night was the usual booth of Raymond Chandler who legend has it, penned much of The Big Sleep in that very spot.  When you are standing at the bar, it is the fist booth against the wall to your right...oh how I wish I could have found some photographic evidence of that.  In addition to Chandler, the list of authors who called Musso & Frank home is quite long:  F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, T.S. Elliot, Aldous Huxley, John Steinbeck, John O'Hara, Dorothy Parker, Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut, and Charles Bukowski.  The Los Angeles Times once wrote that if you stood in the Back Room long enough, "...you would have seen every living writer you had every heard of, and some you would not know until later."  This is what Bukowski looked like on one of his visits.

Onto our tour of the Old Room.

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The first thing that they pointed out to us was the very first booth on the right if you come in from the back of the restaurant.  As Bridget and I had just watched L.A. Confidential earlier that day, we were floored when we were told this was Mickey Cohen's reserved booth!  Serendipitous!  One of the only historical characters in the novel and this is where he sat.  Please allow Bridget to Vanna White this booth for you with her fabulous sparkly clutch.

Next on the tour was the booth I was most excited about...my lady Marilyn's booth!  Too bad I was under the influence of cocktails, wine, and an absurd amount of food, or I would have been more aware of taking a fab photo.  But here is Bridget looking amazing and me looking, slightly less than amazing.  Must go back and try this again - Ooohh....Brunch in Marilyn's Booth?  I wonder if I can call in a reservation that specific?

And here, Kittens, is how a booth shot is really done.

The list of Hollywood A-List Regulars who ate and drank and held meetings and inked deals that made Hollywood history is incredibly long and spans generations:  Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, Elizabeth Taylor, Steve McQueen, Jimmy Stewart, Rita Hayworth, Groucho Marx, John Barrymore, and of course, Charlie Chaplin are merely the tip of the iceberg.  Chaplin was perhaps their first regular and the first booth once you come through the front door was widely known to be his.

After spending a few hours here, you will feel literary, talented, and perhaps even like something of a superhero.  At the back of the Old Room, there is an old phone booth that was used in the first Superman movie.  Or was it the series?  Either way, here is our friend ripping at his jacket to reveal his superhero outfit!

In addition to the history that took place within these walls, much of the charm comes from the staff.  Many of the servers and bartenders have been here for 30, 40, even 50 years and many have become celebrities in their own right.

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Manny Aguirre has been in the restaurant business for over fifty years, with Musso & Frank Grill since 1989 and has been written up in Esquire and Eater, though I'm sure there are many more.  People come in specifically to see him as well as the other two icons behind the bar, Ruben Rueda, and Maria Gurrola.  They've even got their own FaceBook page!   

This is Hollywood and Musso & Frank Grill most definitely has the glitz of Old Hollywood that you would expect with the mahogany wood and red leather booths, coat racks, and servers wearing red jackets, but this is family.  And you can feel it.  People enjoy being here, they care for each other and about the experience you have and they are spot on with their motto of "The history will bring you in, the food and the service will keep you coming back."

This was only my second time here, but I will definitely find myself here many more times in the future.  If you are still on the fence about paying this place a visit (HOW that is possible, I have no idea), perhaps this fantastic article will sway you.  It really captures something about the experience of visiting Musso & Frank Grill.

I urge you to pay them a visit, you will not regret you did.

XOXO!!

Kind of Obsessed with Charles Bukowski?

Yes, I think I might be obsessed with Charles Bukowski at the moment.

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I had never even heard of Bukowski before selecting his novel, Post Office, for the June Book Club.  After I made that selection, I started seeing people quote him and his work right and left and most of it is brilliant!

"Find what you love and let it kill you."

"Style is the answer to everything.
A fresh way to approach a dull or dangerous thing
To do a dull thing with style is preferable to doing a dangerous thing without it
To do a dangerous thing with style is what I call art."

"You have my soul and I have your money."

In doing research for the June Book Club post,  I found myself watching YouTube video after YouTube video and I'm still going.  There is just something about this sad man that draws me in.  He's gritty (a phrase I've used many times on the subject of Bukowski) and raw and drunk and full of pessimism.  And magnetic.

I find him fascinating.  The fact that he became one of the pivotal voices of Los Angeles during the '70's is especially interesting to me.  "You live in a town all your life, and you get to know every street corner. You've got the layout of the whole land. You have a picture of where you are...Since I was raised in L.A., I've always had the geographical and spiritual feeling of being here. I've had time to learn this city. I can't see any other place than L.A."  He didn't try to pretty things up - he was blunt and rude and honest and I think that spoke to many people.  His honesty and lack of forced form drew people to poetry that would probably not have given it a second thought before.  And he did it all while drunk (or maybe hungover).  While most people would look at him and think he was not a serious writer, he was.  It's mind boggling how prolific he was - he penned six novels, hundreds of short stories, and thousands of poems!

All these things can be cited when one selects him as one of the 'Greatest drunks of all time'.  There are MANY YouTube videos about Bukowski, but I think this one is the best overview I've come across so far.

These clips show different sides of Bukowski and are all fascinating in their own right.  Enjoy!

"Where the black pimps are, where the whores are, where the music is playing...where the jukeboxes are playing in bars, where the lights are on...that's where life is."

"I do not like the human race.  I don't like their heads, I don't like their faces, I don't like their feet, I don't like their conversations, I don't like their hairdos, I don't like their automobiles, I don't like their dogs or their cats or their roses."

"He is devoted to the de-Disneyfication of all of us.  Someone has to kick the Mickey Mouse out of our heads!"

"This three fingered son of a bitch that has no soul for christ sake...Mickey Mouse doesn't have a fucking soul!"

As soon as I have two hours, I'm going to watch this documentary.

Or if I only have 45 minutes, I'll give this one a go.

So that's where I'm at currently, in my little obsession with Charles Bukowski.  Do any of you find him as fascinating as I do?

"She' mad but she' magic.  There' no lie in her fire."
This man is magic.
XOXO

Brunch 07.07.2013 - Post Office Book Club Meeting

Post Office

Charles Bukowski, 1971

The Misfit, Santa Monica

Hello Lovelies!

Have you ever been super impressed with yourself?  It happens to me CONSTANTLY.  And the fact that I planned ahead for the June Book Club meeting for Post Office was just one of those instances.  Since there were three of us reading this novel and all three of us thoroughly enjoy Brunch, I thought it would be the perfect setting for this meeting.  Shortly after I announced the June selection, I put an invite together for Brunch on Sunday, July 7, though I was not exactly sure where we would be going.  After reading the novel, it was very apparent what type of venue would be appropriate.

A bar.

Since I have had The Misfit on my list of places to visit for a few months now and I knew that they served Brunch, I thought it was the absolute perfect opportunity to go!

Unfortunately, one of the fabulous Book Club members was unable to attend at the last minute, so that left Bridget and myself to enjoy a most FAB Brunch.  This is my new favorite spot.  And you're about to see why!

Per usual, we ordered a French Press full of fabulous coffee and got right to perusing the Brunch cocktails.

We both decided on the Bijou.  And it was heaven!!  Mine even came with a halo.

While the description on the menu sounded quite tasty yet somewhat plain, what was put in front of us was a fizzy glass of infused vodka, grapefruit juice, and bubbly poured over a cube of raw sugar.  So much better than we had expected!  Really, how often does that happen??

The lovely East Coast Bridget.  Wearing a suit for Brunch and totally classing up the place.

I have always felt strongly that the best food choices are made with a drink in hand, and that's exactly how we made our selections.

While the Brunch menu (in the box) is quite limited, they were some very yummy looking options.

I chose the Wild Mushroom Omelet

This French-style Omelet was light and fluffy and full of Gruyere and herbs.  It was lovely.

Bridget ordered the Shakshuka which was so spicy her "brow started dewing", but she requested a second order of bread to sop up all the yumminess that was set in front of her.  Draw your own conclusions.

Before we get to all the grittiness of the novel (yes, we had to remind ourselves of the fact that the main purpose of Brunch was to discuss Post Office), I'd like to show you around The Misfit a bit.  If you don't understand why I need to live in this place, we should really part ways now...

The only fault I could really find with The Misfit was the fact that the mirrors seem to have been neglected...

LOVED the recessed ceiling detailing!

"I love you to the point of madness."  I am enamored with this phrase...leave it to the French!

We will definitely be coming back for Happy Hour (though our Brunch cocktails fell into this category)!

As if the whole experience wasn't fabulous enough, after Brunch we received a complementary chocolate chip cookie with sea salt.  Probably the best chocolate chip cookie I've ever eaten.  Seriously.

I think it's pretty clear that we only did a very minimal amount of actual Book Club business, so we got to that after we left The Misfit.  Discussing this particular novel was something that could be done rather quickly as it was very short and a rather easy read.  Bridget and I both agreed that while this novel was short, it was exactly as long as it needed to be in order to still keep our interest.  I didn't particularly like Henry, our protagonist, but I didn't particularly dislike him either.  Bridget likened him to the anti-heroes that virtually every '90's sitcom was built around, though I disagree.  Those characters tended to have some incredibly likable attributes.  This one didn't.

There weren't many redeeming qualities that Henry himself had but he was real and the writing style was gritty, entertaining, and at times it was very funny - though I would not say it was 'one of the funniest books ever written' as is claimed on the cover.  While in no way was this book terribly literary in its use of foreshadowing or symbolism or any other classic elements, there was a charm about this work...it felt less like a novel and more like storytelling, a man telling HIS story.  In this case, the storyteller was a dirty old man with whiskey on his breath, swaying from side to side in his ratty old chair.  Bridget put it best when she said that she felt hungover after reading Post Office.  Hence the bar for Brunch.

Bukowski modeled Henry Chinaski after himself and did not sugarcoat his love of drink.

I do love a man with a cat.

I knew I was about to read something unlike anything I'd read before with the (anti)dedication...

"This is presented as a work of fiction and dedicated to nobody."

While this is more of a rambling story than anything else, there are some rather amusing passages and situations.  They are honest and many times, not particularly pretty, but it's refreshing since you rarely see them in most works since many take them themselves far too seriously.  "But I couldn't help thinking, god, all these mailmen do is drop in their letters and get laid. This is the job for me, oh yes yes yes."  Sometimes there was humor and other times there was self deprecation and humor laced with deep sadness.  "I was lost in the dark and the rain. Was I some kind of idiot, actually? Did I make things happen to myself? It was possible. It was possible that I was subnormal, that I was lucky just to be alive."

There isn't much about this novel to summarize as the plot is far less important than the experience of reading it.  And while I first thought that I wouldn't be reading any of his other works, I'm not so sure about that anymore because, aside from some vulgarity that was even a little much for me, I really liked the experience of reading Post Office.  So much so that I did it in just one sitting.  There's this authenticity in the picture that Bukowski paints of the experience working in the Post Office since the story is autobiographical - he seems to have only changed a few names along the way.  The novel was published very shortly after he left the post office after working there for nearly 12 years and in a letter written to a friend of his, he explains, "I have one of two choices - stay in the post office and go crazy...or stay out here and play at writer and starve. I have decided to starve."  Another very authentic aspect of the novel is his depiction of Los Angeles - a depiction which can only come from someone who has spent their entire life here.  Southern California natives do not feel the need to only show the glitz that most people associate with L.A.  The seedy underbelly, the grit, the fact that it is the birthplace of the Noir genre is such a large part of this city's history and Bukowski had seen and felt it all.  His family moved to South Central Los Angeles when he was just 10 years old and he never really left - spending the rest of his life living in various places in L.A., in mostly rough areas which greatly influenced his writing.  In 1986, Time called Bukowski a "laureate of American lowlife".  If you want an idea of Bukowski's voice, you can take a short tour of L.A. with him.  It's especially fun because he seems to have had a few drinks before (and possibly during) this little tour from 1985!

I hope you enjoyed the June Book Club Selection.  If you didn't read it last month and you need a short, interesting read, you might consider picking up Post Office.  Also, if you haven't made up your mind about joining the Book Club for July, I have the feeling that while The Misfit is my new favorite Brunch spot, the outing for July's Book Club Meeting is going to be far more fabulous than this one!  It's going to be quite the field trip!!

I hope to see you all at the next Book Club meeting!  Happy reading lovelies!!
XOXO