April 2020 – IAMNOTASTALKER

April 29, 2020April 28, 2020

The Galley from “The Laundromat”

Instagram has been life-changing, as far as ease of taking photographs goes. Before restaurant and shop owners recognized the influencing and advertising power of the social media platform, I was regularly blocked from snapping pictures of places I stalked. Now image capturing is encouraged and it has been nothing short of fabulous for my blog! One locale that never gave me grief over photos is The Galley, Santa Monica’s oldest restaurant. With some of the friendliest servers around and the best food in town, the eatery is one of my favorites in all of L.A. The Galley was actually one of the first places the Grim Cheaper took me for dinner very early on in our relationship and when he lived in Santa Monica, we would drop by almost every Friday night for its stellar happy hour. While I officially stalked it back in March 2013 (hence my dated haircut above) and listed it in My Guide to L.A. – Restaurants in 2015, I failed to dedicate a post to the site because, as far as I knew, nothing had been filmed on the premises. So I was ecstatic when I spotted it while scanning through the 2019 Netflix film The Laundromat earlier this year!

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Established by Ralph Stephan way back in 1934, The Galley was originally located on the Santa Monica Pier. It moved to its current home at 2442 Main Street in 1946.

Dimly lit, warm, and inviting, the watering hole was a hit with the Hollywood set from the get-go. Just a few of the famous names who regularly stopped by include Errol Flynn, Carole Lombard, Edward G. Robinson, Tyrone Power, Ann Sheridan, Joe DiMaggio, and my girl Marilyn Monroe. The latter two supposedly got into quite the argument at the bar one evening which had Joltin’ Joe storming out of the restaurant in anger.

The Galley’s interior is nautical in theme and definitely does not subscribe to the “less is more” mentality. Nearly every square inch of the place is decked out in netting, shells, portholes, and other sea-faring accoutrements, most of which are actual set pieces from the 1935 film Mutiny on the Bounty. Legend has it, the props were given to Stephan by the flick’s stars Clark Gable and Charles Laughton, both of whom were Galley regulars.

Most notable is the Bounty’s large wooden wheel, which hangs from the restaurant’s ceiling.

When Stephan retired in 1989, he sold the beloved eatery to Ron Schur, a longtime patron. As the story goes, Schur was a huge fan of The Galley’s signature salad dressing, a take on Thousand Island. One evening, he asked his regular waitress Millie for the recipe. She refused to tell him, which only served to make him more determined to obtain it. He returned night after night with the same inquiry until Millie finally bellowed, “If you wanna know so badly, why don’t you buy the f*cking place?” Well, Ron eventually did just that, taking over operations in January 1989. The restaurant – and the salad dressing – has been going strong ever since.

The eatery had fallen into a bit of disrepair prior to Schur taking over, so he immediately began restoring it, set-piece by set-piece. Thankfully, he made few changes, telling The News-Pilot in 1990, “Remodeling is the dirtiest word in the English language.” A man after my own heart! Along with expanding the space, doubling its capacity from 60 to 120, Ron also began serving lunch and added a back patio, now a favorite spot of patrons. Otherwise, though, The Galley remained pretty much as it was when it originally opened decades prior.

Schur, who goes by the name “Captain Ron,” also strung a plethora of multi-colored twinkle lights from the ceiling, creating what the Santa Monica Mirror described as an “ambiance of permanent Christmas.” As Ron informed the paper, he made the addition because Christmas creates “a feeling of good will toward all.” Though the lights definitely foster a feeling of warmth, they also wreaked havoc on many of my photos, as evidenced below.

Famous for its four-pound buckets of steamed clams, all of The Galley’s fare is stellar, though I have to say that I am partial to the chicken tacos, available in the bar. The restaurant’s happy hour, offered daily, is easily the best in Santa Monica with one of the most extensive menus I’ve ever come across. From the crab cakes to the fried calamari to the hot dog, you honestly can’t go wrong no matter what you order!

The eatery pops up several times in The Laundromat as the supposed Lake George, New York restaurant owned by Matthew Quirk (David Schwimmer) and Captain Paris (Robert Patrick). One look at the myriad of multi-colored Christmas lights and bamboo booths and I knew immediately filming had taken place at The Galley.

Considering its longevity and whimsical décor, I’m shocked that the restaurant has not appeared in more productions, but I have not been able to dig up any additional cameos.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Galley, from The Laundromat, is located at 2442 Main Street in Santa Monica’s Ocean Park neighborhood. You can visit the eatery’s official website here.

April 27, 2020April 25, 2020

The Peach Pit Pop-Up

Stalking opportunities sometimes get away from me. Such was the case with the Johnny Rockets restaurant on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles’ Fairfax District. The site, which was actually the well-known burger chain’s first location, had long been on my To-Stalk List. Though I’d dined there numerous times over the years, I had yet to officially visit it for the purposes of a post when it shuttered unexpectedly in 2015. So I was thrilled when I learned that a Peach Pit pop-up was being held on the premises last fall! I quickly secured a reservation and the Grim Cheaper and I headed into L.A. to attend, but the experience wasn’t exactly all I’d hoped for. Considering the place boasts ties to both Beverly Hills, 90210 and its spinoff, Melrose Place, though, I figured it was still worthy of a blog.

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The original Johnny Rockets first opened its doors smack dab in the middle of Melrose Avenue on June 6th, 1986. Established by former fashion merchandiser Ronn Teitelbaum, the tiny Streamline-Moderne eatery was a “non-gimmicky” re-imagining of the diners he visited as a boy in the 1940s, namely Santa Monica’s Incline and West L.A.’s The Apple Pan. Per the Pierce website, “He founded the concept on the belief that everyone deserves a place where they can escape from today’s complicated world and experience the uncomplicated goodness of classic Americana. The name originated by combining the timeless Johnny Appleseed story with the classic Oldsmobile Rocket 88. Together, they embody the concept of classic Americana and the promise of the future.” You can check out an image of the restaurant from its early days here. Boasting just twenty counter seats, the site became a fast hit and even had its share of celebrity fans including Milla Jovovich, who dropped by in 1987, Bob Hope and Elizabeth Taylor. Ronn soon began opening sister sites and offering franchise opportunities. By the time he decided to sell the company in 1995, there were more than 60 locations dotted throughout 6 countries! When he passed away in 2000, the chain counted 138 eateries in 25 states and 9 countries!

Unfortunately, when the lease on the Melrose outpost came up for renewal in 2015, a suitable agreement between landlord and tenant could not be reached and the landmark restaurant shuttered on October 26th of that year. It was the end of an era! Per the Melrose Action website, Johnny Rockets was “the last standing icon of the amazing 80’s era along Melrose Avenue.” The space has remained vacant ever since, aside from the occasional pop-up like the Peach Pit, which was the brainchild of the Fox network and Pop Sugar and ran in conjunction with the premiere of the BH90210 reboot.

The tiny eatery was completely transformed to resemble the West Beverly gang’s ‘90s hangout.

Memorabilia and cast images were everywhere, along with the familiar vinyl record wall decorations!

There was even a loving tribute to Luke Perry.

And the employees were all decked out in traditional Peach Pit garb.

The photo opportunities were endless.

But while things looked pretty good from afar . . .

. . . upon closer inspection, it became obvious the set-up was rather janky.

No part of it was executed particularly well.

It seemed kind of just thrown together, not to mention dirty (as evidenced below).

We visited during the end of the pop-up’s run and things were definitely falling apart. The tile floor in the main dining area was actually just some sort of vinyl adhesive and it was apparent from the peeling and rips that high heels had taken their toll on it throughout the six weeks the place was in operation. (You can see some of said peeling in the bottom left of the pic below.)

The food choices were also extremely limited, with a total of only seven food offerings. And there wasn’t a French fry to be found! I can only imagine what Nat would say! The prices weren’t cheap, either. Including the cost of admission, we spent about $110 to experience the Peach Pit pop-up and I can’t say it was really worth it.

To be fair, the Peach Pit was originally supposed to run for three days only, but it proved so popular that Fox and Pop Sugar handed over the reins to the team behind the Saved by the Bell-inspired pop-up Saved by the Max who extended things an additional six weeks. I don’t think the space was built to withstand that much time.

And I know it must sound like I’m nitpicking here, but I wasn’t the only one. I can’t tell you the number of people I overheard at nearby tables expressing dismay at how poorly executed the whole thing was. Several of my neighbors had been to Saved by the Max and were shocked at how much the Peach Pit paled by comparison. One party even asked for their money back upon entering and taking a look at the menu.

Nevertheless, the space was chock full of nostalgia and I don’t regret my visit for a moment – though I can’t say I’d feel comfortable recommending my fellow stalkers shell out $100+ to attend if the pop-up ever re-opens.

It is pretty fortuitous that the original Johnny Rockets was chosen as the site of the pop-up being that Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestley) drove Sheryl (Paula Irvine) by the restaurant while sightseeing in the Season 1 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “The First Time,” which aired in 1990. Amazingly, despite the passage of three decades (say whaaat?) and a change in paint color, the place is still very recognizable from its cameo. But that’s not the eatery’s only 90210 connection!

Jason also posed for photographer Jonathan Exley at the Melrose Place Johnny Rockets in 1991.

I remember my thirteen-year-old self first seeing the spread in a teen magazine and knowing instantly that the shoot took place at a Johnny Rockets, though I was unclear which one. When I first visited the Melrose outpost years later, I recognized it immediately and couldn’t have been more thrilled!

But wait, there’s one more Beverly Hills, 90210 tie! The burger joint was also featured weekly in the opening credits of the show’s 1992 spinoff, Melrose Place, which you can watch here.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Peach Pit Pop-up, aka the original Johnny Rockets from “The First Time” episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 and the Melrose Place opening credits, was formerly located at 7507 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles’ Fairfax District. Sadly, both the restaurant and the pop-up are now closed.

April 24, 2020April 23, 2020

The Lemonade Stand from “Little Fires Everywhere”

The Little Fires Everywhere finale left me flabbergasted! Maybe I paid too much attention to the series’ locations and not enough to its character development because I was rather shocked when (spoiler alert!) Elena Richardson (Reese Witherspoon) was painted as the story’s villain. Were we supposed to hate her from the outset? I liked her! Sure she’s high-strung, misguided, and a touch overbearing, but until the end of episode 7, when she revealed Mia Warren’s (Kerry Washington) secret, I never thought of her as bad, per se. In fact, I thought the series was about two very different mothers trying to do their best with the hands they were dealt. Never did I think that audiences were supposed to view Elena as evil and Mia, who stole a baby away from its father (which, to me, is unforgivable), as the show’s heroine. To be fair, I never read the book so I am probably missing some backstory, but wow, that ending was a real disappointment! Even the locations left me wanting, especially the house where the Richardson youngsters set up a lemonade stand at the episode’s opening. I was tipped off to the locale shortly after filming took place thanks to a reader who lives in the area. All I was told about the shoot was that it involved a lemonade stand. I stalked the pad shortly thereafter, was taken by its beauty, and have been eagerly awaiting its appearance ever since. So I was thrilled when the finale opened on a close-up of a lemonade pitcher. That thrill quickly became disappointment – and shock – when I saw that, thanks to extremely tight camerawork, the house in the background wasn’t visible at all! What the what? Despite that, because the residence is so picturesque, I deemed it worthy of a post.

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Built in 1925, the stately 2-story abode boasts a whopping 5,999 square feet of living space, 6 bedrooms, 6 baths, a fireplace, a pool, and a 0.43-acre lot.

But none of it appears in the Little Fires Everywhere finale, titled “Find a Way.”

The episode opens with a flashback scene of the Richardson children in their younger days setting up a “fat-free” lemonade stand. Only a portion of the curved front exterior staircase, a large hedge, and the sidewalk are shown in the segment.

Had the camera panned up a bit, audiences would have been given a pretty great view. Along with the house not being visible, one thing that seems a bit strange is the fact that the Richardson kids set up a lemonade stand in front of a home that is not their own. When I was a kid, my lemonade stands were always in front of my residence or on a street corner, neither of which is the case here. You might be thinking ‘Maybe the segment was supposed to take place in front of the Richardson pad, but for whatever reason, they had to shoot elsewhere, which explains the background not being shown.’ But at one point Lexie Richardson (Jade Pettyjohn) tells her sister, “Run back to the house,” so that’s not it. I don’t really know what the story is with this one.

Considering its beauty, I thought for sure the pad would have been featured in other productions, but I was unable to dig up any additional cameos.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The lemonade stand, from the “Find a Way” episode of Little Fires Everywhere, was set up in front of 533 South Muirfield Road in Hancock Park. The Richardson mansion from the series is just two houses away at 511 South Muirfield.

April 22, 2020April 22, 2020

Arden Villa from “National Lampoon’s Vacation”

In an email exchange with my friend/fellow stalker Owen in late January, I casually made mention of National Lampoon’s Vacation’s original ending, in which, after finding Walley World closed, Clark W. Griswold (Chevy Chase) heads to Roy Walley’s (Eddie Bracken) mansion, pulls a gun and forces the theme park mogul to entertain his family. The segment didn’t work with test audiences, so it was scrapped and the bit at Magic Mountain shot to replace it. Years later, that original ending was reworked into the segment involving the kidnapping of Clark’s boss for the movie’s 1989 sequel, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Owen was unaware of all of this, though. As he replied, “I had no idea about an alternate Vacation ending. I’d love to see footage of Clark going to Roy Walley’s house. And if that footage exists and we can view it, we then need to find that house!“ Sadly, the footage has never seen the light of day, but Owen’s response took the words right out of my mouth! As I typed my initial email to him, I couldn’t help but wonder where the Walley mansion was located. Amazingly, through a series of fortunate events, Owen was able to ID it! Turns out, it’s a place I am very familiar with.

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The only imagery of the original ending I was able to dig up is below. Virtually nothing outside of the edge of a pool and a tall wall can be seen in it. In the hands of a lesser stalker that might have been a problem, but not Owen!

Amazingly, Owen managed to get his hands on the Vacation call sheets years ago. They were packed away in storage, though, and he wasn’t sure when he’d make it out to his unit to look through them. But, just a few days after our email exchange, there was a bit of a mix-up at the storage facility that had Owen driving out to check on his things not once, but twice! On his second visit, as he was taking inventory of the items inside, he remembered our Vacation query and dug out the call sheets. Sure enough, Roy Walley’s mansion was noted in the pages! As Owen discovered, filming took place at one of Pasadena’s most well-known and oft-filmed estates, Arden Villa! Though I had stalked the place before, only its front gate is visible from the street, so I never blogged about it. Armed with this scintillating new info, though, I decided it was definitely time for a post! So I ran right out there to re-stalk it just a few days later.

Arden Villa was originally built in 1913 for railroad tycoon William Kennon Jewett. Designed in the Italianate/Palladian style, the estate was the work of the Marston and Van Pelt architecture firm. Per the Knight Industries website, the home was initially rust brown in color, but was repainted to the canary yellow it is today in the mid-80s. The screen captures that appear later in this post attest to that.

Boasting 5 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, a whopping 10,290 square feet, 7 fireplaces, a wine cellar, an elevator, a game room, a finished basement and attic, a huge pool, lily ponds, a tennis court, and a 2,340-square-foot guest house complete with its own pool, the massive manse originally sat on 9 acres, but all but 2.5 were sold off. Sadly, the only part of it visible from the street is the front gate and a portion of the 100-yard driveway just beyond it. You can check out some interior photos of the place here, though.

Arden Villa most recently hit the market in 2017 for $28 million, but did not sell until September 2019. Avengers director Anthony Russo was the lucky buyer, snapping it up for a cool $15,579,500.

Because so little can be seen in that one image of National Lampoon’s Vacation’s original ending, I wasn’t ready to sign off completely on Arden Villa being Roy Walley’s mansion, even with the call sheet documentation.

Especially since aerial views and MLS photos show that the wall running alongside the property’s pool looks nothing like the one visible behind Clark. As evidenced in the imagery below as well as in this pic, though there is a wall in the same general vicinity at Arden Villa, it is almost two-stories high, boasts a built-in outdoor fireplace, is largely covered with hedges, and has a columned edge, none of which jibe with what appeared in Vacation. So I was left thinking that filming either took place elsewhere or the wall had been knocked down and rebuilt (or at the very least remodeled) since the 1983 shoot.

Luckily, I got clarity thanks to a 1984 episode of Scarecrow and Mrs. King! In Season 1’s “Weekend,” Lee Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner) and Amanda King (Kate Jackson) work a case at Arden Villa, which is posing as The Cumberland hotel.

In a scene taking place by the pool, a wall is visible behind Lee and its rust coloring, white lip and vertical perforations all match what was seen in Vacation! Eureka!

I got further confirmation thanks to Knight Rider! On the iconic series, Arden Villa regularly portrayed F.L.A.G. headquarters, including in the Season 2 episode titled “Brother’s Keeper” (pictured below), which aired in 1983.

In a scene from the episode, the wall is briefly visible as April Curtis (Rebecca Holden) and Devon Miles (Edward Mulhare) walk near the pool, giving us an almost identical angle to that of the Vacation still. As you can see below, there’s no question the walls are one and the same!

Season 2’s “A Knight in Shining Armor” also provides a similarly-angled view of the wall and, again, it’s a direct match to what appeared in Vacation. Suffice it to say, Arden Villa did, in fact, mask as Roy Walley’s mansion and the pool wall was then remodeled after the fact! You can check out the script pages for the movie’s original ending here. It’s actually pretty funny. Though some internet sources claim the segment involves The Girl in the Ferrari (Christie Brinkley) turning up as Roy’s daughter and Clark eventually taking a plane hostage (both of which sound idiotic), that does not appear to be the case. While I love what ultimately made its way to the screen, the ending as originally shot would have been a pretty fitting closure to the Griswold family’s tumultuous trip. Here’s hoping the footage will be aired someday!

Arden Villa has appeared in countless productions over the years, far too many to chronicle here. But what follows are some of the highlights . . .

Way back in 1933, before the property had a pool, it was the site of an elegant tea party in the Marx Brothers comedy Duck Soup.

Det. Ken Hutchinson (David Soul) and Det. Dave Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) investigate a murder there in the Season 4 episode of Starsky & Hutch titled “Photo Finish,” which aired in 1978.

Arden Villa plays the home of Avery Williams (Robert Goulet) in the Season 4 episode of Fantasy Island titled “The Proxy Billionaire/The Experiment,” which aired in 1981.

Des Spellacy (Robert De Niro) attends a wedding at the property in the 1981 drama True Confessions.

In what is perhaps its most famous cameo, Arden Villa is the site of the epic lily pond catfight between Alexis Carrington Colby (Joan Collins) and Krystle Carrington (Linda Evans) in the Season 3 episode of Dynasty titled “The Threat”, which aired in 1983. You can watch the scuffle here. The backside of the estate was actually used regularly throughout the series as the rear of the Carrington mansion. Front and aerial shots were lensed about 360 miles away at Filoli in Woodside, though.

Arden Villa serves as the home of Fred Fusco (Lorne Greene) in the Season 4 episode of Highway to Heaven titled “The Smile in the Third Row,” which aired in 1985.

It’s the residence of Zeke Bridges (Noble Willingham) in the 1992 comedy The Distinguished Gentleman.

Arden Villa pops up as the Bel Air home of Stuart “He Gives Good Woo” Carson (David Gail) in the Season 3 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Moving Targets,” which aired in 1993.

In 1996, Oasis filmed the music video for their song “Don’t Look Back in Anger” on the premises.

James Whale (Ian McKellen) and Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser) attend a party there in the 1998 drama Gods and Monsters.

Portions of the pad appear as the interior of the Cleary mansion in the 2005 comedy Wedding Crashers.

Rose (Toni Collette) attends a wedding there in the 2005 drama In Her Shoes.

The villa is also the residence of Jason Normandy (Jonathan Banks) in the Season 2 episode of Shark titled “Partners in Crime,” which aired in 2008.

Though some articles state that Billy Madison did some filming at the estate, I don’t believe that to be true. From what I’ve read, the 1995 comedy was lensed in its entirety in Canada. And while I thought that a reshoot might possibly have taken place at Arden Villa, I scanned through the flick and did not see anything resembling the mansion. The same goes for Terms of Endearment, which is also said to have shot scenes on the premises – I’m pretty sure that information is incorrect.

Big THANK YOU to my friend/fellow stalker Owen for finding this location’s Vacation connection!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Arden Villa, aka Roy Walley’s mansion from the original ending of National Lampoon’s Vacation, is located at 1145 Arden Road in Pasadena.

April 20, 2020April 20, 2020

Insomnia Cafe – The Inspiration for “Friends”

Oh, to be able to visit a coffee shop, order a steaming latte and sit in a secluded corner sipping away! Hard to believe that is something unattainable right now. These certainly are strange days we are living in. When things do get back to normal, one spot I am itching to re-patronize is Insomnia Cafe, the Fairfax District eatery that served as the impetus for Friends. I first learned about the place way back in 1995 via an interview with show co-creator Marta Kauffman that appeared in Friends: The Official Companion Book. In it, she talked about driving by the Beverly Boulevard cafe, taking note of its unusual name and thinking it would make for an interesting setting for a series. She and writing partner Kevin Crane penned the treatment for Friends (initially titled – you guessed it! – “Insomnia Cafe”) just a few days later. When I moved to Los Angeles about five years after first reading that interview, I found myself sitting at a stoplight on Beverly directly in front of the locale and just about fell over! I couldn’t believe I was in the same spot Kauffman was when she conceived of one of the most seminal shows in television history! In the years that followed, I passed by the site numerous times and doing so always brought a huge smile to my face. Somehow though, I never ventured inside. It wasn’t until last September when my friend Owen emailed me this USA Today article, which stated that Friends set decorator Greg Grande also used Insomnia Cafe as the inspiration for the design of the series’ iconic Central Perk set, that the locale went straight to the top of my To-Stalk List! And I headed right over there just a few days later.

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Insomnia Cafe was originally established in March 1992 at a small storefront located at 13718 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Founded by former nightclub promoter John Dunn, the late-night coffee shop, open until 3 a.m. on weekdays and 4 a.m. on weekends (hence the name), served up strongly caffeinated brew, but no cocktails. Per a 1995 Los Angeles Times article, Dunn stopped using drugs and alcohol in 1989 and “wanted to create a place that conformed to his own lifestyle.” The bohemian-style coffee bar, which the Times described as being “decorated with cast-off sofas” (sound familiar?), became an immediate hit. It also drew quite a bit of ire from nearby homeowners who claimed the leagues of patrons frequenting the eatery made constant noise and wreaked havoc in their neighborhoods in the early morning hours. Regardless, the cafe remained insanely popular and Dunn soon opened a sister site at 7286 Beverly Boulevard.

The Sherman Oaks location, which you can see photos of here, was where it was really at, though! Artists, screenwriters, and teens would pack the place, venturing in for espresso, open mic nights, and live music. The cafe also boasted legions of celebrity devotees. Just a few of the well-knowns seen hanging out at the coffee bar include Robin Williams, Mel Gibson, Sharon Stone, O.J. Simpson, A.C. Cowlings, Dwight Yoakam, Jerry Seinfeld, Daryl Hannah, Bobcat Goldthwait, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Leonardo DiCaprio, members of the Smashing Pumpkins, and Beck (who performed on the open mic nights before he was famous).

Sadly, area homeowners eventually succeeded in their fight to close the place. The Sherman Oaks Insomnia Cafe shut its doors in 1996. The Beverly Boulevard site remained open, though, and is still going strong today!

It, too, has a very bohemian vibe – and serves up some great coffee!

Per the Original Insomnia Cafe Facebook page, the Sherman Oaks location was the spot that actually served as inspiration for both Kauffman and Grande. A recent post on it states, “What is so funny and sad is the newer Insomnia Cafe we built in L.A., not the original one in Sherman Oaks, keeps claiming to be the inspiration for the TV show Friends. But the truth will always be known – Sherman Oaks Insomnia Cafe was it! The characters were based on the customers of the Sherman Oaks, California store.” I had the pleasure of speaking with Dunn recently and he confirmed the info. He also informed me that Kauffman and Crane actually wrote the seven-page treatment for the series at the Sherman Oaks site!

Kauffman, though, has repeatedly recounted first noticing the Insomnia Cafe moniker at the Beverly outpost. In a 2010 interview she and Crane did for the Television Academy, she said, “We were driving along – I think it was Beverly Boulevard – and we saw a place called the Insomnia Cafe. And I remember we were talking about how that would be a cool place to have as one of our main sets . . . we liked the idea of something being overcaffeinated.”

Writer Saul Austerlitz also starts off his book Generation Friends by saying, “One day in late 1993, a young television writer named Marta Kauffman was driving down Beverly Boulevard when she passed a funky coffee shop called Insomnia Cafe, located across the street from an orthodox synagogue. Full of lumpy couches and garish chairs, strings of Christmas lights and towering bookshelves piled high with mismatched books, the place was a beacon calling to the artists and slackers of the Fairfax-La Brea area. Something about Insomnia Cafe grabbed her attention, and she began to mull over an intriguing idea. Could a comedy series set in a coffee shop appeal to viewers? Kauffman and Crane had only recently moved to California from New York, and found that they missed their old crew of friends from Manhattan terribly. They had spent all their spare time together, done everything together, served as a kind of surrogate family. What if they put together a show about that?” The rest, as they say, is history.

In an incredible twist, longtime Insomnia Cafe fan Greg Grande was hired as the series’ set decorator. He loved the eatery’s funky, but comfortable vibe. In Generation Friends, Austerlitz says, “He would stop in to grab some coffee at Insomnia Cafe and would be inspired anew each time by the fabulously quirky décor inside. When it came time to dress the set of the new show’s coffee shop, Grande thought again of Insomnia Cafe and wanted to model the set’s look on what he remembered.” As Grande told EW magazine in 2019, “The idea was to have it feel like it was kind of a living room, hang out space. You know, not your typical generic coffee shop with the computers. What did they used to call them back then? Internet cafes? So the vibe that Marta [Kauffman] and Kevin [Bright] and David Crane wanted was, let’s make this feel like it’s truly a comfortable, casual living room. I had mentioned to them that there was a place in West Hollywood, — I still think it’s around — it was one of the first interesting coffee shops in L.A. called The Insomniac [sic] Café and that was kind of, in my world, the inspiration for eclectic, old, classic pieces of furniture. Nothing really matched, but there was collectible artwork on the wall, so I took that and kind of drove that point in. I made what I like to refer to as the seventh character on the show.” (As I mentioned in this post, Central Perk’s design was also partially inspired by Arnold’s Turtle in New York.)

Amazingly, Central Perk is not the only television coffee shop modeled after the locale! The Bold and the Beautiful’s Insomnia Cafe took not only design inspiration, but its name from the site!

And the eatery is also a filming location!

It is there that Kevin (Michael Rady) and Laura (Abby Wathen) first meet in the 2013 romcom Random Encounters, which also starred Meghan Markle.

Insomnia Cafe is also a central location on the series Love Is -.

Kramer (Michael Richards) visited the Sherman Oaks outpost in the Season 4 episode of Seinfeld titled “The Trip: Part 1,” which aired in 1992. Only the exterior of the café appeared in the episode, though.

Interiors were shot on a studio-built set.

In 1995, when MTV started airing My So-Called Life reruns, the network filmed a bunch of promos at the Sherman Oaks site, which resulted in teens popping by in droves in the hopes of seeing Claire Danes in person, as recounted in this article. Unfortunately, I could not find clips of those promos with which to make screen captures anywhere.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Insomnia Cafe, the inspiration for both the television series Friends and its Central Perk set, can be found at 7286 Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles’ Fairfax District. The Sherman Oaks outpost of the coffee shop was formerly located at 13718 Ventura Boulevard.

April 17, 2020April 18, 2020

Fair Oaks Burger from “Little Fires Everywhere”

I have never been a burger girl (I know, I know), but I’ve long been familiar with Altadena staple Fair Oaks Burger. The veteran eatery sits at the northern end of Fair Oaks Avenue and, though I never popped in for a bite, I passed by it countless times throughout the 15+ years I lived in the area. So I was thrilled when a reader informed me the place would be making an appearance in the new Hulu series Little Fires Everywhere and promptly ran out to stalk it while in L.A. in January prior to my dad’s surgery. I have been anxiously awaiting its appearance ever since and was happy to finally see it pop up in last week’s episode titled “Picture Perfect.” Though its cameo was brief, I figured the locale was still worthy of a post.

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While it seems like Fair Oaks Burger has been around forever, from what I’ve been able to gather, the restaurant was actually founded in 1984.

The burger stand was the brainchild of the Lee family. Though it always operated under the Fair Oaks Burger name, the Lees leased the restaurant out to a different party in 1998 before ultimately returning to take over the reins again in 2008.

Today, the eatery is run by Jung Ja Lee and her daughter, Christy.

As the name suggests, Fair Oaks Burger serves up standard American fare like hamburgers and onion rings, but there are also a plethora of Mexican and Chinese offerings on the diverse menu.

Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed when I showed up to stalk it, so not only was I unable to sample any of the dishes (which I’ve heard are stellar!) . . .

. . . but I was only able to take interior photos through the front windows.

It is in the drive-thru of Fair Oaks Burger that Lexie Richardson (Jade Pettyjohn) and Brian Harlins (Stevonte Hart) get into a heated discussion concerning race in the “Picture Perfect” episode of Little Fires Everywhere. The burger stand looks much the same in person as it did onscreen, minus the snowy detritus, of course.

Though I learned about the restaurant’s appearance on the show long before it started airing, it wouldn’t have been hard to ID the place had I not. As you can see below, the name “Fair Oaks Burger” was visible on the uniform of the cashier in the scene.

Fair Oaks Burger actually has a slew of appearances on its resume! The restaurant poses as Haddonfield Char-Broiled Burger, where Dr. Samuel Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) first meets with Sheriff Lee Brackett (Brad Dourif), in the 2007 Halloween remake.

It pops up as Big Joey’s, where John (James Brolin) and Joan (Dianne Wiest) painstakingly attempt to grab a milkshake, in the Season 1 episode of Life in Pieces titled “Burn Vasectomy Milkshake Pong,” which aired in 2015.

Javon Beard (Sam Adegoke) also takes his girlfriend for a date at the restaurant, which masks as a fried chicken joint, in 2017’s Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland. Only the interior of the space was utilized, though.

The establishing shot shown is of Southwest Diner at 761 Nevada Highway in Boulder City, Nevada, which I learned from fellow stalker Walter.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Fair Oaks Burger, from the “Picture Perfect” episode of Little Fires Everywhere, is located at 2560 North Fair Oaks Avenue in Altadena. You can visit the eatery’s official website here.

April 15, 2020April 13, 2020

Casa Vega from “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

One of the things I most appreciate about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the lengths director Quentin Tarantino went to portray an authentic 1960s-era Los Angeles onscreen. To that end, he featured several local historic restaurants from the time that are, thankfully, still around today, including Musso and Frank Grill, El Coyote, and Casa Vega. The latter is a spot I am very familiar with. I’ve dined at the Sherman Oaks landmark several times over the years and even blogged about it once back in 2008. Due to its recent cameo, though, I figured a more current post was in order, so the Grim Cheaper and I headed out there for a bite last September.

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Initially founded in 1956, Casa Vega was the brainchild of Rafael ‘Ray’ Vega, who grew up helping his parents run their own eatery, Café Caliente, on downtown L.A.’s famous Olvera Street. He first set up shop in a small corner space at Ventura Boulevard and Mary Ellen Avenue. The place was such a hit that, within two years, Ray needed to expand and he moved Casa Vega to its current location, a larger site two blocks west at 13301 Ventura.

One of Los Angeles’ oldest continuously operating restaurants, today Casa Vega is run by Ray’s daughter, Christina, who began working on the premises in 1999 upon graduating from college. The eatery has remained just as popular as ever with her at the helm.

Little of the landmark site has been changed since opening day over six decades ago. The lighting remains dim, the same tufted red leather booths line the walls, and the kitchen still spoons out dishes based on Ray’s mother’s recipes. The fare is so delicious that Zagat even rated the place one of L.A.’s best Mexican spots!

Thanks to its stellar food and low lighting, Casa Vega has been a celebrity draw since the beginning. Just a few of the luminaries who have been spotted on the premises over the years include Marlon Brando, Dean Martin, Desi Arnaz, Sandra Bullock, Al Pacino, Jane Fonda, Dyan Cannon, Cary Grant, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Mark Wahlberg, Heather Locklear, Avril Lavigne, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Aniston, Nick Lachey, Vanessa Minnillo, George Clooney, Michael Jackson, Gwen Stefani, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Nicole Richie, Joel Madden, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jake Gyllenhaal, Justin Timberlake, Charlize Theron, Anthony Hopkins, and Emma Watson. Tarantino is also a huge fan of the restaurant, so it’s no surprise he chose to feature it in his latest flick.

Casa Vega actually pops up twice in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It first appears as the supposed Almeria, Spain-area restaurant where Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) tells Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) that he can no longer afford to keep him on as his right-hand man.

That segment took place in the dining room that sits adjacent to the bar. As you can see below, Casa Vega’s rear door was swapped out with a more picturesque one for the shoot.

At the end of the movie, Casa Vega plays itself. It is there that Cliff and Rick dine as a last hurrah before going their separate ways.

That scene was filmed in the rear corner booth of the restaurant’s main dining room.

The front of the eatery was also shown in the segment.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is not the only production to shoot at the acclaimed restaurant. In the 1978 comedy The End, Wendell Sonny Lawson (Burt Reynolds) tracks his lawyer, Marty Lieberman (David Steinberg), down at Casa Vega and crashes his lunch.

Julie Richman (Deborah Foreman) and Randy (Nicolas Cage) walk by the eatery while on a date in the 1983 classic Valley Girl, though only its neon sign is shown.

Designer Jeff Lewis gives Casa Vega’s exterior and entrance a bit of a facelift in the fourth season of the reality show Flipping Out, which aired in 2010.

The Kardashians really like the place! Per the Reality Tea website, the family’s eponymous series, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, has filmed at the eatery no less than 6 times, including in the episodes “Kris’s Mother-in-Law,” “Design for Disaster,” “The New Normal,” “Cheers to That,” “Fire Escape,” and “Some Moms Just Wanna Have Fun” (pictured below), which aired in 2013. Please forgive me for not posting caps from each episode – it took all I had just to scan through the one!

Eden Sassoon and Lisa Rinna lunch at Casa Vega in the Season 7 episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills titled “Compromising Positions,” which aired in 2017. While there Eden tells Lisa, “We love it here cause of the lighting.”

Casa Vega also apparently made an appearance in the Season 1 episode of Barnaby Jones titled “See Some Evil . . . Do Some Evil” back in 1973, but, unfortunately, I could not find the show available to stream anywhere.

Sadly, Casa Vega is currently closed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shuttering was not a move the restaurant took lightly. In fact, per a 2016 Los Angeles Times write-up, Casa Vega was one of the few area establishments that was open for business the day after the Northridge Earthquake in 1994. As Christina wrote on the eatery’s Instagram, “As soon as it is safe to welcome everyone to our bar and tables we will do so. The storm can’t last forever. The sun will come. Margaritas will flow again.” Cheers to that!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Casa Vega, from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is located at 13301 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. The eatery is currently closed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Check its official website for updates.

April 13, 2020April 11, 2020

Tilly’s House from “Flaked”

I never thought I’d say I’m in love with a gate, but here we are. Back in March 2016, my Los Angeles magazine editor assigned me a piece chronicling the locations from the then-new Netflix series Flaked. I got to work researching right away and one spot immediately stood out among the rest – the manse belonging to Chip’s (Will Arnett) estranged wife, Tilly (Heather Graham). Or I should say the gate of the manse belonging to Chip’s estranged wife, Tilly. The shiny blue wall of glass was impressive, to say the least, and I promptly labeled it a must-see. I finally made it out there last September and, though I briefly featured the pad in my L.A. mag article, figured it was worthy of a post all its own.

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In person, Tilly’s gate did not disappoint!

Sleek, polished and striking, the reflective blue wall pretty much commands the street.

Spanning twelve feet, the enclosure is made up of Cobalt blue glass.

The rich coloring and sheer size of it make for some pretty arresting onscreen imagery.

While not visible from the street, the house that sits behind the gate is pretty darn impressive, as well. Designed by architect Paul McClean in 2014, the massive estate boasts 6 bedrooms, 8 baths 9,393 square feet of living space, white slab marble flooring, walls of glass, a chef’s kitchen with 2 islands, a built-in wine station and a coffee bar, a movie theatre, an atrium, a game room, a bar, a massive glass wine room, a cigar lounge, a gym with a steam room, a 0.56-acre lot, a courtyard, a 2-story fountain, outdoor living spaces, an outdoor kitchen, a negative-edge infinity pool, a spa, a BBQ, and panoramic views of Los Angeles, the Pacific Ocean, and Catalina. The ultra-modern estate is currently on the market for a cool $19,995,000. You can check out some interior photographs of it here.

A very traditional looking pad sat on the lot before McClean got his hands on it, as you can see in the Google Street View imagery from 2011 below.

While I much prefer the new house, the geometrically-paneled window that formerly overlooked the street is pretty darn spectacular.

The property pops up twice on Flaked – first in Season 1’s “Rose,” in the scene in which Chip visits Tilly, a massive television star, in the hopes that she can help him save his business.

Along with the gate, the home’s actual interior also appears in the scene.

Chip later returns to the pad in the episode titled “7th,” though Tilly refuses to let him in.

While Tilly makes an appearance in Flaked’s second season, sadly her fabulous residence does not.

The home’s real estate listing states, “Proven filming history provides substantial income for investors,” but, unfortunately, there is no specific mention of what productions have shot on the premises, so I am unsure if the place has any additional cameos on its resume.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Tilly’s house from Flaked is located at 1620 Carla Ridge in Beverly Hills’ Trousdale Estates neighborhood.

April 10, 2020April 9, 2020

The Fine Arts Building from “The Morning Show”

Considering I’ve been at this crazy hobby of mine for twenty years now, you’d think I’d have stalked every square inch of Los Angeles. While watching the second episode of The Morning Show, though, I was reminded of a site I had yet to set foot in – downtown’s Fine Arts Building. I’d heard of the celebrated property countless times, seen photos of its impressive lobby online and read up on its history, but somehow had never visited. So while in the area last December, I decided to amend that and got my first look at the marvel that is the Fine Arts Building.

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The landmark structure, a commission of the Fine Arts Building Company, was erected in 1926.

The 12-story, 107,000-square-foot property, designed in the Romanesque Revival style by architects Albert R. Walker and Percy A. Eisen (who also gave us the Oviatt Building, the Gaylord Apartments and the Beverly Wilshire, aka the Pretty Woman hotel), initially housed studios, workshops, and galleries for local Los Angeles artists.

The impressive terra cotta exterior features castings by Burt William Johnson, including two figures perched on either side of the third-floor overhang, one symbolizing architecture and the other sculpture.

Though the ornate façade is nothing to sneeze at . . .

. . . the sweeping two-story lobby, designed in the Spanish Renaissance style, is the real stunner.

Almost unbelievably so!

Featuring tile work by Pasadena artist Ernest Batchelder, paintings and murals by Anthony B. Heinsbergen, a beamed ceiling, a blue-tiled fountain, and 17-foot-tall glass display cases which initially served as a place for resident artists to exhibit their wares, the 3,000-square-foot chamber truly is a sight to be seen.

Sadly, the Great Depression hit the artisans who rented space in the structure hard, causing many of them to terminate their leases and the property to be sold in 1930. It was then rebranded the “Signal Oil Building.” It went through numerous ownership and name changes in the years that followed until being taken over by the Ratkovich, Bowers Inc. development firm in 1983, at which time it was heavily rehabilitated and its original moniker restored.

Today, the Historic-Cultural Monument houses business offices, though the lobby remains a place for local artists to exhibit their works.

The Fine Arts Building serves as the office of Mitch Kessler’s (Steve Carell) business manager, where he gets some bad news regarding his financial status following his firing, in the Season 1 episode of The Morning Show titled “A Seat at the Table.” It is as Mitch is walking out of the structure that he is accosted by a stranger who screams “Rapist!”, to which he not-so-calmly replies, “I’m not even accused of rape! Sexual misconduct is what I’m being accused of! Don’t you wave your f*cking hand at me! Have a nice day, you f*cking asshole!” I spotted the “811” address placard and the ornate carvings flanking the front doors as Mitch exited the building just before being yelled at and recognized the place immediately.

I believe the interior scene involving Mitch’s business manager’s office may have been shot elsewhere, though I am not sure where.

The Fine Arts Building is no stranger to the screen.

The site portrayed a Swiss Embassy in the 1997 action film Spawn.

It popped up as the location of Jane’s (Angelina Jolie) I-Temp Technology Staffing office in 2005’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

And Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) shows Summer (Zooey Deschanel) the building, which he misattributes to architects Walker & “Eisner,” in the 2009 drama (500) Days of Summer.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Fine Arts Building, from the “A Seat at the Table” episode of The Morning Show, is located at 811 West 7th Street in downtown Los Angeles. The lobby area is open to the public daily. 7th Street/Metro Center Station, aka Penn Station from Cruel Intentions, is right next door at 660 South Figueroa Street.

April 8, 2020April 7, 2020

The McCullough Residence from “Little Fires Everywhere”

I knew I would love Little Fires Everywhere long before it premiered. One look at the trailer had me drooling! A confounding mystery at its center, Reese Witherspoon at the helm, a setting that is almost a character, and two of my favorite cuties, Joshua Jackson and Geoff Stults, in lead roles. What’s not to like? (Though I have to say I really could have done without seeing Jackson in those tighty-whities in episode 1. That’s an image I’ll never be able to get rid of!) The fact that the new Hulu series is lensed in Los Angeles is just the cherry on top! I was fortuitously given intel on several of its locales late last year, months before its March 18th debut. So I, of course, did some major LFE stalking while I was in L.A. in January for my dad’s many pre-surgical doctor appointments. One of the spots I hit up was the massive brick estate belonging to Mark McCullough (Stults) and his wife, Linda (Rosemarie DeWitt).

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Though set in the real-life town of Shaker Heights, Ohio, the McCullough pad can actually be found at 120 South June Street in Hancock Park. It is just a few blocks away from the series’ central locale, the Richardson residence, an oft-shot dwelling at 511 South Muirfield Road that is most famous for having portrayed the Tate mansion on the 1970s television series Soap.

The two properties bear an uncanny resemblance to each other, as you can see below – so much so that I am surprised they were both chosen for use on the series. Shaker Heights is repeatedly noted as being “the first planned community in America” on Little Fires Everywhere (in reality, it’s just one of the first), so I guess it somewhat makes sense that two residences would be similar. But from what I’ve seen online of the real town, while all the homes are stately and handsome and quite a few are even Tudor in style, they seem to have fairly distinct looks. So I definitely find the utilization of two such similar spots odd.

The McCullough house initially pops up in the third episode of Little Fires Everywhere, titled “Seventy Cents.” In it, Linda and Mark throw their adoptive daughter, Mirabelle, a first birthday party, which winds up going horribly wrong when (spoiler alert!) her birth mother unexpectedly appears at their door.

The residence is also featured in episode 4, “The Spider Web,” though as was the case in “Seventy Cents,” we only see a very tight shot of it.

Even when Linda is hounded by news crews outside of the house in the episode, we aren’t shown much other than the driveway.

It is a pretty fabulous pad, so it is surprising that we have yet to get a full shot of it.

In real life, the 1927 residence boasts 6 bedrooms, 8 baths, 2 stories, a whopping 6,177 square feet of living space, 2 fireplaces, a 0.40-acre plot of land, a tennis court, a pool, a hot tub, and a detached 3-car garage with what looks to be an in-law unit above it.

As shown in the police report detailing the birthday party fiasco, which Elena Richardson (Witherspoon) reads in “The Spider Web,” the McCullough’s house is said to be at 120 Brighton Road, so the property’s real life address number is being utilized on the series.

I am fairly certain that the actual interior of the home is also being used.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Mark and Linda McCullough’s house from Little Fires Everywhere is located at 120 South June Street in Hancock Park. Melanie Cave’s (Elizabeth Perkins) home from Truth Be Told is just up the road at 509 North June Street. And the Richardson residence from Little Fires Everywhere (aka the Tate mansion from Soap) can be found a few streets over at 511 South Muirfield Road.