Year: 2012

The “Sylvester Stallone” House from “Pretty Woman”

A couple of weeks ago, while trying to figure out in what movie I had spotted L’Orangerie, aka Chez Quis restaurant from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (which, maddeningly, I still have yet to determine, by the way!), I started scanning through the 1990 romantic comedy Pretty Woman and found myself wondering why I had never stalked the house jokingly referred to as being Sylvester Stallone’s in the flick. Fellow stalker Chas, of the It’sFilmedThere website, had tracked down the Hollywood-area residence quite some time ago and, while the address had been on my “To Stalk” list ever since, for whatever reason, I had never made it out there. So I quickly decided to remedy the situation and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on over there just a few days later.

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At the very beginning of Pretty Woman, Edward Lewis (Richard Gere), while lost in Hollywood, spots a hobo on the sidewalk digging through some trash and pulls over to ask him the way to Beverly Hills. The hobo replies, “You’re here! That’s Sylvester Stallone’s house right there!” LOL LOL LOL I swear, I have seen Pretty Woman about one hundred times and that scene never fails to make me laugh!

To find “Sylvester Stallone’s house”, Chas tracked down a helpful crew member who told him the general vicinity in which it was located. From there, he simply scanned aerial views and it was not long until he found the right place. And, amazingly enough, despite the fact that over two decades have since passed, the property still looks almost exactly the same today as it did when Pretty Woman was filmed! The small front door/front porch area was at some point enclosed, but otherwise the place appears to have been untouched by time. So incredibly cool! In real life, the tiny home, which was originally built in 1902, measures 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 1,201 square feet.

On a Pretty Woman side-note – While scanning through the flick a couple of weeks back, I was knock-me-over-with-a-feather-shocked to discover that the lobby scenes were not filmed inside of the Regent Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills (pictured above) or on a soundstage at Disney Studios, as countless websites and books have suggested over the years.

Amazingly enough, the lobby scenes from Pretty Woman were actually shot at the since-demolished Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

What tipped me off to this fact was the famous Ambassador lobby fountain, the base of which is visible in the background of almost all of the hotel scenes. You can see a photograph of that fountain here.

Upon closer inspection, I spotted several other elements of the interior of the Ambassador lobby that matched perfectly with what appeared in Pretty Woman, including the curved, check-in desk, which you can see a photograph of here (credit).

and the gold-detailed ceilings and wood-paneled columns, which you can see a photograph of here (credit).

I also realized that the lobby lounge where Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) waited for Edward was actually the Ambassador’s famed The Palm Bar, which you can see photographs of here, here, and here.

And it has long been known that the ballroom where Vivian (aka Julia Roberts) learned the proper use of flatware and where Edward played the piano was the Ambassador’s Embassy ballroom, which you can see a photograph of here. So it now seems as if the vast majority of Pretty Woman was actually filmed inside of the Ambassador Hotel, which makes the fact that the structure no longer stands even more heartbreaking than it already was. Oh, how I wish I had seen that place in person! Sigh.

Big THANK YOU to Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, for finding this location. You can check out Chas’ extensive Pretty Woman filming locations page here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The “Sylvester Stallone” house from Pretty Woman is located at 1735 North Hudson Avenue in Hollywood.

January 24, 2012
Chez Cherie Cooking School from “I Love New York”

This year for Christmas, I decided to gift the Grim Cheaper with tickets to a cooking class. The GC is an absolutely FABULOUS cook, while I, on the other hand, can hardly crack an egg, as I mentioned in my January 2010 post about the home where Julia Child grew up. So I thought that taking a class together would be a fabulous opportunity for him to pick up some new tricks and for me to (possibly) learn some basics. After doing extensive research online, I came across Cherie Mercer Twohy’s Chez Cherie cooking school in La Canada Flintridge and became a bit enamored of the place. Most of Cherie’s classes are taught demonstration-style, rather than hands-on, and students are not only encouraged to bring a bottle of wine to enjoy during the lesson, but afterwards, the entire group gathers together to dine on the feast that Cherie has just created. More than simply courses, Cherie’s lessons sounded like full-on experiences, so I immediately signed us up for her Cold Weather Cooking Class, which we attended on the evening on January 10th. And, let me tell you, we had an absolute blast!

The moment we walked through Chez Cherie’s front door we were greeted by Cherie’s husband, who, taking note of the champagne bottle in the GC’s hand, immediately handed over two champagne glasses. It was then that I realized this was my kind of place. We were then led to the adorable kitchen area, where chairs were set up classroom-style for the 30 students in attendance. (At the time, I did not realize that the school was a filming location, so I, unfortunately, did not take any photographs before or during the lesson.)

When we entered the kitchen, my eye, of course, immediately went to the various celebrity photographs displayed on the wall and I just about fell over when I saw that Cherie had taken not one, but TWO pictures with the grande dame of cooking herself, Julia Child! How incredibly cool is that?? (That is also Jacques Pepin posing with Julia and Cherie in the photograph on the right.)

Cherie also had pictures with Paula Deen and her husband, Michael Groover;

Season 6 Top Chef finalist Kevin Gillespie;

and No Reservations’ Anthony Bourdain. Love it!

On our menu for the evening were the following dishes: Pomegranate-Braised Short Ribs, Parsnip Mashed Potatoes, Spanish Flavors Meatloaf with Romesco Glaze, Pork and Pumpkin Chili, and Sticky Caramel Pudding – the recipes for which were authored by Cherie herself. And I have to say that, even though I am not a fan of pork or red meat, I loved ALL of the offerings – even the short ribs! The class, which lasted about two hours, was thoroughly entertaining, as well, and because it was demonstration-style, I was able to really pay attention and felt like I learned quite a bit – as much as any non-domestic goddess like myself could be expected to learn, anyway. The GC even picked up a few tricks of the trade to add to his extensive repertoire. All in all, we had a fabulous evening and I am fairly certain that we will be attending classes at Chez Cherie on a regular basis from now on. I am dying to enroll in the hands-on Romantic Dinner for Two lesson being offered on Valentine’s Day, but I am not sure that the GC will fork over the $170 tuition cost. (Pictured above is Chez Cherie’s absolutely ADORABLE dining area where we ate our meal.)

Cherie Mercer Twohy actually began her culinary career later in life. After her three children were of school-age, she decided to enroll in the California School of Culinary Arts where she received her Professional Culinary Arts diploma. Shortly thereafter, she went to work as an instructor at HomeChef Pasadena. When the cooking school suddenly and unexpectedly went out of business, Cherie took matters into her own hands by leasing a demonstration kitchen (on her own dime) to finish out a 12-week cooking series, which her beloved students had paid for in advance. She founded Chez Cherie in 2000 on the belief that cooking should be fun and relaxed, and the place has been going strong ever since. Cherie is also a Level 1 Sommelier, the author of the wildly popular I Love Trader Joe’s cookbook series, and a member of the Certified Culinary Professional – a highly prestigious designation assigned to only 300 chefs worldwide. After we finished eating, I, of course, just had to approach Cherie to ask if any television shows or movies had been filmed at the school and I was floored to learn that I Love New York had shot an episode there. (I would just like to make it very clear here that I am not in any way a fan of I Love New York, but was excited to learn the information as it meant that I could blog about Chez Cherie.)

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In the Season 1 episode of I Love New York titled “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, New York (Tiffany Pollard) takes contestant Chance (Kamal Givens) on a date at Chez Cherie cooking school. Cherie told us that her husband had handled all of the details of booking the shoot and that, prior to the filming, she had no idea what she was in store for. Needless to say, she was, ahem, surprised – especially when Chance and New York started furiously making out in the dining area. Before scanning through “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” to make screen captures for this post, I had never before watched an episode of I Love New York and, now that I have, I can honestly say that it was one of the most awful shows I have ever seen! The fact that there was a second season of it is mind-boggling! While watching, I was reminded of the scene in Billy Madison in which Billy (Adam Sandler) discusses the children’s book The Puppy Who Lost His Way at an academic contest, after which the Principal (James Downey) says, “Mr. Madison, what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.” (You can watch that clip by clicking above.) I can honestly say that I am definitely now dumber for having watched an episode of I Love New York. But I digress.

Quite a few areas of Chez Cherie cooking school appeared in I Love New York, including the entrance;

the kitchen;

and the dining room.

Cherie was even featured quite prominently in the episode.

Martin Yan, aka “Yan Can Cook”, also filmed a video demonstration of the Master Grade Knife Sharpener at Chez Cherie. I was especially excited to hear this as Martin had founded his Yan Can International Cooking School in Foster City, California – the small suburb of San Francisco where I grew up.

Martin Yan–Master Grade Knife Sharpener at Chez Cherie

You can watch Martin’s Master Grade Knife Sharpener demonstration by clicking above.

Chef Ben Ford, who just so happens to be Harrison Ford’s son, also once taught a blind man how to cut a lobster while at Chez Cherie for some sort of cooking show, but I was, unfortunately, unable to find any information about it online.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Chez Cherie cooking school, from the “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” episode of I Love New York, is located at 1401 Foothill Boulevard in La Canada Flintridge. You can visit the school’s official website here. La Crescenta Motel, aka the Bide-A-Way Motel from Win A Date with Tad Hamilton, is located just up the road at 2413 Foothill Boulevard in La Crescenta.

January 23, 2012
The “L.A. Story” Gas Station

Last week, while doing research for my post on L’Orangerie, aka Chez Quis restaurant from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I came across some information on The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations website about the Gilmore Gasoline Service Station on Highland Avenue in Hollywood – a very cool-looking, old-time gas station that appeared in the 1991 movie L.A. Story. Thanks to the place’s unique, Art Deco architecture and historic feel, I became just a wee-bit obsessed with it and immediately added the address to my ever-growing “To-Stalk” list.

I think part of the reason that I became so enamored with the Gilmore Gasoline Service Station is that it reminded me of the circular, 50s-style drive-in restaurant that was used in Britney Spears’ “For Those Who Think Young” Pepsi commercial – which was sadly just a set that was built inside of a soundstage. For reasons that are beyond my comprehension, I have long been obsessed with all of the Pepsi ads featuring Britney. I honestly cannot get enough of ‘em. In fact, I just watched about twelve different versions of both “The Joy of Pepsi” and “For Those Who Thing Young” videos. But I digress. Anyway, because he has an affinity for all things historic, I figured that the Gilmore Gasoline Service Station was one location that the Grim Cheaper would actually not mind being dragged to. Sadly though, when we arrived, we found the structure to be in a pretty pitiful state. Such a shame!

The Gilmore Gasoline Service Station has an absolutely fascinating backstory. The structure was originally built for the Gilmore Oil Company, which was founded by one of the most influential and prominent families in Los Angeles history. Arthur Freemont “A.F.” Gilmore, a dairy business owner from Illinois who migrated to Southern California during the 1880s, found fortune in 1903 when he accidentally struck oil while drilling a water well on some property that he owned in the Rancho La Brea area. In 1919, after A.F. had passed away, his son, Earl, founded the Gilmore Petroleum Company, which later became the Gilmore Oil Company. Their Red Line service stations, which bore the motto “Someday you will own a horseless carriage. Our gasoline will run it.”, soon became common fixtures across all of Los Angeles. The Gilmore family is most famous, though, for founding the Gilmore Bank and the world-famous Farmers Market at 3rd & Fairfax, and for building Gilmore Field – the now-defunct minor league baseball park that was once home to the Hollywood Stars baseball team.

The double-canopied Gilmore Gasoline Service Station was designed in 1935 by an engineer named R.J. Kadow. It was one of the first Gilmore stations to be constructed and is now, sadly, one of the last remaining of its kind. After the Gilmore Oil Company was sold in 1945, the station went through a succession of different owners and, in early 1990, after the then-tenant decided not to renew his lease, there was talk of possibly tearing the structure down. Thankfully, the Melrose Neighborhood Association stepped in and, on March 23rd, 1992, the building was declared a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument. Despite the station’s historic status, though, it has somehow been allowed to fall into disarray in recent years. According to a November 1990 Los Angeles Times article, there were once plans to restore the building and open a snack shop/gas station/classic car rental on the site, but I am not sure if those plans ever came to fruition and, as you can see above, the place is currently in dire straights. You can check out some photographs of the station taken during better days here.

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In L.A. Story, Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin) and Sara McDowel (Victoria Tennant) stop at the Gilmore Gasoline Service Station, where they ask for a “full service” treatment – their tank filled, car washed, and all four tires removed and exchanged LOL – before heading to a fund-raising dinner. As you can see in the screen captures pictured above, at the time that the movie was filmed in 1991, the gas station was an incredibly cool little place. I cannot express how disheartening it was to discover that a unique piece of Southern California’s history – one with historic cultural status, no less – has been allowed to deteriorate in such a way. As I said earlier, what a shame!

Fellow stalker Chas, of the It’sFilmedThere website, also let me know that the station was featured in the 1982 movie 48 Hours as the supposed San-Francisco-area gas station where parolee Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) told detective Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) where he had hidden the stolen money.

On an L.A. Story side-note – I would so love to find the supposed-Santa-Barbara-area El Pollo del Mar (the Chicken of the Sea – LOL) motel that appeared in the flick. I know that the interior scenes were filmed at the since-demolished Ambassador Hotel, but I am interested in tracking down the exterior. Does anyone happen to know where it is?

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The former Gilmore Gasoline Service Station, from L.A. Story, is located at 859 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood.

January 20, 2012
The Mansion from “The Beverly Hillbillies” Movie

Last week, I received an email from a fellow stalker named Chris who wanted to know if I had any information on the mansion where the Clampett family – Jed (Jim Varney), Jethro Bodine (Diedrich Bader), Elly May (Erika Eleniak), and Granny (Cloris Leachman) – lived in the 1993 movie The Beverly Hillbillies. Well, not only did I have information on the place, but I had actually written a post about the Pasadena-area residence way back in November of 2008. Because it was in the early days of my blog, though, and therefore a very brief write-up sans screen captures, I thought that the dwelling was most-definitely worthy of a re-stalk. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on back out there this past weekend.

The Beverly Hillbillies movie mansion has a history that reads like a Hollywood script. The property was originally built in 1913 for Henry House, a wealthy lumber company executive from Houston, Texas, and his wife, Carrie Bruce. At the time, the Italian-Renaissance-Revival-style residence, which was designed by the Hunt & Burns architecture team, measured 10,714 square feet and was numbered 1284 South Oakland Avenue. (For whatever reason, the address was changed to 1288 South Oakland Avenue in 1989.) Henry’s cousin, Colonel Edward House, just so happened to be the Chief of Staff to President Woodrow Wilson, and it is said that the President visited the estate on occasion, earning it the nickname “Wilson’s Western White House”.

In 1971, following the death of Henry and Carrie’s daughter, Minnie B.R. Davis, the property was purchased by one-time child actor/real estate investor Mario Milano, who quickly angered neighbors by repeatedly renting out the premises for filming. In 1979, the dwelling was sold yet again, this time to Dovie Beams de Villagran, a former B-movie actress and once-mistress of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. Dovie and her husband, Sergio, continued on with the tradition of renting out the residence to filming companies (at a rate of $3,000 per day) and the place became a favorite of location scouts. Ten years after purchasing the mansion, though, the flamboyant couple, who at one time owned 215 properties and 16 automobiles, found themselves unable to pay their debts, which totaled $22 million, and were forced to file for bankruptcy.

Shortly thereafter, the house was purchased by a wealthy Japanese investor, who immediately set about restoring the once-grand mansion. Sadly though, on September 1, 1988, tragedy struck when a pipe-welding accident led to a massive fire which destroyed most of the dwelling. Not to be deterred, in 1990 the owners razed the charred remains and started construction on a new, 20,900-square-foot Neoclassical-style mansion on the same site. They hired Santa Monica architecture firm Warner & Gray to design the residence and it wound up looking much like the original. According to a history of the mansion that was put together by Tim Gregory, the Building Biographer, construction permits were again filed in 1998 – this time to remodel the home, demolish a portion of it and add on 9,701 square feet of space. So, a mere eight years after the place had been completely rebuilt from the ground up, the owners decided to rebuild it all over again. Makes no sense to me, but, then again, I am not a millionaire. The monstrous mansion pictured above, which looks nothing like the original, is the result of that 1998 redesign. In 2006, the residence, which oddly enough has never been lived in, was offered for sale for a cool $52 million, making it the most expensive house ever listed in the area at the time.

The now-31,415-square-foot, 15-bedroom, 19-bath residence features a 4.63-acre plot of land, a man-made lake complete with a waterfall, a topiary zoo, a guest house, a guard shack, European-style gardens, an outdoor Grecian-style pool, a koi pond, an elevator, a huge Porte-cochere, a media room, a wine cellar, a ballroom, a subterranean 8-car garage, a two-story detached garage, a stream room, and a massage room. And while the mansion itself does not really float my boat, the grounds are pretty darn spectacular, as you can see above! You can also check out some close-up photographs of the exterior of the property here.

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In the 1972 movie The Eyes of Charles Sand, the original mansion that stood on the property was where Emily Parkhurst (Sharon Farrell) lived and saw visions of her dead brother.

The interior of the mansion, with its distinctive wallpaper, was also used in the production.

In the Season 2 episodes of Dallas titled “John Ewing: Part I” and “John Ewing: Part II”, the mansion stood in for the supposed Forth Worth, Texas-area rehab center where a pregnant Sue Ellen Ewing (Linda Gray) was sent to recover from alcohol abuse.

The interior of the home was also used as the interior of the rehab in those episodes.

In the Season 4 episode of Charlie’s Angels titled “One of Our Angels is Missing”, the mansion stood in for the supposed Bel-Air-area property where Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith) and Tiffany Welles (Shelley Hack) set up a sting operation in order to entrap a parolee named Rick Devlin (Jonathan Goldsmith).

The real life interior of the property was also featured in the episode.

In the Season 3 episode of The Incredible Hulk titled “Falling Angels”, the mansion was where Mrs. Taylor (Arline Anderson) lived.

The gate that The Incredible Hulk (Lou Ferrigno) ran through in the episode is located on Woodland Road, around the corner from the mansion’s main entrance.

The interior of the property also appeared in the episode.

In the Season 4 episode of Hart to Hart titled “In the Hart of the Night”, the mansion was where King Raschid (George Innes) stayed while visiting Los Angeles.

Thanks to the Knight Rider Online forum, I learned that the mansion also appeared in the Season 1 episode of Knight Rider titled “The Topaz Connection”, as the home where Escape Magazine publisher Phillip Royce (John Ericson) lived.

The home’s real life interior was also featured in the episode.

Also thanks to the Knight Rider Online forum, I learned that in the Season 3 episode titled “Knight in Disgrace”, the mansion was where Boyd LaSalle (aka John Considine) lived.

In the Season 4 episode of Murder, She Wrote titled “Curse of the Daanau”, the mansion belonged to Richard Hazlitt (aka Richard Bradford).

The interior of the property also made an appearance in the episode.

The Beverly Hillbillies movie was filmed in 1993, a few years after the mansion had burned down and been rebuilt. As you can see above, the rebuilt residence bore a strong resemblance to its predecessor, albeit for a drastic change in paint color. Pepto-Bismol, anyone?

Only the exterior of the property was used in the filming of The Beverly Hillbillies. According to the Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book, the interior of four different Beverly Hills mansions stood in for the interior of the Clampett residence in the film.

In The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, the grounds of the mansion were used as the grounds of the Genovian palace, where Queen Clarisse Renaldi (Julie Andrews) lived. Fellow stalker JC posted a comment on my November 2008 post about the mansion which said, “For about 3 or 4 months at the end of 2003/beginning of 2004 I worked on a movie called The Princess Diaries 2 and we filmed for about 2 or 3 weeks at this house. The sheer enormity of it was breath-taking, but at that time the house was simply a giant shell, with a beautiful exterior and grounds, but basically nothing but sheetrock and concrete on the inside”. Oddly enough, I think that the property still remains in an unfinished state to this day, which explains why it has never been lived in.

The mansion’s garden area also appeared in Gwen Stefani’s 2004 “What You Waiting For” music video.

Gwen Stefani–”What You Waiting For”–1288 S. Oakland Avenue, Pasadena

You can watch that video by clicking above.

While scanning through the Season 6 episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation titled “Rashomama” while making screen captures for my post on Frank’s Coffee Shop and Restaurant from Larry Crowne a couple of weeks back, I was shocked when I spotted the mansion pop up. In the episode, the property stood in for Cupid’s Kiss, the supposed Las-Vegas-area wedding venue where Diane Chase (Veronica Cartwright) was murdered.

And while several websites have stated that a 2006 episode of CSI: Miami was also filmed at the mansion, I believe that information is incorrect. Because the property’s now-defunct real estate listing had mentioned that there was an indoor, subterranean pool and spa with his-and-her locker rooms on the premises, I assumed that the Season 4 episode “Driven” – in which a group of women is robbed at gunpoint while at an upscale day spa – had been filmed there. A reader named Brandi posted a comment on this post, though, stating that the indoor spa from the episode was actually located inside of a house on Mapleton Drive in the Holmby Hills. I did a bit of research and quickly found pictures of the property Brandi mentioned and she was indeed correct. After scanning through countless 2006 episodes of CSI: Miami, I have to say that I do not believe the show ever actually filmed at the mansion. I think that when CSI filmed the “Rashomama” episode in early 2006, some websites reported incorrectly that it was CSI: Miami that was filming. If anyone knows any different, please let me know.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The mansion from the Beverly Hillbillies movie is located at 1288 South Oakland Avenue in Pasadena. The Governor’s mansion from the television series Benson is located across the street at 1365 South Oakland Avenue.

January 19, 2012
Whoopsie!

I bit off a bit more than I could chew with the post that I was planning on publishing today and unfortunately ran out of time and was unable to finish it. I promise to get it done for tomorrow, though. So, until then, Happy Stalking!

January 18, 2012
The Painted Nail from “Nail Files”

Back in November, when my good friends, fellow stalkers Lavonna, Melissa, Beth, Kim, and Sandy, came out to Los Angeles from Ohio for a little stalking vacay, Lavonna booked them all a pampering session at The Painted Nail in Sherman Oaks – the salon that is featured regularly on the TV Guide Network’s reality series Nail Files. And while Lavonna had invited me to join them for some medi/pedi action, because I knew that the Grim Cheaper would be having none of that, I, unfortunately, had to say no. I did stop by the salon for a brief visit that evening, though, so that I could take some photographs of the place and hopefully blog about it. Well, imagine my surprise when, a few days later, Lavonna, being the incredible sweetheart that she is, gave me a gift card for an Ice Cream Sundae pedicure, The Painted Nail’s specialty, so that I could experience the salon for myself. How awesome is that!?!? I finally used my gift card last Friday morning and I have to say that it was an incredible experience! Thank you, Lavonna!!

Before learning about The Painted Nail from Lavonna, I had actually never before heard of the place, or of Nail Files for that matter. I have said it before and I will say it again – Lavonna is a FAR better stalker than I am. She somehow manages to have her hand firmly on the celebrity pulse of Los Angeles, despite living thousands of miles away in Cincinnati. (That’s Lavonna and the gang, in manicure and pedicure heaven, pictured above.)

As you can see, The Painted Nail is an absolutely darling place.

The salon was founded by Katie Cazorla, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Nails” (that is her pictured above with Lavonna and Company), who moved to Los Angeles from Elmira, New York in 2000 in order to pursue a career in acting. One evening, after receiving an overpriced, shoddy manicure at one of Southern California’s run-of-the-mill, cookie-cutter salons, Katie went home and decided to take matters into her own hands by opening up her very own nail bar. That dream was realized in March of 2009 when The Painted Nail first opened its doors. The place was an immediate success, attracting celebrities and locals alike, and in 2010 Citysearch named The Painted Nail “the Best Mani/Pedi”.

The Painted Nail was so successful, in fact, that it was not long before Katie decided to expand, building a private party room upstairs from the salon (pictured above) and The Hair and Make-Up Bar next door. (Katie is currently engaged to music producer Walter Afanasieff, which explains the numerous multi-platinum records which decorate the party room’s walls. I cannot tell you how incredibly cool it was to see those records in person!)

During her November visit, Lavonna had gotten her nails done by manicurist Lisa Person and had insisted that I do the same on my visit. And I am so glad that she did, because Lisa was nothing short of UH-MA-ZING! Not only does the woman give an incredible massage, but she also has to be one of THE nicest people I have ever met in my life. I had so much fun just hanging out with her and dishing about Tinseltown that the pedicure almost seemed to be beside the point.

And she even painted these amazing little flowers on my toes, which I am in love with. I do have to note, though, that when I walked in the door, the GC took one look at my feet and said, “Your toes look ridiculous!” LOL LOL LOL Ah, men! Gotta love ‘em!

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The first episode of Nail Files premiered in June of last year and was an immediate hit, drawing in almost 1.6 million viewers. And while a series about a nail salon does not sound like it would be very interesting, I watched an episode while doing research for this post and can honestly say that it was riveting! And the fact that celebs regularly drop-in only adds to the allure.

In the episode I watched, which was titled “Let’s Do The Oscars!”, Dean McDermott stopped by to pick up some gifts for his wife, Tori Spelling.

The Painted Nail was also featured in the Season 1 episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills titled “Payback’s a Bitch . . . Just Ask Your Husband” in the scene in which Kim Richards and Taylor Armstrong try to mend their volatile friendship over Ice Cream Sundae manicures. And the salon was also supposedly featured in an episode of Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, but I was not able to figure out which one.

Besides being a filming location, The Painted Nail is also a celebrity hot spot. Just a few of the stars who have gotten their mani and pedi on there include Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, singer Tiffany, Sarah Chalke, Lisa Rinna, Debbie Gibson, Vanessa Williams, the Jersey Shore girls, Paula Abdul, Candace Cameron, Teri Hatcher, Haylie Duff, Hilary Duff, Melina Kanakaredes, Nicole Eggert, and Brooke Burke.

On an AMAZING side-note – For Christmas, fellow stalker Lavonna gifted me with a pair of Tom Ford “Jennifer” sunglasses, the very same sunglasses that my girl Jen Aniston wears on an almost daily basis. As you can imagine, I almost had a full-blown heart-attack upon opening the box! I have been coveting those sunglasses for about three years now and the fact that I now have a pair . . . well, let’s just say that I am still pinching myself over it! Best! Present! Ever! Thank you, Lavonna!

Now we’re twins! (And yes, I do realize I am a total dork!)

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for telling me about this location and for the fabulous gift card! (And for the amazing sunglasses!)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Painted Nail, from Nail Files, is located at 13327 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. You can visit the salon’s official website here. I highly recommend requesting manicurist Lisa Person – she is incredible!

January 17, 2012
Happy Martin Luther King Day!

I will be taking today off in honor of Martin Luther King Day. I hope all of my fellow stalkers have a fabulous three-day weekend and I promise to be back tomorrow with a whole new post.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

January 16, 2012
The “Larry Crowne” Cul-de-sac

The last Larry Crowne location that I stalked recently – and there will be more coming, believe me, because Mike, from MovieShotsLA, has found quite a few others – is the cul-de-sac where Larry Crowne (aka Tom Hanks) and his garage-sale-hosting neighbors, Lamar Johnson (aka Cedric the Entertainer) and wife B’Ella Johnson (aka Taraji P. Henson), lived. Mike tracked down this locale quite a few months back, long before I had ever even seen the movie, in fact. Thanks to the flick’s production notes, he knew that the cul-de-sac was located somewhere in Northridge, so he searched aerial views of the area and, sure enough, it was not long before he found the right place. Whoo hoo! So, last weekend, before heading to West Hollywood to grab some cocktails at Nobu, aka the Ferris Bueller Day’s Off restaurant which I blogged about yesterday, I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to the San Fernando Valley to stalk the Larry Crowne houses.

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Larry’s one-story, ranch-style residence, which he eventually gives back to the bank due to a foreclosure, shows up countless times throughout the movie.

I absolutely love the outfit Larry wore on moving day, by the way. I am so gonna have to get something similar for the GC! But I digress.

In real life, Larry’s house is pretty darn huge, although its appearance from the street is somewhat deceiving. While its façade seems to be rather small, the dwelling actually boasts 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, a whopping 3,900 square feet of living space, and a .52-acre plot of land. I am very happy to report, though, that aside from a change in paint color, the place looks pretty much the same in person as it did onscreen. For some reason, producers covered over the front window and window-box with a large amount of foliage during the filming, though. I am guessing that was done to make the home appear more masculine, ’cause nothing screams “a single man lives here” like a window box full of red annuals. His garage also seems to have been covered over for the movie, most likely to make the residence appear to be smaller than it actually is.

According to the Larry Crowne production notes, the interior of Larry’s house, where he learned the benefits of feng shui, was a set that was built inside of a soundstage at what, I believe, was Universal Studios.

Lamar and B’Ella’s house also shows up numerous times throughout the movie.

And it, too, looks much the same in person as it appeared onscreen.

What I was not expecting, though, was that the Larry Crowne houses were not both located at the end of the cul-de-sac, as they seemed to be in the movie. As you can see above, while Larry’s house is located at the end, Lamar and B’Ella’s is actually on the side.

I had originally envisioned the properties to be situated in the same manner that the two houses are situated above and was a bit thrown off when I got there and realized that they were actually located kitty-corner to where they had seemed to be onscreen.

You can see where the homes are situated in the aerial view pictured above.

And while Larry and Lamar’s street name was referred to as “Derby Court” in the movie, producers did use both of the properties’ real life address numbers.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Larry Crowne’s house from Larry Crowne is located at 8656 Balcom Avenue in Northridge. Lamar and B’Ella’s house is located next door at 8642 Balcom Avenue.

January 13, 2012
L’Orangerie – aka Chez Quis Restaurant from "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off"

Back in 2010, this stalker became just a wee-bit obsessed with tracking down the restaurant interior which was used as the fictional Chez Quis French eatery in the iconic 1986 movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I knew from listening to director John Hughes’ DVD commentary that the restaurant was somewhere in the Los Angeles area, but try as I might, I just could not seem to locate it. Because I feared that the place had most likely long since closed down and, as such, any hope of finding it would be extremely difficult, I enlisted fellow stalker Chas, of the It’sFilmedThere website, to contact a few crew members on my behalf. Amazingly enough, Chas was somehow able to get his hands on the email address of Jonathan Schmock, the actor who played the Chez Quis Maitre D’ in the movie. Even more amazing, though, was the fact that Jonathan wrote him back almost immediately and let him know that the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off restaurant was none other than L’Orangerie in West Hollywood, an incredibly famous French eatery which had sadly closed it doors in 2006 and had been remodeled and re-imagined as Nobu shortly thereafter. I cannot express how heartbreaking it was to learn this information as I had moved to LA in 2000, six full years before the restaurant, which I would have given my eye-teeth to stalk, closed down. I added Nobu to my “To-Stalk” list regardless, with the hope that some remnant of L’Orangerie might still exist on the premises. And this past Saturday evening, I finally, finally made it out there to investigate.

Before arriving at Nobu, I was nervous that the place would be extremely hoity-toity and not allow photographs of any kind, but I am very happy to report that nothing could have been further from the truth! The staff was not only exceedingly friendly and let me take all of the pictures that I wanted, but everyone that I spoke with was beyond excited to learn that their place of work was the site of the famous Ferris Bueller restaurant scene. Upon leaving, the manager even told me that he could not wait to start informing people of Nobu’s famous cinematic connection. AND, much to the Grim Cheaper’s delight, the eatery offers a very reasonable Happy Hour every single night (even Saturdays and Sundays!) in the bar and lounge area. This obviously goes without saying, being that the restaurant is known for being a culinary giant, but the food there was absolutely incredible! To say that the GC and I are in love with the place would be a gross understatement. And the cherry on top of my evening was when I discovered that the main body and layout of Nobu is exactly the same as that of L’Orangerie, so the place is still somewhat (albeit very, very remotely) recognizable from Ferris Bueller.

A couple of months back, I happened to find a Flikr photo album featuring pictures of L’Orangerie that a foodie blogger named Abby, from the Pleasure Palate website, had posted online. I contacted Abby and asked if she would be willing to let me feature her photographs in this post and she not only wrote me back immediately, but graciously agreed. A HUGE, HEARTFELT thank you goes out to her. All of the pictures of L’Orangerie which appear in this post were taken by her, unless otherwise noted.

According to the book Hollywood & the Best of Los Angeles Alive!, L’Orangerie was one of only two L.A.-area eateries that counted itself as a member of Relais & Chateaux, an extremely exclusive luxury hotel and gourmet restaurant group whose mission is to spread its “unique art de vivre across the globe by selecting outstanding properties with a truly unique character”. Alive!, which was published in 2002, also states, “The only restaurant in Los Angeles that is more expensive than L’Orangerie is Ginza Sushi-Ko in Beverly Hills, a sushi place that is the most expensive restaurant in the US, at around $300 a person.” Can you imagine if the GC and I had actually had a chance to stalk L’Orangerie when it was still in operation? One glance at the menu and he would have had a full-blown heart attack on the spot! L’Orangerie, which is French for “the orangery” – a beautifully-constructed greenhouse- or conservatory-type structure that was popular in Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries and was used to house orange trees during the cold winter months – was originally founded in 1978 by native French couple Gerard and Virginie Ferry. The restaurant quickly became one of Los Angeles’ most premiere and exclusive eateries and remained so until it closed on December 31st, 2006, at which point the Nobu Group took over and an extensive remodel was begun.

Nobu opened in the Spring of 2008 and, while the dark, sleek, modern design is completely different from L’Orangerie’s bright, white, terraced-look, the overall shape and layout of the structure remains exactly the same. L’Orangerie was composed of four dining areas – the bar and lounge;

the main dining room (the picture above is from Mariani’s Virtual Gourmet Newsletter, but I believe it originally came from the now-defunct L’Orangerie website);

the outdoor terrace;

and the central courtyard . . .

which featured a retracting roof.

Nobu is also comprised of those same four dining areas – the bar and lounge;

the main dining room, which is on the northern side of the restaurant;

the terrace, which has since been enclosed and is now where one enters the restaurant;

and the central courtyard, which still features a retractable roof. If you will notice above, the room has six curtained doorways which are in the same spot where the French doors which opened to the courtyard were located when it was L’Orangerie. So incredibly cool!

There is also an additional lounge area which links all of the rooms together. That lounge area is the former L’Orangerie lobby, aka the spot where Ferris Bueller (aka Matthew Broderick) famously had his girlfriend, Sloane Peterson (aka Mia Sara), call Chez Quis to ask for Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago.

In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , Ferris, Sloane, and Ferris’ best friend, Cameron Frye (aka Alan Ruck), dine at Chez Quis while playing hooky from school. And while the exterior of the restaurant was actually the exterior of a private home located at 22 West Schiller Street in Chicago . . .

. . . all of the interiors were shot on location at L’Orangerie.

Including, I believe, the bathroom scene, in which Ferris delivers a long narrative to the camera while his father is, unbeknownst to him, using a nearby stall. I am kicking myself right now that I did not send the GC into Nobu’s men’s room to see if at all resembled the shape and size of the Ferris Bueller bathroom. Ah well, next time.

Because L’Orangerie was so incredibly picturesque, it saw more than its fair share of filming over the years. In the Season 1 episode of The Colbys titled “A House Divided”, L’Orangerie played itself as the spot where Sable Scott Colby (aka Beverly Hills, 90210’s Stephanie Beacham) had lunch with Zach Powers (aka Ricardo Montalban). As you can see in the second screen capture above, the entryway area looks exactly the same in The Colbys as it did in Ferris Bueller. Even the podium is a perfect match. Love it!

In the Season 3 episode of Hart to Hart titled “Blue and Broken-Harted”, L’Orangerie was where Jonathan Hart (aka Robert Wagner) and Jennifer Hart (aka Stefanie Powers) had lunch and ran into gossip columnist George Christy, who played himself. While there, Jennifer confronts Jonathan about her fear that he is having an affair. In 1982, when the episode was filmed, L’Orangerie did not have a front patio area, but one was later built, along with a large cement wall which surrounded it.

In the “Blue and Broken-Harted” episode, Jonathan and Jennifer dined in pretty much the same spot where the Ferris Bueller gang dined.

In 1982’s Bare Essence, L’Orangerie popped up as “the chicest restaurant in town” where clothing designer Matt Phillips (aka Joel Higgins) took New-York-newcomer Tyger Hayes (aka Genie Francis) for lunch.

In the 1983 made-for-television movie Making of a Male Model, L’Orangerie stood in for the supposed New York restaurant where Kay Dillon (aka Joan Collins) met male model Tyler Burnett (aka Jon-Erik Hexum) upon his return to Manhattan.

In 1985’s St. Elmo’s Fire, L’Orangerie stood in for the supposed Washington, D.C.-area restaurant where Kirby Keger (aka Emilio Estevez) and Dale Biberman (aka Andie MacDowell) went on a very brief date.

In 1985’s Brewster’s Millions, L’Orangerie was where Montgomery Brewster (aka Richard Pryor) took hundreds of random people for lunch immediately after inheriting $30 million.

In 2003’s Intolerable Cruelty, L’Orangerie was featured as the spot where Miles (aka George Clooney) met Marylin (aka Catherine Zeta Jones) for an introductory dinner.

Most recently, L’Orangerie appeared in the Season 2 episode of The Closer titled “Aftertaste” as L’Amboise, the eatery where Walter LaSalle (aka Francois Giroday) was arrested and where restaurant critic Tom Newman (aka John Billingsley) confessed to the murder of Karen Bevis (aka Julie Wagner).

I also spotted L’Orangerie pop up in a movie or television show that I watched a few months back, but, for whatever reason, I failed to write the information down in my stalking notebook and now, for the life of me, I cannot remember what it was. I have been wracking my brain for the past two weeks trying to figure it out, all to no avail. Ironically enough, while I had mentioned the movie or television show to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, back when I spotted it, he also cannot remember what it was. He has spent countless (and I do mean countless) hours over the past few weeks trying to help me figure it out, though. At one point, he texted me that he was looking through the 60th page of L’Orangerie search results on Google. The 60th page!!!!! All of the information in this post actually came from his extensive research. So thank you, Mike! All that work, though, and neither of us did ever figure it out. L’Orangerie’s courtyard (a photograph of which – one that I got off of the EaterLA website, who in turn got it from the Relais & Chateaux website – is pictured above) is the room that I remember appearing in the production. Does it look familiar to anyone? I know the answer will come to me as soon as I stop thinking about it, and when it does, I will update this post.

Fellow stalker Gilles in France also let me know that L’Orangerie was featured in both the pilot episode of L.A. Law and the 1982 Danielle Steele made-for-television movie Secrets, but unfortunately neither of those productions are available for rent or download anywhere, so I was unable to make screen captures of them for this post.

I can say with certainty, though, that L’Orangerie was not the restaurant that appeared in Some Kind of Wonderful, as some websites have stated. Some Kind of Wonderful was filmed just down the street at the former L’Ermitage restaurant, now Koi, located at 730 North La Cienega Boulevard.

There have also been some online reports that The Blues Brothers was filmed at the same restaurant as Ferris Bueller, but, as you can see above, that information is incorrect, as well. The Blues Brothers was actually filmed at Chez Paul, the legendary French establishment that was formerly located at 660 North Rush Street in Chicago, Illinois. You can read more about that location on The Blues Brothers Central website here.

Besides being a filming location, L’Orangerie was also a major celebrity hotspot. Motley Crew’s Vince Neil and former Playboy Playmate Heidi Mark were married there on May 28th, 2000, as were Fred Savage and Jennifer Stone on August 7th, 2004. Rob Lowe’s 40th birthday party was held at the restaurant. Teri Hatcher and Ryan Seacrest once had a date there, Ronald and Nancy Reagan were regulars, and Brad Pitt and my girl Jen Aniston shocked fellow patrons by cuddling during a three-hour candlelit dinner just a few weeks after announcing their separation. Brad also supposedly took Angelina Jolie to L’Orangerie for a meal during the filming of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which I, of course, was not especially happy to hear.

L’Orangerie- the Ferris Bueller restaurant

You can watch a video which shows the interior of the former L’Orangerie restaurant by clicking above.

Big THANK YOU to Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, for finding this location and an even BIGGER THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for going above and beyond the call of duty (of both stalking and friendship) by spending countless hours doing research for me and reading through 60-plus pages of search results on Google while trying to figure out what movie it was that I had seen recently that had been filmed at L’Orangerie.

And a HUGE thank you to Abby, of the Pleasure Palate website, for so graciously allowing me to feature her photographs of L’Orangerie restaurant on my website. This post would not have been the same without her fabulous pictures! You can read Abby’s write-up on her dining experience at L’Orangerie here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Nobu, aka the former L’Orangerie restaurant, aka the interior of Chez Quis from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, is located at 903 North La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

January 12, 2012
Mercedes’ Apartment Building from “Larry Crowne”

The only Larry Crowne filming location that fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, did not track down was the mid-century-style apartment building where East Valley Community College professor Mercedes Tainot (aka Julia Roberts) – that’s “T-A-I-N-O-T, not Tae Bow, not Tai Chi, not Tie Knot” – lived with her philandering husband, Dean Tainot (aka Bryan Cranston). And I just have to say here that I absolutely LOVED the scene in which “professional blog writer” Dean, trying to defend the fact that he does not have an actual job, says to Mercedes, “I had four postings today alone! Blog-caster . . . Sky-scan . . . Parse-it-twelve.com . . . ”, to which she responds, “They are not postings, they’re comments!” Cracks me up every time! Anyway, although Mercedes’ apartment building looks very much like a San-Fernando-Valley-area structure, I had an inkling that it might actually be located in Pasadena and, sure enough, it was! A quick input of the terms “Larry Crowne”, “filming” and “Pasadena” led me to this link on the Before the Trailer website, which stated that the flick had done some shooting at 325 South Orange Grove Boulevard on May 25th of last year. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there to stalk the place this past weekend.

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Mercedes and Dean’s apartment building showed up numerous times throughout Larry Crowne and, because I just really liked the look of the place, I had been absolutely desperate to stalk it.

And I am very happy to report that it did not disappoint – the complex looks EXACTLY the same in person as it did onscreen! The portion of the building that appeared in Larry Crowne is not actually the structure’s main entrance on Orange Grove Boulevard, but a side entrance located just around the corner on Arbor Street.

Which is the same area where Dean was dropped off by a taxi cab after spending the night in jail.

While we were stalking the place, we happened to speak with some residents of the building who honestly could NOT have been nicer. They not only answered all of my silly little questions about the filming and told me that Tom Hanks had been extremely nice and that the shoot, which took one day to complete, was an incredibly fun experience, but they also pointed me in the exact direction of Mercedes’ apartment. Whoo-hoo!

So I, of course, just had to take a photograph in front of her door.

As you can see above, Mercedes’ apartment looks exactly the same in person as it did onscreen.

As does the neighbor’s apartment, which appeared in the background of the scene in which Larry Crowne (aka Tom Hanks) brought Mercedes home on his scooter.

Only the exterior of the apartment building was used in the filming. According to the Larry Crowne production notes, the interior of Mercedes and Dean’s (what they call) townhouse was just a set that was built inside of a soundstage at what I believe was Universal Studios. I am seriously in love with the Tainot’s kitchen, by the way. Sigh!

And I also so LOVE how the art department matched the interior detailing of the apartment to the real-life iron detailing of the building, as you can see above. Talk about attention to detail!

The actual unit where filming took place, Unit 325, which measures 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 1,396 square feet, was for sale recently. As you can see above, the interior looks nothing like the set that was created for the filming. You can check out the place’s real estate listing here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Mercedes’ apartment building from Larry Crowne is located at 325 South Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena. The side of the building that is shown in the movie can be found on Arbor Street, just around the corner from the main entrance.

January 11, 2012