The latest WeScoutLA video, brought to you by Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and yours truly, is now up on YouTube. In it, we take you on a visit to Charles Evans Hughes Junior High School, aka the high school used in the original The Karate Kid. You can watch the video by clicking above. Enjoy!
New “Los Angeles” Mag Post – About Cindy’s Restaurant from “Surviving Christmas”
I would like to wish all of my fellow stalkers a very merry Christmas today! You can check out my new Los Angeles magazine post here – about Cindy’s Eagle Rock Restaurant from Surviving Christmas. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
My Latest Discover L.A. Article – About Christmas Movie Locations
I typically cover only one location each day on my blog, but today I’m giving you ten! Head on over to Discover Los Angeles to check out my latest article about holiday movie and television locations. Enjoy!
New “L.A.” Mag Post – About Paul Thomas Anderson
Be sure to read today’s Los Angeles magazine post – about numerous locations from Paul Thomas Anderson movies. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
Today’s L.A. Mag Post – About Ira’s Roadside Diner from “Million Dollar Baby”
Don’t forget to read today’s Los Angeles magazine post – about Ida’s Roadside Diner from Million Dollar Baby. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant from “Black Widow”
Sorry to have been a bit M.I.A. lately – my personal life has been rather hectic. This week will be a little light on columns, too, as both of my parents have doctor appointments in L.A. that I have to take them, too. So please bear with me. And now, on with the the post! Another day, another Iggy Azalea location. Because my good friends Kim and Lavonna are such Iggy fans, before their recent visit, I did some research on locales from the Australian rapper’s “Black Widow” music video. The place that I was most excited about tracking down was the restaurant that appeared in both the video’s opening and closing scenes. As it turns out, the eatery is none other than Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant, an L.A. staple that was originally founded in 1947. So the girls and I headed right on out to Westlake to stalk it while they were in town last month.
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Langer’s was originally founded by New Jersey native Al Langer. Al started in the restaurant business early in life, getting a job as a busboy in a delicatessen at the age of 11. During those years he learned how to hand-slice pastrami, a rare skill that served him well as he ventured out on his own. Al’s family moved to Los Angeles in 1936 and he continued to work in the restaurant business. That same year, he opened a deli in Palm Springs. The deli only lasted one short season and Al subsequently returned to L.A. He worked again in a café, before serving in World War II. When the war ended, Al purchased a small eatery in Los Angeles, which he owned for a year. He then bought a 12-seat restaurant on the corner of 7th and Alvarado Streets known as The Famous Deli and renamed it Langer’s. The place was popular from the get-go and Al wound up expanding it twice. Today, Al’s son, Norm, still serves his father’s famous pastrami sandwiches from that very same location, which can now seat 135 patrons.
Sadly, we showed up to stalk Langer’s in the early evening and it was no longer open (it closes at 4 p.m. each afternoon), so we were only able to snap photographs of the interior through the windows. (A BIG thank you to Lavonna for taking all of the pictures that appear in this post!)
In “Black Widow,” Langer’s masks as “Big Wanda’s Killer Burgers,” where Iggy Azalea works and where Michael Madsen and Rita Ora stop by for a bacon sandwich with cheese – “like a lotta cheese, OK, like melted cheese, like dripping off of it.”
Only the interior of Langer’s was featured in the video and, as you can see, it looks exactly the same in person as it does onscreen.
You can watch the “Black Widow” video by clicking below.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant, from Iggy Azalea’s “Black Widow” music video, is located at 704 South Alvarado Street in Westlake. Langer’s is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can visit the eatery’s official website here.
The “Fancy” Music Video Party House
I have never been very “hip” when it comes to music. If it’s not sung by Michael Jackson, Michael Buble or Britney Spears, chances are I haven’t heard it. So it should come as no surprise that when my friends Kim and Lavonna visited this past June and were singing the Iggy Azalea hit “Fancy” every chance they got, I was completely unfamiliar with the tune. While a few lyrics (“Drop it low and pick it up, just like this!” and “Who dat? Who dat?”) became ingrained in my head thanks to Kim and Lavonna’s endless chanting, once they headed back to Ohio, I pretty much forgot about the song. Then, in July, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I happened to stalk Grant High School in Van Nuys and, while we were there, a teacher informed us that both Clueless and the music video for “Fancy” , which paid homage to the 1995 comedy, had been filmed on the premises. Well, believe you me, I just about fell over upon hearing that Iggy modeled her video after one of my favorite movies of all time! Standing in the halls of Grant, I pulled up “Fancy” on YouTube (thank you, iPhone!) and immediately fell in love! I also promptly set out to track down the other main location featured in it – the party house.
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The locale turned out to be an easy find thanks to the fact that an address number of “10310” was visible on the curb in front of the house in the video. I knew that the residence had to be located somewhere in the Valley, so, address number in hand, I began searching through 10300 blocks, starting in Van Nuys near Grant High School, and working my way outward. Sure enough, it was not long before I spotted the place at 10310 Wystone Avenue in Porter Ranch.
The residence looks pretty much exactly the same in person as it did in “Fancy.”
What it does not look like, though, is the party house from Clueless. While both properties have exterior steps, a peaked roof, and a definite “Valley” feel, the pad used in the “Fancy” video is much more ostentatious and modern than its Clueless counterpart.
In real life, the “Fancy” party house, which is quite sprawling as you can see below, features five bedrooms, four baths (with heated flooring!), 4,000 square feet of living space, and a 0.41-acre plot of land. While originally built in 1961, it was remodeled in 2008 and the new interior includes an open floor plan with 13 foot ceilings, a wet bar, and two fireplaces.
The home’s actual interior also appeared in the “Fancy” video.
I so love that a pool table was featured in the shoot! If only Charli XCX had been hit in the head by the shoe of someone sitting on said table a la Brittany Murphy, well, that would have been classic!
I would also guess that the “Fancy” video’s opening scene, in which Iggy is shown picking out an outfit on her iPad, was shot inside one of the home’s bedrooms.
You can watch the “Fancy” video by clicking below.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The party house from Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” music video is located at 10310 Wystone Avenue in Porter Ranch. The party house from Clueless is located at 16401 Knollwood Drive in Granada Hills.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Alfred Coffee & Kitchen
At one point last year, I mentioned that I would occasionally be blogging about stalk-worthy locales that do not have a film connection. Today’s post chronicles one of those places. A few months ago, fellow stalkers Becky and Anushika told me about Alfred Coffee & Kitchen, a quaint West Hollywood café that they thought I would adore. They were right. (To be fair, though, it was a pretty sure bet – I’ve yet to meet a coffee shop I didn’t like. ) When I first set foot inside the eatery, I immediately fell in love. So I brought my friends Lavonna, Kim, Melissa and Maria there for a cup of joe while they were in L.A. two weeks ago visiting from Ohio.
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Alfred Coffee & Kitchen was founded in 2013 by real estate developer Joshua Zad. As a longtime area resident, Zad was frustrated that there was not a place to grab a coffee or baked good within walking distance of West Hollywood’s fashionable Melrose Place shopping district, so he decided to open one himself. He found the perfect site in a charming yellow-hued building situated on the eastern end of the tree-lined road. The entrepreneur had once lived on Alfred Street, just off Melrose Place, and named his new eatery in honor of his former address. It opened on January 23rd.
Thanks to its quaint charm and neighborhood-y feel, Alfred Coffee proved extremely popular from the get-go.
While the exterior of the eatery is absolutely adorable . . .
. . . it was the Manhattan-esque split-level interior that had me drooling! Upon walking in the front door, patrons are greeted with a huge “But first, coffee” sign, that I, of course, loved. Of being at Alfred, TimeOut Los Angeles said, “The experience is irresistibly Instagram-able (Seriously. That ‘But first, coffee’ decal should have its own handle.).” I couldn’t agree more – in fact, I did Instagram that very decal during my first visit to the café.
Alfred’s ground level boasts an intimate living room-like space for lounging, complete with a working fireplace.
The basement level features a seating area, as well as a large barista counter. Both floors are constantly jam-packed with patrons. One sip of an Alfred latte and you’ll understand why. The coffee is spectacular!
Alfred is most famous for its specialty espresso and macchiato drinks which come served in a four-ounce chocolate-dipped waffle cone cup.
While not a filming location, Alfred is a major celebrity hotspot. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there include Vanessa Hudgens, Jaimie Alexander, Mickey Rourke, Dianna Agron, Jamie King, Jonah Hill, Jesse Metcalfe, Joe Jonas, (my boyfriend) Jerry Ferrara, Dolph Lundgren, Jennifer Meyer, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Ashley Tisdale, Emma Roberts and Camilla Belle.
My favorite blogger, Cupcakes and Cashmere’s Emily Schuman, even shot an outfit post at Alfred back in mid-2013.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.
Big THANK YOU to fellow stalkers Anushika and Becky for telling me about this location!
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Alfred Coffee & Kitchen is located at 8428 Melrose Place in West Hollywood. You can visit the eatery’s official website here.
Today’s “L.A.” Mag Post – About Ben’s Apartment from “National Treasure”
Don’t forget to check out my latest Los Angeles magazine post – about Ben’s apartment from National Treasure. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.