Category: TV Locations

Malibu Café at Calamigos Ranch

The Grim Cheaper and I recently headed out to the ‘Bu to grab a bite to eat at the Malibu Café at Calamigos Ranch and walked away with not only a new favorite restaurant, but an addition to my Must-Stalk List. Mike, from MovieShotsLA, had told me about Calamigos Ranch years ago because of its appearance in a couple of Beverly Hills, 90210 episodes. And though it took me a while to stalk the place, it was definitely worth the wait.

[ad]

Calamigos Ranch was founded in 1947 by Navy veteran J. Grant Gerson and his wife, Helen, on a 15-acre plot of land nestled at the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Gerson originally called the property Calamigos Star C Ranch (“Calamigos” is an Indian word meaning “come as my brother, come as my friend”) and operated a year-round Old West-themed children’s camp there for over three decades.

As more residences started popping up near what was once his rural property, Gerson decided to purchase several plots of adjoining land. Today, Calamigos Ranch, which is still run by the Gerson family, is comprised of a whopping 120 acres and is utilized mainly as a special events venue.

The ranch is an extremely popular wedding location (there were three taking place on the premises the day we were there!). In fact, my favorite actor, Matt Lanter, married one of my favorite bloggers Angela Lanter at Calamigos on June 14th, 2013. You can see pictures of their nuptials here.

As we walked through the ranch’s massive grounds making our way to Malibu Café, I was stunned at how gorgeous the property is and became just a wee bit obsessed with the twinkle-light-draped trees pictured below.

Calamigos Ranch has a very rustic feel to it and I mean that in the best possible way.

Even the designated smoking area is picturesque!

Malibu Café, which sits at the center of the property, is a more recent addition to the ranch.

And while food is served there (excellent food, might I add) and the dining areas are uniquely stunning . . .

. . . to classify the place simply as a restaurant would be doing it a disservice.

Malibu Café is more of a gathering space, with games for both adults and kids . . . .

. . . tucked away spots reserved for quiet reflection . . .

. . . and meandering waterways.

There is even a boat launch onsite that offers pedal boat rentals!

Um, sign me up!

The café’s unexpected décor had me practically foaming at the mouth! It’s exactly the way I would want to decorate my house if I owned one.

Thanks to its natural beauty and ruggedness, Calamigos Ranch has been utilized for filming countless times over the years, far more times than I could ever catalog here, but I’ll do my best. Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestley) and Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) attended a Task Force retreat held at Calamigos in the Season 4 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Change Partners,”

The room where Brandon and Kelly square-danced can be viewed here.

In the two-part Season 4 finale of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Mr. Walsh Goes to Washington,” Calamigos Ranch was the site of CU’s 28th Annual Mardi Gras fair.

I believe that the wedding of Suzanne Steele (Kerrie Keane) and Kevin Weaver (David Hayward), which took place in the episode, was also filmed at Calamigos.

The ranch was the site of Waynestock in 1993’s Wayne’s World 2.

According to the Seeing Stars website, the television series Bunheads films almost exclusively at Calamigos.

One of the ranch’s many cabins was transformed into a spa for the Season 2 episode of Rizzoli & Isles titled “Living Proof.”

The property’s wooded area was also where a young pregnant woman tried to escape an attacker in the episode.

Calamigos was the site of Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Dr. Ben Warren’s (Jason George) wedding in the Season 9 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy titled “Run, Baby, Run” and “Things We Said Today.”

The episodes were filmed in the ranch’s Main Dining Room.

I snapped a few photos of the space’s interior through the front windows.

In the third episode of Season 9 of The Bachelorette, Desiree Hartsock hosted a Western-themed group date at Calamigos Ranch.

The group date took place in the area pictured below, which is located on Pitsch Canyon Road.

Juan Pablo Galavis won the date’s challenge and was rewarded with a private screening of The Lone Ranger in the Calamigos barn.

Juan Pablo returned to the ranch a few months later during his stint as The Bachelor. In the second episode of his season, he treated Claire Crawley to a one-on-one snow date at Calamigos. The property was not at all recognizable in the episode due to the fact that producers set up a winter wonderland in one of the open areas for the date, complete with Christmas trees, snow, a hot tub and a hill for sledding.

I cannot more highly recommend a visit to Malibu Café. The place is one of Los Angeles’ hidden treasures.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for telling me about this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Malibu Café at Calamigos Ranch is located at 327 Latigo Canyon Road in Malibu. You can visit the ranch’s official website here and the café’s official website here. If you plan on dining at the restaurant, reservations are highly recommended as the place is jam-packed pretty much all day, every day.

August 11, 2014
Paul Pfeiffer’s House(s) from “The Wonder Years”

It’s official, folks! The Wonder Years is coming to DVD for the first time ever in October! The 26-disc boxed set includes all six seasons of the show, plus a cast reunion segment, over 15 hours of bonus footage, a collectible metal locker, two production booklets packed with behind-the-scenes information, a replica yearbook, and Wonder Years magnets. Sets can be pre-ordered here and there is even an option to purchase a special edition signed by Fred Savage and Danica McKellar! Um, sign me up! To celebrate the good news, I thought it would only be fitting to write about a Wonder Years location today – the house (or I should say “houses”) where Paul Pfeiffer (Josh Saviano) lived on the hit coming-of-age series.

[ad]

I found the address of the Pfeiffer residence on the My TWY Yearbook website and stalked it back in February. It was not until doing research for this post, though, that I realized two different properties had actually been used to portray the family’s home on the series. But more on that later. The house mentioned on My TWY Yearbook was featured in the Season 5 episode of The Wonder Years titled “Pfeiffer’s Choice.” In the episode, Paul’s family comes into some money thanks to a lucrative investment and when a jealous Jack Arnold (Dan Lauria) drives by the Pfeiffer home, with his son, Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), he is irked to see Paul’s father, Alvin (John C. Moskoff), driving a brand new humongous John Deere tractor.

The residence shows up a second time in the episode, in the scene in which Kevin comforts Paul after learning that Alvin has lost all of the money he recently made.

The house used in “Pfeiffer’s Choice” can be found at 536 Tufts Avenue in Burbank, just up the street from Winnie Cooper’s (Danica McKellar) second home from the series (which I blogged about here). The 1950-property, which boasts three bedrooms, two baths, 1,651 square feet of living space and a 0.17-acre yard, looks much the same today as it did when The Wonder Years was filmed.

While I was scanning through various episodes making screen captures for this post, I came across Season 6’s “Poker” and was shocked to see a different dwelling featured as Paul’s. An address number of 537 was visible in the episode and, because most of The Wonder Years houses are situated in very close proximity to each other, I figured I would most likely find the place on University Avenue, near Kevin Arnold’s pad, which is located at 516 University. (I blogged about it here). Sure enough, a quick Google search of “537 University Avenue” proved my hunch correct. Thankfully, fellow stalker Chas, of the ItsFilmedThere site, had recently taken some photographs of the residence (on account of its appearance in an episode of ER) and loaned them to me for this post.

Why two different properties were used is anybody’s guess. Even odder is the fact that the two Pfeiffer residences are located directly next door to each other! (Truth be told, there might have been more properties masquerading as the Pfeiffer home over the years. I am still only on Season 2 of my binge-watch of the series, though, so I cannot say for certain either way.)

In real life, Paul’s house from “Poker” was built in 1949 and features two bedrooms, two baths, 1,742 square feet and a 0.17-acre lot.

As I mentioned earlier, the same residence was also featured in an episode of ER. It popped up in Season 4’s “Fathers and Sons” as the home of Dr. Mark Greene’s (Anthony Edwards) parents.

The real life interior of the property also appeared in the episode and, while fairly non-descript, my head just about exploded upon seeing the kitchen.

The kitchen from ER is an almost exact match to the Arnold’s kitchen from the pilot episode of The Wonder Years! (The Wonder Years pilot made use of the actual interior of the 516 University Avenue home and, after the series got picked up, a set based on it was constructed for all subsequent filming.)

I guess the resemblance should not have come as such a surprise to me being that the two homes are located on the same street, share similar exteriors and were most likely constructed by the same builder. I was still shocked (and delighted!) when I noticed it nonetheless.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to Chas, from the ItsFilmedThere website, for providing the photographs of Paul’s second house that appear in this post.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: A map of The Wonder Years neighborhood is pictured above. Paul Pfeiffer’s first house is located at 536 Tufts Avenue in Burbank. Paul’s second house can be found next door at 537 University Avenue. Winnie Cooper’s first home is located at 525 University Avenue. Winnie’s second home can be found at 501 Tufts Avenue. And Kevin Arnold’s residence is located at 516 University Avenue.

July 23, 2014
Scranton Business Park from the First Season of “The Office”

A fellow stalker named Scott recently challenged me to track down the building that was used as both the interior and exterior of Scranton Business Park during the inaugural season of The Office. I was perplexed at his query as I had no idea that two different Dunder Mifflin locations had been utilized during the show’s run. While I knew that interior filming had originally taken place inside of a real office space and that a set modeled after it had later been built inside of a soundstage, I always assumed that said office was at Chandler Valley Center Studios (which I blogged about here) on Saticoy Street in Van Nuys. I was wrong.

[ad]

Upon receiving the challenge, I did a Google search for “The Office filming locations Season 1” and came across a Yahoo! Answers query from an inquiring mind named Nickvet419 who had the very same question that Scott did. Nickvet419 had provided some screen captures (pictured below) and, sure enough, the building shown was NOT Chandler Valley Center Studios. Upon further searching, I dug up a 2006 TV Guide blog post written by Jenna Fischer (aka Pam Beesly) in which she stated that the series’ first season – both interiors and exteriors – had been filmed at a real office building in Culver City. I immediately forwarded the screen captures and Jenna’s post to fellow stalker/Office aficionado Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, and asked if he had ever done any research on the locale. His response? “Nope, I’ve never tried to track down that location. In fact, I have zero recollection of that. Are you telling me that the Saticoy Street building we’re all familiar with wasn’t used for exterior scenes during the entire Season 1 run? I don’t remember that at all. My memory sucks, but I figured I would have remembered if outdoor scenes suddenly changed from an unidentified building to the Saticoy spot. All the outdoor scenes I can picture are of Saticoy. Weird.” You’re telling me! How in the heck did I not recognize the fact that two different Dunder Mifflins had appeared on the show? Thankfully, Owen quickly tracked down the Culver City locale and I ran out to stalk it this past weekend.

In real life, the original exterior of Scranton Business Park was actually Stage 1 and 2 of the Century Studio Corporation, which has since gone out of business due to runaway production. The building housed both soundstages and second floor office space when it was in operation. You can see photographs of some of the company’s soundstages (there were nine of them in total) here.

For a time, Stage 1 and 2 were being offered for sale, but the property now appears to have been taken off the market. Several set pieces and backdrops are still located onsite, though, as you can see below. I am guessing that the location went into foreclosure at some point and is currently in a holding pattern, waiting to be sold by the bank.

Sadly, the exterior of the property was altered in recent years, as you can see in the Google Street View image below (and LoopNet listing photo here) as compared to my current photograph. While there used to be eight windows running across the second floor of the building, there are now only six.

The door to the loading dock located directly beneath the missing windows has also been made taller, which means that a portion of the second floor office space has been removed. I was absolutely heartbroken upon discovering the change because it is that removed area that I believe was used on The Office.

As you can see below, the building is divided into two sections, each with a soundstage and second-floor office space, separated by a green-gated entrance. The northern portion comprises Stage 1, while the southern portion comprises Stage 2.

After spending a ridiculous amount of time comparing the blurred views of buildings visible in the background of some Season 1 episodes to Google Street View images of buildings located across the street from Stage 1 and 2, I became convinced that it was the second floor of Stage 1 (the northern section) that was used as the interior of Dunder Mifflin. (I know, I know – I have way too much time on my hands!) The discovery was particularly distressing as I was hoping that the office space that appeared on the series was still intact – and that I could possibly tour it someday. But that does not appear to be the case.

Stage 1’s offices were only utilized for the first season of The Office (a total of six episodes), but because the set built for the remainder of the filming was almost an exact replica, the space would have been completely recognizable.

What a thrill it would have been to see it in person!

Of the set, Jenna Fischer stated in her blog post, “In Season 1 of The Office, we shot on location at a real office building, on the second floor of some old offices in Culver City, California. For Season 2, we moved to a soundstage, where they re-created the original office location down to the smallest detail. (Except that they made Michael’s office a little larger. It was hard to fit the camera crew into the old office to do his interview segments.) Why move at all? The No. 1 reason: Now we can control the weather and the amount of light that comes through the windows. When they were real windows facing the real outside, it was tricky! If you watch the DVD of Season 1, I bet you can see some subtle differences between our old location and our new stage. The craziest thing was that for the first few weeks in our new location we would forget we were on a soundstage and get confused trying to leave. The actual exit doors were all different. Just imagine if someone rebuilt the interior of your house on a soundstage. So when you walked out your “front door,” instead of seeing the outside you were still inside a giant warehouse with lights and equipment. It felt like we were on The Truman Show!”

Pictured below are screen captures of Michael Scott’s (Steve Carell) office, the set version of which was made slightly larger than the real life version, as Jenna mentioned.

The change is barely noticeable, though.

The Dunder Mifflin warehouse, where the gang played basketball in the Season 1 episode titled “Basketball,” was actually the soundstage on the bottom floor of Stage 2. This was easily discernible thanks to the adjacent brick wall that was visible in the episode.

According to DVD commentary provided by B.J. Novak (aka Ryan Howard), during Season 1 the production team transformed the soundstage located directly below the real life offices used for interior filming into a makeshift production office. I am guessing that is why the Stage 2 soundstage was employed as the warehouse in “Basketball” – because the Stage 1 soundstage was already being utilized as production space.

I was thrilled to discover that the little green-gated alcove located in between Stage 1 and 2 had appeared in some of the first season’s deleted scenes. At least that area is still intact. Now if only I could get in there to see it!

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here

Big THANK YOU to Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Scranton Business Park from the first season of The Office is located at 3322 La Cienega Place in Culver City. Chandler Valley Center Studios, the building used during Seasons 2-9 of The Office, can be found at 13927 Saticoy Street in Van Nuys.

July 21, 2014
JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa from “Saved by the Bell”

This Labor Day, Lifetime is set to air The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story about the making of the Saturday morning classic which ran from 1989-1993. Um, YAY! (How did I not know about this, by the way?? Ordering it now!) While the show was admittedly as cheesy as they come, I loved it as a youngster and still find myself getting sucked in whenever I come across an episode on TV. Once I heard the news about the behind-the-scenes docudrama (thanks to my editor at Los Angeles magazine), I decided it was high time I did some stalking of the original series’ locations – especially being that one of them is right in my own backyard. (I blogged about it once before here.) During the show’s third season, Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen), Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley) and the gang headed out to Palm Desert to attend the wedding of Jessie’s father, Mr. Spano (George McDaniel). In the two episodes, which were titled “Palm Springs Weekend: Part I” and “Palm Springs Weekend: Part II,” the group stayed at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa. Amazingly, despite an extensive remodel, the hotel is still recognizable from its onscreen appearance 23 years ago.

[ad]

The JW Marriott Desert Springs is one of my favorite hotels in the Coachella Valley and quite possibly the largest resort I have ever seen. The place is massive – like 450-acres massive.

The hotel originally opened in February 1987 and currently features 884 (!!) rooms, an eight-story atrium lobby (pictured below), four pools, a 38,000-square-foot spa, twenty tennis courts, an 18-hole putting green, basketball courts, a salon, two golf courses, five restaurants, and, most importantly, a Starbucks.

The resort’s most stunning feature, though, is its massive waterway system, which guests are able to view via manned gondolas.

The main boat launch is pictured below.

Sadly, the property underwent a $25-million renovation from 2007 through 2012 and looks quite a bit different today than it did in when Saved by the Bell was filmed in 1991. It is still, thankfully, somewhat recognizable, though. You can check out a photograph of the original lobby here.

In the “Palm Springs Weekend” episodes, Jessie’s dad is said to manage the J.W. Marriott Desert Springs and the property was featured extensively in the shows. Just a few areas that were used include the front exterior;

the main entrance;

the lobby doors;

and the boat launch.

As you can see, the launch looks much different today than it did onscreen.

Mr. Spano’s wedding was held in the Marriott’s lobby, which also looks much different today, sadly. I have to say I prefer the hotel’s original design to the current one.

The resort’s Valley Golf Course also appeared in the episodes, but I did not venture out there to take any pics. (Cut me some slack – it was 110 degrees at the time. )

One of the Marriott’s former restaurants was used several times on the shows, but, sadly, during the remodel that space was completely gutted and subsequently reopened as a different eatery named Rockwood Grill.

I am guessing that the Desert Springs’ actual fitness center was utilized in the episodes’ gym scenes. Unfortunately, the entire spa was gutted during the remodel and no longer looks anything like its previous self.

I was not able to pinpoint which of the Marriott’s pools appeared in the episodes. I did track down a photograph of the Saved by the Pool pool online and the caption states that it is located at the Desert Springs Villas II (a time share community that is part of the resort), but, oddly, I can’t find a pool on aerial views that matches up.

I would really LOVE to see it in person, too, being that it is where Zack and Kelly rekindled their romance in “Part I.”

The JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort has popped up onscreen several times since Saved by the Bell. In 2006, the hotel was where Kimberly Bryant got a little crazy while on vacation with her girlfriends in the third episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County’s first season.

In 2007, Chrissy Schwartz and her friends spent a couple of nights at the Marriott in the pilot episode of Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County, which was titled “Crush . . . Interrupted.”

Oddly, in the episode the group dines at Mikado, which is supposedly a restaurant in the O.C., prior to their trip. Mikado is actually located at the Desert Springs Resort, though, which means that the dinner scene was filmed during their vacation, not beforehand. So much for “reality” TV.

In 2009, Desert Springs was where Alexis and Jim Bellino spent a romantic weekend sans kids in the Season 5 episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County titled “Nothing Is As It Seems.”

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa, from the “Palm Springs Weekend” episodes of Saved by the Bell, is located at 74-855 Country Club Drive in Palm Desert. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

July 11, 2014
The Mercantile from “Major Crimes”

During a recent stalking adventure with Mike, from MovieShotsLA, the two of us passed by a unique building in Hollywood housing a restaurant named The Mercantile. While we did not have time to stop in that day, I made a mental note to revisit it for a meal at a later date. So I was absolutely floored to see the place pop up last week in the Season 3 episode of Major Crimes titled “Letting It Go.” I immediately texted Mike and told him we had to re-stalk the eatery as soon as possible and we ended up doing just that this past Thursday while I was in L.A. for a brief visit.

[ad]

The Mercantile was originally founded in November 2009 by restaurateur George Abou-Daoud, who also opened Delancey pizzeria, aka Tom’s Bistro from Parks and Recreation which I blogged about here. Abou-Daoud owns so many area eateries that he is often referred to as the “unofficial mayor of Hollywood.”

The Mercantile is housed in a two-story 1928 Spanish Churrigueresque-style building that boasts spectacular sculptural detailing. I fell in love with the place upon sight.

The interior of The Mercantile is just as picturesque.

I would give my eye teeth for the reclaimed wood table pictured below. I so want it for my apartment!

The combination gourmet market/restaurant/wine and cheese bar offers a pretty spectacular menu (50+ wines by the glass!), but, sadly, Mike and I did not get a chance to eat while we were there. I am definitely planning a re-visit with the Grim Cheaper in the near future, though.

You can check out a photograph of what the exterior of the building looked like prior to The Mercantile opening here.

In the “Letting It Go” episode of Major Crimes, The Mercantile was where Detective Amy Sykes (Kearran Giovanni) took rape victim/murder suspect Corporal Laura Day (Nikki DeLoach) for a cup of coffee to sober her up.

As you can see below, The Mercantile’s name and signage was visible in the scene, which is how I recognized it.

The Mercantile was also very briefly featured in the Season 3 episode of Scandal titled “We Do Not Touch the First Ladies” as Darcy’s Cafe, the spot where David Rosen (Joshua Malina) went to meet a reporter and wound up being kidnapped.

Speaking of Major Crimes, I am dying to track down the motel that was used in the series’ Season 3 promotional photographs. Does anyone happen to recognize it or know where it is? I have a feeling that the structure might have been digitally altered for the picture, but I would love to find it nevertheless.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Mercantile, from the “Letting It Go” episode of Major Crimes, is located at 6600 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. You can visit the eatery’s official website here.

July 8, 2014
Sur from “Vanderpump Rules”

Last November, the Grim Cheaper and I became obsessed with the Bravo reality series Vanderpump Rules. Like obsessed. We binge-watched the entire first season in about two days. For those who have not seen the show, it centers around West Hollywood eatery Sur (which is co-owned by The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump) and its drama-fueled staff. And yes, as strange as it may seem, said staff does actually work onsite at the restaurant. If you stalk the place, you will see them. Naturally, the first words out of my mouth upon realizing this fact was, “We have to go to dinner there!”

[ad]

Wrongly assuming that Sur would be exorbitantly expensive (as it turns out, the place is completely affordable), I told the GC that the only thing I wanted for my birthday in June was dinner there. When he found out that my good friends Lavonna, Kim, Katie and Kaylee would be in town on my big day, he included them in on his plans and promptly made reservations (eight months in advance!) as a surprise for me. Yep, he’s a keeper!

To say that we had a blast would be an understatement. The evening honestly could not have turned out more perfect or more fun, as evidenced by the picture below.

Prior to doing research for this post, I was under the impression that Sur was a relatively new restaurant. Come to find out, the place has actually been around since 1998! It was originally founded in January of that year by Argentinian chef Guillermo Zapata.

It was not until 2005 that Guillermo brought in Lisa and her husband, Ken Todd, as partners. The eatery was then expanded and revamped with Lisa’s special touch shortly thereafter. The result is nothing short of spectacular!

Everywhere one looks, there is something new and fabulous to discover – from unique chandeliers to vintage mirrors to repurposed doors and windows used as wall hangings. It is worth a trip to Sur just to check out the interior design alone!

When the property next door to Sur became available in 2011, Lisa jumped at the chance to purchase it. She transformed the 2,500-square-foot space into what is now Sur Lounge. It was there that we started off our evening. We arrived on the scene about twenty minutes prior to our reservation time and were informed that we could either be seated immediately or grab a drink in the lounge first.

Upon deciding to grab a cocktail, the host, Adam, informed us that we were welcome to take our time and to just let him know when we were ready to be seated. How incredibly nice is that? (That’s Adam pictured below. While not a Vanderpump Rules cast member, he is a Wilhelmina model, so we had to get a picture with him!) Amazingly, everyone at Sur was beyond nice! The place had zero hoity-toity attitude and all of the staff we encountered went above and beyond to make our evening special. And believe me, the way we were carrying on and running around the place (we were absolutely ridiculous as you will come to see in later pictures), they would have had every right to be annoyed. Instead they bent over backwards to make our evening special! We were treated as if we were VIPs and we loved absolutely every minute of it!

Sur Lounge is like a dream world!

The courtyard area is especially stunning and does not look like part of a restaurant at all, but like the backyard of your hippest, classiest friend.

The interior of Sur Lounge is just as beautiful, with private seating spaces and vintage décor tucked into every nook and cranny.

Of the design, Lisa said in a 2011 The Hollywood Reporter interview, “I took a bit from here, a bit from there. There are some industrial elements mixed with little velvet mushroom stools that I had made. Huge, extra-long leather Chesterfields. Lots of plants. Things I’ve bought during my travels and brought in. I was looking for an eclectic feeling. Is it Vietnamese? Balinese? French? I wanted you to not be able to put your finger on it.”

After enjoying Happy Hour cocktails (the prices were amazingly low!), we headed to our table and shortly thereafter saw Guillermo. Because he regularly appears on Vanderpump Rules, we had to get a picture with him. After we did, the woman sitting at the table next to us also asked him for a photo. As it turns out, she, too, was dining at Sur because of her love for Vanderpump Rules. She said to us at one point, “I am so glad that I am sitting next to you guys, otherwise I wouldn’t know what I was doing!” To which I responded, “Oh honey! You don’t know how lucky you are! We are the ultimate stalkers!”

Prior to ordering, I sent Lavonna – and her thick Southern accent – to speak with a man standing near Sur’s entrance. (I assumed he was a manager and never did actually find out his job title.) Lavonna explained to him that she, Kim, Kaylee and Katie had come from out of town to celebrate my birthday and that we were all huge Vanderpump Rules fans. Well, from that point forward, the man, whom we found out was named Ali, pretty much became our personal guide. He helped us get photographs with the cast, took us around the restaurant and gave us info on the filming that was going to be taking place there later that night. He was absolutely amazing and our evening would not have been nearly as fun without him! (That’s Ali pictured below.)

One place that we were all desperate to see was the back alley where the Vanderpump Rules cast is often shown taking smoking breaks – and creating massive drama. When we told Ali, he marched us right through the rear employee-only areas (which we had seen on the show!) to take us there and, let me tell you, we were pretty much dying the whole time!

That’s me and Kim re-living some Rules drama.

While we were outside, Lavonna happened to spot a film crew sitting in a van nearby, so she rushed right up to ask them some questions. That’s one of the camera guys below. He was quite amused at how excited we were and when we mentioned some of the intel that Ali had told us about the filming that was taking place there that night, he said, “You guys know more about our schedule than I do!” Yep, that’s how we roll!

A little bit later, while we were ordering our meal (we still had not yet ordered any food at that time!), Ali informed us that Jax had just arrived on the scene, so we all rushed over to get photos with him. Jax was very nice at that point in the evening, but when we encountered him again a few hours later he was rather douchey, which came as a surprise to no one.

We also met Scheana Marie;

a new cast member named Rachel;

Tom Sandoval;

and Katie Maloney, all of whom were very nice. I did not get to meet my favorite cast member Stassi Schroeder, because she, sadly, left the show at the end of last season and currently resides in New York.

I should mention here that the poor GC spent most of the evening sitting at our table by himself, while we ran around taking pictures. The crap that my poor husband has to put up with! Thankfully though, the meal was exceptional! And completely affordable! I opted for the Crispy Chicken Breast (which Stassi had stated in an episode was her favorite menu item) and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD.

I cannot more highly recommend stalking Sur! We had such an incredible night there and it turned out to be the best birthday present I could have asked for! A big, HUGE THANK YOU to the GC, Lavonna, Kim, Katie and Kaylee for making it all happen!

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Sur, from Vanderpump Rules, is located at 606 North Robertson Boulevard in West Hollywood. You can visit the eatery’s official website here. Lisa’s newest restaurant, Pump Lounge, is located just around the corner at 8948 Santa Monica Boulevard.

June 30, 2014
The Viper Room from “Entourage”

Once I found the location of Zebra tattoo parlor, on which Jeremy Piven’s name was displayed during the opening credits of Entourage each week (I blogged about it here), I just had to track down the spot where cutie Jerry Ferrara’s moniker was showcased. Upon finally doing so, I was a bit embarrassed that I had not recognized the place beforehand, being that it is one of Hollywood’s most well-known landmarks – The Viper Room in West Hollywood.

[ad]

Although arguably most famous for the fact that it was where River Phoenix died of a drug overdose in 1993, The Viper Room had a long, storied history prior to that time. The space was originally the site of a night spot named The Cotton Club, which then became Greenwich Village and then the Rue Angel – all during the first half of the 20th century. When the Rue Angel was burned in a fire in 1950, its doors were shuttered. The site reopened shortly thereafter as The Last Call, a drag show venue, which did not prove fruitful. The Last Call was closed in April 1951 and was subsequently transformed into The Melody Room, a small jazz bar that opened on June 14th of that same year. The Melody Room was successful for almost two decades and was reportedly frequented – and maybe even backed -by mobsters Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen.

In 1969, The Melody Room was sold and became Filthy McNasty’s, a live rock ‘n’ roll venue. Sometime during the late ‘70s/early ‘80s, the property’s name was changed once again, this time to “The Central.” By 1993, The Central, which had remained a forum for rock ‘n’ roll acts, was on the verge of closing. When actor Johnny Depp found out, he decided to invest. Along with a few partners (one of whom, Anthony Fox, mysteriously went missing in 2001), he revamped the place and dubbed it “The Viper Room.” It opened to the public on August 14th, 1993, with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers serving as one of the inaugural acts. The Viper Room was immensely popular from the get-go, especially with the young Hollywood set. Just a few of the celebrities who were spotted there during the early years include Christina Applegate, Drew Barrymore, Jen Aniston, Nicole Eggert, Tim Burton, Quentin Tarantino, Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger, Johnny Cash, Tommy Lee, Pamela Anderson, Gwen Stefani, Ellen DeGeneres, and Michael Keaton.

Shortly after its opening, The Viper Room would be forever marred by the death of 23-year-old actor River Phoenix, who passed away on the sidewalk just outside the club’s front doors in the early morning hours of October 31st, 1993. Following the tragedy, the venue closed down for a full two weeks.

While stalking The Viper Room recently with Mike, from MovieShotsLA, we were shocked to see a payphone nearby. (I wasn’t aware those things still existed!) After some research, I learned that it was the payphone where Joaquin Phoenix made his now infamous call to 911 following River’s collapse. The phone is located in front of the Sun Bee food mart at 8860 West Sunset Boulevard. And yes, I realize how morbid this subject matter is, but I was absolutely astounded to discover that it was still standing, all these years later, especially considering the fact that payphones are such a rarity in today’s world.

In 2004, in the midst of a lawsuit with his partners, Johnny Depp sold his portion of The Viper Room. Today, the property is owned by Harry Morton, son of Hard Rock Café founder Peter Morton. You can check out some photos of the venue over the years in all of its many incarnations here and you can see some pictures of what the interior of the club looks like today here.

In the Entourage opening credits, Jerry Ferrara’s name was shown in neon lettering above The Viper Room awning. As I mentioned earlier, I am embarrassed to admit that I did not recognize the site during all my years of watching the series. No, it was not until a couple of weeks ago, when I did a Google search for “Terner’s Liquor,” a neighboring storefront visible in the Entourage credits, that I made the connection. In my defense, though, The Viper Room looked quite a bit different in the opening, as you can see below.

You can watch the Entourage opening credits by clicking below.

The Viper Room has been spotlighted onscreen several times over the years. In 1983, when it was still operating as The Central, its interior popped up in the movie Valley Girl as the site of the club where Randy (Nicolas Cage) took Julie Richman (Deborah Foreman) shortly after meeting her. Only the interior of The Central was used, though. The exterior was a bar in Hollywood that has since been torn down.

In 1991’s The Doors, The Central masqueraded as the London Fog where Jim Morrison (Val Kilmer) and the group played in their early days. At the time, the exterior, which has since been painted black, looked considerably different than it does today.

The real life interior of the club also appeared in The Doors.

In 2005’s Be Cool, The Viper Room was where Chili Palmer (John Travolta) heard Linda Moon (Christina Milian) sing for the first time. Only the exterior of the site was used in the shoot.

The interior of the club that appeared in Be Cool is far larger than The Viper Room’s actual interior. I have been to The Viper Room a few times over the years (one of my acting class friends used to date a bouncer there, so we were VIP all the way, all the time! ) and the inside of it is tiny. I’m talking tiny. Like I’m pretty sure my apartment has more square footage. I am guessing that the interior of the Be Cool bar was a set. Either that or filming took place inside of a a different Los Angeles nightclub.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Viper Room, from the opening credits of Entourage, is located at 8852 West Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. You can visit the club’s official website here.

June 25, 2014
and Jeremy Piven Nightclub from “Arrested Development”

Thanks to Netflix streaming and the boredom of summer reruns, I just recently started watching Arrested Development. And, let me tell you, I am hooked! My interest in the show was first piqued when I randomly came across this Wikia article about a fictitious nightclub on the series named “and Jeremy Piven.”

[ad]

I just about died laughing upon seeing a screen capture of the place (pictured below) and my first thought was, “How am I not watching this show?” So I quickly remedied the situation and, so far, have not been disappointed. Any series that absurd is pretty much guaranteed to wind up one as of my favorites. For those for whom the screen capture below does not have any significance, let me fill you in.

In the opening credits of the now-defunct HBO series Entourage, the cast’s names were showcased on the front of several Hollywood buildings. Jeremy Piven’s was the last moniker to be shown, hence the word “and” in front of it. (You can watch those credits here.) Arrested Development decided to poke fun at the Entourage opening by creating a nightclub named “and Jeremy Piven” for a couple of Season 4 episodes. Hilarious! And even though I have not yet gotten to Season 4, I decided I just had to stalk the nightclub location, as well as the location of the building from the Entourage opening.

The storefront used in the Entourage opening credits was a snap to track down thanks to the fact that it is wrapped in a zebra print and bears signs reading “Piercing” and “Tattoo” (or should I say “Tat oo”?). A simple Google search of “Zebra,” “tattoo” and “Hollywood” led me to the Zebra tattoo parlor at 6660 Hollywood Boulevard and, sure enough, it was the right place. Aside from the fact that the exterior lacks neon signage reading “and Jeremy Piven,” it looks much the same as it did onscreen in Entourage.

The and Jeremy Piven nightclub was also a snap to track down thanks to fellow stalker Geoff, of the 90210Locations website, who had the locale listed on his Arrested Development page. The nightclub first showed up (very briefly) in the Season 4 episode titled “A New Start,” in the scene in which Debris Bardeaux (Maria Bamford) was randomly picked up by a limo.

Ironically enough, Zebra tattoo parlor can be seen in the background of an earlier scene in that very same episode.

The nightclub’s next appearance was in the Season 4 episode titled “Colony Collapse.” It was featured as the spot where Gob Bluth (Will Arnett) inadvertently became part of a young pop star’s entourage.

In real life, the and Jeremy Piven nightclub is a 6,200-square-foot building located right around the corner from Zebra tattoo at 1638 North Cherokee Avenue. The space is currently vacant, but most recently housed a studio prop house. You can check out a LoopNet listing for it here.

Only the exterior of the property was used in Arrested Development. The interior of and Jeremy Piven nightclub was actually Beso Hollywood, a place that I will be blogging about soon.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The and Jeremy Piven nightclub from Arrested Development is located at 1638 North Cherokee Avenue in Hollywood. Zebra tattoo parlor from the opening credits of Entourage is located just around the corner at 6660 Hollywood Boulevard.

June 23, 2014
Hotel Erwin from “Cougar Town”

I have never been a big fan of Venice Beach, but during my weeklong birthday celebration in L.A. my pals Lavonna, Kim, Katie, and Kaylee wanted to do some shopping, so I suggested hitting up Abbot Kinney Boulevard. While there, Lavonna asked if I had any stalking to do in the area and a light bulb went on in my head. I had long wanted to visit Hotel Erwin, where the Cul-de-Sac Crew stayed in the Season 4 episode of Cougar Town titled “Have Love Will Travel.” Because I typically avoid Venice like the plague, though, I had yet to do so. So the five of us headed right on over there. (That’s Katie and Kaylee, Kim’s daughter and Lavonna’s niece, respectively, in the photo above.)

[ad]

Since Angelinos tend to be much friendlier toward tourists than locals (at least when it comes to stalking), I always utilize Lavonna’s thick Southern accent whenever stalking with her. (She jokes that I just use her for her voice. ) This particular venture was no exception. The area of Hotel Erwin that I most wanted to see was its rooftop lounge, High, which was featured in several scenes on Cougar Town, so I promptly sent Lavonna to the front desk to inquire if we could go up there and snap some photos. Upon drawling to the concierge, “Y’all got a rooftop bar?”, Lavonna was informed that the lounge was closed, but that we were more than welcome to head up there to check it out and take pictures. (See, that accent works every time!) So we did just that. And, let me tell you, the place is nothing short of spectacular.

High Rooftop Lounge is absolutely HUGE, encompassing the entire roof of the Erwin.

Glass walls surround the premises, allowing for stunning beach and city views from pretty much every seat.

I mean, check out that scenery! Uh-ma-zing!

Hotel Erwin, which was built in 1967, originally housed the Best Western Marina Pacific Hotel. In 2008, the Joie de Vivre Group took over management of the site and cut its name to the “Marina Pacific Hotel.” A short five months later, management changed once again and an extensive, multimillion-dollar renovation project was begun, during which time an entire floor of ocean-view suites and new rooftop were added to the property. You can check out a photograph of what the structure looked like as the Best Western here. As you can see, the hotel lacked a fifth floor and rooftop lounge at the time and looked quite a bit different than it does in comparison to the pictures below. The site was re-dedicated as the Hotel Erwin, named in honor of owner Erwin Sokol, in mid-2009.

In the “Have Love Will Travel” episode of Cougar Town, which was the Season 4 finale and one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, Jules Cobb (Courteney Cox) and the gang headed to Los Angeles for a short vacation. While there, they stayed at Hotel Erwin. Quite a few areas of the 119-room property were shown in the episode, including High Rooftop Lounge, where the Cul-de-Sac Crew regularly hung out.

A night scene also took place at High. As you can see in the screen captures below, the bar’s views are even gorgeous after the sun sets. Oh, Grim Cheaper, I sense a field trip to Venice on the horizon!

Hotel Erwin’s front entrance was also utilized in the episode.

It was dressed quite a bit differently for the shoot. In real life, there is no furniture or concierge desk in that area.

The entrance does feature a little outdoor lounge, though.

The exterior of Hotel Erwin was also briefly visible in the scene in which Travis Cobb (Dan Byrd) and Laurie Keller (Busy Phillips) discussed the fact that fate seemed to be against them being together.

The interiors of the rooms where the gang stayed in the episode were sets and not actual Hotel Erwin rooms. Photographs of the property’s real life accommodations can be viewed here. As you can see, they do not match up to what appeared onscreen.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Hotel Erwin, from the “Have Love Will Travel” episode of Cougar Town, is located at 1697 Pacific Avenue in Venice Beach. You can visit the property’s official website here. High Rooftop Lounge is open daily, starting at 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

June 18, 2014
Tom’s Bistro from “Parks and Recreation”

A couple of months ago, I asked fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, to assist me in finding Tom’s Bistro from fave show Parks and Recreation. It took him less than a minute to track the place down (thanks to this April 25th tweet). As it turns out, a Hollywood pizzeria named Delancey stood in for the supposed Pawnee, Indiana-area restaurant. Once Owen told me the news, I wanted to kick myself as the very same eatery had been used as a location in another of my favorite shows, Dexter. Though I had never stalked it, how I did not recognize the place is absolutely beyond me! So I decided to amend the situation and ran out to visit Delancey last week while I was in L.A. (You can tell from the photograph above that Mike, from MovieShotsLA, was with me when I did so. The pictures I take never turn out that good!)

[ad]

Delancey was originally opened by restaurateur George Abou-Daoud (he also founded Bowery, Rosewood Tavern and The Mercantile Wine Bar, as well as several other L.A. eateries) in April 2008. He designed the space, which previously housed Taste of Thai, to resemble a New York bistro.

Delancey’s exterior is marked by red subway tile and wrought-iron detailing and does very much look like a restaurant one would find in the West Village.

The interior boasts much of that same Big-Apple vibe, with dark Cherry hardwood floors, exposed brick arches, pressed-tin ceilings, antique radiators, an oak bar and red leather booths.

Sadly, Mike and I did not get to sample any of Delancey’s fare while we were there (we had just finished a big meal elsewhere), but, from what I’ve read online, the food is superb. I cannot wait to go back there sometime in the near future.

Delancey was first featured in the Season 6 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “New Slogan,” in the scene in which Donna Meagle (Retta) and April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) took Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) location scouting for his new restaurant. Only the interior of the gastropub appeared in the episode.

The interior actually only appeared in that one episode. According to the super-nice server that we spoke with, a set based on Delancey’s interior was built at CBS Studio Center, where the series is lensed, shortly following the “New Slogan” filming.

Delancey was not featured again until the Season 6 finale of Parks and Rec, which was titled “Moving Up.” This time, the exterior of the eatery was shown in both a daytime shot . . .

. . . and a nighttime shot.

In “Moving Up,” the replica set was used for interior filming.

As you can see below, the interior of Tom’s Bistro is considerably larger than the actual Delancey interior. (This marketing scheme is absolutely amazing, by the way!)

On a random Parks side-note – In the “Moving Up” episode, Aubrey Plaza looked to be wearing Adina Reyter’s Tiny Square Necklace – the very same necklace that my girl Kristin Cavallari regularly wears, which I had a faux gold replica of made a couple of years ago.

As I mentioned earlier, Delancey also appeared in Dexter. In the Season 5 episode titled “My Bad” the restaurant was used in a flashback scene in which Rita Bennett (Julie Benz) and Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) had their first date.

Only the interior of Delancey was shown in the scene.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Delancey, aka Tom’s Bistro from Parks and Recreation, is located at 5936 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

June 6, 2014