Category: TV Locations

The Redbury Hotel from “Entourage”

Last July, while doing some cyber-stalking, I came across an article on the USA TODAY Travel website about the numerous Southern California hotels and restaurants featured in the eighth and final season of the hit television series Entourage. One of the spots mentioned in the blurb was Tinseltown’s newly-opened The Redbury Hotel, which appeared in the episode titled “The Big Bang”, and, thanks to its dark crimson walls, unique architecture and old Hollywood vibe, I immediately became enamored of the place. I, of course, added the locale to my “To-Stalk” list right then and there, but, for whatever reason, did not make it out there to actually do so until three weekends ago.

And I am very happy to report that the place did not disappoint! To say that I am in love with The Redbury would be a gross understatement. The 57-room boutique hotel, which first opened in November of 2010, was the brainchild of sbe Entertainment Group founder/CEO Sam Nazarian and photographer/music video director Matthew Rolston. The 5-story structure was originally conceived as a high-end, $50 million condominium project by the Palisades Development company, but that venture was forced to be scrapped during the real estate downturn. In February of 2010, at which time the building was about 80-percent complete, it was purchased by the CIM Group, who re-envisioned the locale as an upscale hotel and hired Nazarian and Rolston to manage and design it, respectively.

The name Redbury comes from a combination of “red”, the hue that Palisades Development had already painted the building, and “bury”, in honor of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. According to an August 2010 Los Angeles Times article, the hotel’s eclectic style is a mix of “bohemian, 1960s flower power and old Hollywood”. Apparently, Rolston wanted the locale to feel “’theatrical’, a little bit like actually being in one of my photographs or music videos”. And, as you can see above, he succeeded with that vision – in spades! The Redbury is honestly like nothing I have ever seen before and absolutely does feel like a movie set come to life. I so loved it that I was even tempted to book a room while we were there for a spontaneous little stay-cation, but the Grim Cheaper was, of course, having none of that.

The Redbury staff was BEYOND friendly and, even though none of the hotel’s restaurants were open while we were stalking the place, I was allowed to go inside to take a peek at each of them and told that I could snap “all of the photographs you want” – six little words that I absolutely LOVE to hear. The areas of the hotel that we visited included the Library Bar – which honestly feels more like the ultra-cozy living room of a very stylish friend’s house than a public bar;

The Glade courtyard lounge – a huge terrace garden complete with teak decking, Moorish-style lanterns and outdoor couches and daybeds;

and Cleo – an ultra-hip Middle-Eastern-style restaurant that is dominated by a large 1917 movie poster of actress Theda Bara dressed as Cleopatra. The Library Bar, Glade and Cleo are all major celebrity hotspots. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted at the one of the three watering holes include my girl Kristin Cavallari, my man Matt Lanter (sigh!), Drew Barrymore, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Foxx, Hilary Duff, Joe Jonas, Ashley Greene, Audrina Patridge, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Sam Trammell, the entire Kardashian/Jenner family, Courteney Cox, Josh Hopkins, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Adam Brody, Neve Campbell, Carla Gugino, Nia Vardalos, Jesse Williams, Lauren Conrad, Lo Bosworth, Whitney Port, Busy Phillips, Stacey Keibler, David Beckham, Kirstie Alley, Cheryl Burke, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Jessica Lowndes, Gillian Zinser, Sarah Hyland, Salma Hayek, Mila Kunis, and Ali Fedotowsky.

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In “The Big Bang” episode of Entourage, Cleo restaurant was where Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) ambushed Vanity Fair reporter Sophia Lear (Alice Eve) and tried to convince her that he was not a womanizer. And while the USA TODAY Travel article stated that the series had filmed scenes “throughout the hotel, including its Library lounge”, I did not spot any other areas of the property in “The Big Bang” or in other episodes from Season 8, so I believe that information is incorrect.

The yet-to-be released movie Between Us, which stars Julia Stiles, Melissa George and Taye Diggs, also did some filming at The Redbury.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Redbury Hotel, from “The Big Bang” episode of Entourage, is located at 1717 Vine Street in Hollywood. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

February 16, 2012
Oliver’s Palm Springs House from “The O.C.”

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the Grim Cheaper and I have just recently started watching fave series The O.C. over again from the beginning and one location that popped up during the first season that I have been absolutely dying to find and stalk was the supposed-Palm-Springs-area house that belonged to troublemaker Oliver Trask (Taylor Handley) in the episode titled “The Links”. So imagine my surprise when fellow stalker Geoff, of the 90210Locations website, randomly emailed me last week, after seeing my post on Café-Club Fais Do-Do (which stood in for a Tijuana nightclub in one of The O.C.’s early episodes), to let me know that he had tracked down a few of the show’s more elusive locales, one of which was Oliver’s Palm Springs residence! I kid you not! As you can imagine, I was absolutely bowled over by this information and, as I told Geoff, would have run out to stalk the place right then and there had it not been pouring at the time. When the rain finally did subside the following morning, I, of course, rushed right on over to the house to finally stalk it. Yay!

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In “The Links” episode of The O.C., Oliver invites the Newport gang – Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie), Seth Cohen (Adam Brody), Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton), Luke Ward (Chris Carmack), Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson), and Anna Stern (Samaire Armstrong) – to spend the weekend with him at his parents’ mid-century-modern-style home in Palm Springs, which he states is located “right on PGA West”. And while Geoff originally thought that the property was in Huntington Beach, near the Seacliff Country Club where the group played golf in the episode, he came up completely empty-handed after searching the area. Then, a few months later, while trying to track down a different locale in South Pasadena, he spotted a house on Arroyo Drive that looked vaguely familiar. He was unsure of where he had seen the residence before, but made a note of the address. It was not until a couple of weeks afterwards that he happened to re-watch “The Links” episode of The O.C. and realized that the house that had looked so familiar was Oliver’s. Nicely done, Geoff!

In real life, the 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 3,032-square-foot home, which was originally built in 1959 and sits on almost half an acre of land, is pretty darn spectacular! In fact, the main reason that I wanted to stalk the property so badly, besides the fact that it appeared on The O.C. of course, was that I had fallen in love with its mid-century-style architecture pretty much as soon as it had appeared on my TV screen. And I am very happy to report that, in person, the place did not disappoint.

As you can see above, the residence most definitely does look like a Palm-Springs-area home, so it is not very hard to see why producers chose to use it in “The Links” episode.

The real-life interior of the property, and even some of the real-life furniture – both of which you can see photographs of here – were also used in the episode.

I am fairly certain, though, that the bedrooms where Ryan, Marissa, Seth, and Anna stayed were just sets that were built inside of a soundstage at Raleigh Studios Manhattan Beach where the series was lensed, as they do not seem to match the real-life interior of the house.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Oliver’s Palm Springs house from “The Links” episode of The O.C. is located at 534 Arroyo Drive in South Pasadena.

February 15, 2012
Pomona College’s Harwood Court – aka Eastland School from “The Facts of Life”

Well over six months ago, my good friend Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, asked if I would like to do some stalking with him of Harwood Court, the Pomona College dormitory which stood in for the fictional Eastland School, attended by Blair Warner (Lisa Whelchel), Dorothy ‘Tootie’ Ramsey (Kim Fields), Natalie Green (Mindy Cohn), and Joanne ‘Jo” Polniaczek (Nancy McKeon), in the 1980’s television series The Facts of Life. My answer, of course, was a resounding “YES!” Because both of our schedules have been a bit hectic as of late, though, we were not able to make it out there until this past Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, we were both pretty excited about the whole adventure when it finally came to pass and, a few days before we headed to Claremont, Mikey sent me an email which stated, “Wow, this is just like going scuba diving with Jacques Cousteau, or playing football with Tim Tebow, or getting a pants-dropping lesson from Marky Mark! Well, maybe not that last one!” Um, my stalking skills being compared to the scuba skills of Jacques Cousteau?!?! LOVE IT!

This location was actually found by Robert, of the Movie Locations and More website, way back in the Summer of 2010. Earlier that year, Robert had read online that the exterior of Eastland School was a building on the Pomona College campus in Claremont, but because Google Street View of that area is not particularly clear, he was unable to track down the exact structure used via the internet. So when he came to Los Angeles for a stalking visit a few months later, he drove around the 140-acre campus, screen shot in hand, and, amazingly enough, was able to track down the building fairly quickly. Thank you, Robert! In reality, Eastland School is the Harwood Court residential hall – a 68,000-square-foot unisex dormitory that was built in 1921 and currently houses 170 students. The structure, which was originally an all-female dorm, was completely renovated by the Wheeler & Wheeler architectural firm in 1990. Thankfully though, it still looks much the same as it did onscreen in The Facts of Life.

A few years ago, Mikey had actually purchased one of Molly Ringwald’s costumes from the first season of The Facts of Life, as well as a promotional lunch box from the series that he had signed by none other than Mrs. Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae) herself, and he brought both items with him on our stalk to add to the fun. On our way there, he mentioned that he thought I might be able to fit into the track jacket portion of Molly’s former costume and, shockingly, he was right! I cannot tell you how nervous I was to be wearing such an amazing piece of television history, while drinking a Starbucks, no less, so I only kept it on long enough to snap a couple of pics.

Molly is pictured wearing one of the track jackets above. So incredibly cool!!

While we were there, a resident happened to walk out of Harwood Court and we stopped her to ask if she would take a photograph of Mikey and me. She obliged and afterwards I inquired if she was aware that her dorm was, in fact, The Facts of Life school. Shockingly, she had not actually been aware, and, even more shockingly, she did not seem to be too impressed by the news. Ah well, I guess not everyone is a stalker.

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Harwood Court showed up as the fictional Peekskill, New York-area Eastland School during the opening credits of The Facts of Life’s entire nine-season run.

“The Facts of Life” Filmed at Harwood Court Residence Hall at Pomona College

You can watch the series’ opening credits by clicking above. On an interesting side-note – the show’s insanely-catchy theme song was co-composed by Alan Thicke, aka Jason Seaver, the patriarch of the Seaver family on Growing Pains, and real-life father of R&B singer Robin Thicke.

While doing research before heading out to Pomona College with Mikey on Sunday, I discovered that Harwood Court had also appeared in several other productions. In 1985’s Real Genius, it was featured as the dormitory where Chris Knight (Val Kilmer), Mitch Taylor (Gabriel Jarret), and Jordan (Michelle Meyrink) lived.

And while some of the real-life interior of the building was actually used in the movie . . .

. . . I am fairly certain that the hallway and dorm rooms were sets.

In 1987’s Teen Wolf Too, Harwood Court stood in for the Hamilton College dormitory where Todd Howard (Jason Bateman) lived with his roommate, Stiles (Stuart Franklin).

The back side of the building appeared in the movie’s beyond-words-awful “Do You Love Me” dance sequence.

I believe that the interior scenes were all filmed on a set, though.

In the Season 1 episode of the reality series Top Chef Masters titled “Masters Get Schooled”, the Elimination Challenge, in which professional chefs Michael Schlow, Hubert Keller, Tim Love, and Christopher Lee were required to cook a gourmet meal in a dorm room, was held at Harwood Court.

You can read Mikey’s fab write-up of our The Facts of Life stalk on the Mike the Fanboy website here and you can watch a video Mikey put together of our adventure by clicking above.

Big THANK YOU to Robert, from the Movie Locations and More website, for finding this location and to Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, for inviting me to stalk it with him.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Harwood Court residence hall, aka Eastland School from The Facts of Life, is located on the campus of Pomona College at 170 East Bonita Avenue in Claremont.

February 8, 2012
La Villa Consolata – The Day Spa from the “Driven” Episode of “CSI: Miami”

Back in January, a fellow stalker named Brandi left a comment on my post about the mansion from The Beverly Hillbillies movie informing me that the property’s indoor spa had not actually been used in the Season 4 episode of CSI: Miami titled “Driven”, as I had originally presumed, but that that spa could actually be found at a different ostentatious estate, this one on Mapleton Drive in Beverly Hills. One quick online search and I discovered that Brandi was, indeed, correct and I immediately added the residence to my “To-Stalk” list. As fate would have it, just a few days later, the Grim Cheaper and I happened to be watching the 2001 romantic comedy Good Advice (for about the hundredth time, mind you – it is one of our favorite movies EVER!) and I just about fell off the couch when I spotted the very same spa from CSI: Miami! So I decided that I just HAD to stalk the estate as soon as possible and dragged the GC right on out there this past Saturday afternoon.

As you can see above, in real life, the “Driven” mansion is absolutely GINORMOUS and actually looks more like a palace than a private residence. In fact, according to the Wikinfo website, the property is one of the largest single family homes in all of the United States! Ironically enough, while we were stalking the dwelling, a Hollywood tour van happened to pull up and the guide announced that the estate had once been leased by Donatella Versace, to which the GC yelled out, “It was also featured in an episode of CSI: Miami!” Thanks for having my back, honey! And while I cannot find any information online to back up the Donatella Versace claim, it does look like exactly the sort of place that I would imagine her living. There are also a few internet reports floating around that the home was lived in (at different times, of course) by both Janet Jackson and Tommy Hilfiger, but I believe that information is incorrect. According to CurbedLA, the residence was originally built in 1993 by Pacific-Brokerage-Services-founder Steven Wallace and was awarded to his ex-wife, Jo-Anne, in their divorce shortly thereafter. Current property records show that Jo-Anne still owns the mansion to this day, although it is possible she rented it out to various celebrities over the years.

As you can see in the above photographs from the home’s MLS listing, the 6-bedroom, 7-bath, 27,816-square-foot abode, which sits on 1.15 well-manicured acres of land, is nothing short of unbelievable! The property, dubbed “La Villa Consolata”, features a whopping eight fireplaces!, a domed entryway, a gourmet kitchen, formal gardens, a gym, an indoor and an outdoor pool, a massage room, a game room, a two-level library (which I would give anything to have in my own home!), a master bedroom wing, three elevators!, staff quarters, three family rooms, a detached theater, a guard house, a wine cellar, and a three-level underground disco named “Atlantis”! Who knew that those kinds of amenities were even available in homes?!?! And while the residence has been on and off the market for a couple of years now, it seems to currently be back on again at the bargain price of $27.5 million. You can check out the dwelling’s real estate website and see more photographs of it in all of its ornate grandeur here.

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In the “Driven” episode of CSI: Miami, La Villa Consolata stood in for a supposed Dade-County-area day spa where a group of wealthy women are robbed at gunpoint.

The mansion’s indoor lap pool was used extensively in the episode.

That pool area is pictured above and I have to say that it is pretty darn magnificent!

The interior of La Villa Consolata also masqueraded as a second location in “Driven”. Towards the end of the episode, the mansion stood in for the residence belonging to Cynthia Gilmore (Jacqueline Pinol), where a home-invasion robbery took place.

In Good Advice, La Villa Consolata’s indoor pool is where Cathy Sherman (Rosanna Arquette) attends a yoga class and gets interrupted by a phone call from her husband, Barry Sherman (Jon Lovitz). I SO love that Cathy has a coffee with her while practicing yoga, by the way! SO something I would do!

In the Season 1 episode of Charmed titled “The Wedding from Hell”, La Villa Consolata’s front exterior;

interior;

and backyard stood in for the mansion where Mrs. Grace Spencer (Barbara Stock) lived.

Oddly enough, though, the mansion grounds shown in the beginning of the episode are unmistakably those of The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, which I blogged about way back in October of 2008. I have no idea why two different locations would be used to stand in for the same backyard, but I am guessing that it was some sort of a timing issue in which La Villa Consolata was not available for the entire stretch of time that was needed to film “The Wedding from Hell”, so producers found a similar-looking spot to double for it in certain scenes.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Brandi for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: La Villa Consolata, aka the mansion from Good Advice, the “Driven” episode of CSI: Miami and “The Wedding from Hell” episode of Charmed, is located at 330 South Mapleton Drive in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles. The home used for all of the backyard scenes in Mommie Dearest is located across the street at 355 South Mapleton Drive.

February 2, 2012
The “Nanny and the Professor” House

Last week, fellow stalker James posted a comment on my site challenging me to find the residence where the Everett family – widowed Professor Harold Everett (Richard Long) and his three children, Hal (David Doremus), Butch (Trent Lehman), and Prudence (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Kim Richards), and their nanny, Nanny Phoebe Figalilly (Hayley Mills’ sister, Juliet Mills) – lived in the 1970s television series Nanny and the Professor. And while I had never before even heard of the Mary-Poppins-like comedy, I was immediately intrigued and added the location to my “To-Find” list. Fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, beat me to the punch, though, and sent me an email in which he informed me of the address to the home less than 24 hours after James had posted the challenge! Nice! Thank you, Geoff! So this past weekend, I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there to stalk the place.

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In the short-lived Nanny and the Professor, which only lasted two seasons and ran from January 1970 to December 1971, the Everett family lived in an idyllic white clapboard residence supposedly located at 10327 Oak Street in what, I believe, was Los Angeles.

You can see the “10327” address placard pictured in the background of the above screen captures.

Thankfully, the house is also numbered 10327 in real life, which is how Geoff was able to track it down. The Colonial-style residence, which was originally built in 1935, measures 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 2,128 square feet. And, amazingly enough, it still looks EXACTLY the same today as it did in 1970 when the series was taped, despite the fact that a whopping forty-two years have since passed.

Even the decorative light post which appeared in the show is still there in real life! So incredibly cool!

As you can see above, the Nanny and the Professor house truly is idyllic in real life.

So much so that the homeowners even posted a sign in the front yard which reads, “Please . . . Do Not Disturb! This House is Not For sale.” LOL I guess they had quite a few people stopping by wanting the buy the place.

Kim Richards was only five years old – and absolutely adorable – when the series began filming and, although she had already acted in over 20 commercials by that time, “Prudence Everett” was the future child star’s first major role.

Big THANK YOU to Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Nanny and the Professor house is located at 10327 Glenbarr Avenue in the Cheviot Hills section of Los Angeles. Claire and Phil’s house from Modern Family is located just a few blocks away at 10336 Dunleer Drive.

January 31, 2012
Offshore – Liam’s Bar from “90210”

One of the many locations that Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I stalked last week while hanging out in the Redondo Beach area – and the one that I was most excited about – was Offshore, the bar owned by Liam Court (cutie Matt Lanter – sigh!) on fave show 90210. I had been absolutely itching to stalk the fictitious watering hole ever since it first appeared in the series’ Season 4 premiere episode back in September of last year. Thankfully, fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, had quickly tracked the place down and, as soon as he posted the address, I immediately added it to my “To-Stalk” list. Because the Grim Cheaper and I do not get down to the South Bay very often, though, the bar had, sadly, remained unstalked until last Wednesday afternoon. And, let me tell you, when I finally saw it in person, I could not have been more excited! I was practically busting at the seams!

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Offshore first showed up in the Season 4 episode of 90210 titled “Up In Smoke”, as the spot where Liam and his friends, Navid Shirazi (Michael Steger), Dixon Wilson (Tristan Wilds) and Teddy Montgomery (Trevor Donovan), lamented over their various end-of-the-summer blues. In the episode, the beachside watering hole was named “Salty’s Place” and it included an on-the-sand hut. And while that hut seems to have subsequently disappeared, I am sure it will be brought back during the summer months.

After Liam purchased the bar at the very end of the “Up In Smoke” episode, he renamed it “Offshore” and the place now shows up weekly as the gang’s regular hangout.

As you can see above, the Offshore building looks much the same in person as it does on TV.

Don’t go looking for the interior of Liam’s bar there, though, as it is, sadly, just a set that exists inside of a soundstage at Manhattan Beach Studios where the series is lensed.

The ground floor space that supposedly houses Offshore is, in reality, the rear entrance to a storefront that is, I believe, currently vacant. As you can see from above photograph of the back of the building, the place is currently undergoing some major construction, so I was, unfortunately, unable to venture any closer to the see what the Offshore space actually looks like in real life.

Big THANK YOU to Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Offshore, Liam’s bar from 90210, is located at 100 Fisherman’s Wharf, at the end of the Redondo Beach Pier, in Redondo Beach. Its exact location is marked with a pink arrow in the above aerial view. You can catch a good view of the place from the spot where North Harbor Drive meets West Torrance Boulevard.

January 30, 2012
Villa Sophia from the Final Episode of “Entourage”

A couple of weeks ago, while the Grim Cheaper and I were out doing some stalking in the Hollywood area, I received an email from Constantine Vlahos, the owner of a Los Feliz mansion named Villa Sophia. Constantine was writing to let me know that his home had been featured in the final episode of Entourage and that I might be interested in stalking it. Now, I just have to say here that that was most definitely a first – a homeowner not only seeking me out to inform me of his property’s filming history, but also encouraging me to stalk the place! Oh, how I wish more people would do the same! And interested in stalking it, I surely was, so I dragged the GC right on out there later that same day.

In real life, Villa Sophia is quite breathtaking. And while the Mediterranean-revival-style mansion, which was originally built in 1927, appears to be absolutely gargantuan from the street, in reality it “only” boasts 3 bedrooms, 4 baths, and 4,525 square feet – which is large, don’t get me wrong, but from the looks of the exterior, I expected the place to be a whole lot bigger.

As you can see in the above aerial view, the residence seems to be massive!

Villa Sophia was originally designed by Henry Harwood Hewitt, the L.A.-area architect who also gave us The Ebell Club of Los Angeles (an oft-used filming location that I really should have already blogged about being that I have stalked it twice!), the L.A. County Hall of Justice (also an oft-used location that was featured in the television shows Dragnet and Get Smart), and Bob Hope Patriotic Hall (yet another filming location that appeared in the movies Patton and Flashdance). Villa Sophia was commissioned by Clement E. Smoot, an Olympic-gold-medalist golfer turned industrial lighting manufacturer, and his wife, Margaret Miller Smoot. During the 1930s, the property became home to James Whale, the famed British film director who made Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, Show Boat, and The Man with the Iron Mask, and who was also the subject of the 1998 flick Gods and Monsters. In the late 90s, the dwelling was purchased by Constantine, my new favorite homeowner , who had spent years fantasizing about owning the place and who immediately began a massive renovation and restoration process, during which he added on a 15-foot retaining wall, a pool, a pool house, upper and lower rear terraces, a loggia, and a dining pavilion. Constantine even rents the 750-square-foot pool house out to vacationers, so if you are in the area and would like to stay at an Entourage filming location, you can book a reservation here. And you can see some fabulous close-up pictures of the home here.

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In the final episode of Entourage, which was appropriately titled “The End”, Villa Sophia was featured in the very last, post-credits scene in which Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) and his wife, Mrs. Ari (Perrey Reeves), are shown living their new life in Florence, Italy. It is at the home that Ari receives a phone call from Time Warner chairman John Ellis (Alan Dale), who announces that he is retiring and wants Ari to take over his job. Dun-dun-dun! As you can see above, the landscape of Florence was digitally added to the background of the scene.

Villa Sophia was also the site of a Victoria’s Secret “Bombshell Summer” commercial starring Candice Swanepoel, Chanel Iman, and Erin Heatherton that was filmed in May 2011.

Victoria’s Secret Bombshell Summer commercial filmed at Villa Sophia

You can watch a behind-the-scenes video of that shoot by clicking above.

Constantine also informed me that the home will be featured in the near future in a yet-to-be-released movie starring Kate Bosworth.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Villa Sophia, from “The End” episode of Entourage, is located at 4565 Dundee Drive in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles. You can visit the mansion’s official website here. The Lovell Health House, aka Pierce Patchett’s home from L.A. Confidential, is located just up the street at 4616 Dundee Drive.

January 27, 2012
Chez Cherie Cooking School from “I Love New York”

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

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

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

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

Season 6 Top Chef finalist Kevin Gillespie;

and No Reservations’ Anthony Bourdain. Love it!

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

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

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

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

the kitchen;

and the dining room.

Cherie was even featured quite prominently in the episode.

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

Martin Yan–Master Grade Knife Sharpener at Chez Cherie

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

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

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

January 23, 2012
The Painted Nail from “Nail Files”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

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

January 17, 2012
Westfield Fashion Square Mall from “The Office”

One location that my good friend, fellow stalker Lavonna, asked me to track down eons ago was the shopping center that was featured in the Season 3 episode of fave show The Office titled “Women’s Appreciation”. Because the series is taped in Van Nuys, I figured that the mall was located somewhere in the San Fernando Valley, so whenever the Grim Cheaper and I found ourselves in a shopping center in that area, I would wander around looking for the large circular water fountain that Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell) had tried to climb into in order to retrieve a one-dollar bill. Try as I might, though, I could not seem to find that fountain anywhere. I had almost given up hope when, two weekends ago, the GC and I were doing a little shopping at the Westfield Fashion Square Mall in Sherman Oaks and I spotted a water fountain just outside of Macy’s department store. I snapped a quick photo of it on my phone so that I could compare it to the fountain that had appeared in the episode once I got home. Ironically, as it turned out, the fountain I had taken a picture of did not, in fact, match, but, thinking that there might be more than one located inside of the mall, I did a quick search of “fountains” and “Westfield Fashion Square Mall” on Google and, sure enough, a photo of the correct fountain popped up. I am ashamed to admit that not only was The Office fountain located about ten feet away from the one that I had taken a picture of, but we had actually walked right by it while shopping that day and somehow did not notice. Doh! So this past weekend I dragged the GC right on back out there (much to his chagrin – he HATES malls) so that I could finally stalk it.

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In the “Women’s Appreciation” episode of The Office, Michael Scott takes the women of Dunder Mifflin – Pam Beesly (aka Jenna Fischer), Phyllis Vance (aka Phyllis Smith), Meredith Palmer (aka Kate Flannery), Kelly Kapoor (aka Mindy Kaling), Angela Martin (aka Angela Kinsey), and Karen Filippelli (aka Rashida Jones) – shopping at the supposed Steamtown Mall in order to show them that they are “appreciated” by the men in the office. And while the exterior of the actual The Mall at Steamtown in Scranton, Pennsylvania was used for the establishing shot of the shopping center in the episode, the interior of Westfield Fashion Square Mall was used for all of the actual filming.

Many areas of Westfield Fashion Square Mall were used in the episode, including the food court, where Michael and the ladies ate lunch and where Michael confessed that he wanted to break up with longtime girlfriend Jan Levenson (aka Melora Hardin).

In the scene, the gang sat just outside of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf café;

in the area pictured above.

After lunch, Michael announces (however inappropriately) that he would like to buy each of the women a present of their choosing at Victoria’s Secret.

Some filming did take place inside of the actual Victoria’s Secret store and I very much wanted to venture inside to snap a few pics, but shops tend to get very antsy about photographs for some reason, so I did not even attempt it. Back in October, when I was stalking the Macy’s at the Burbank Town Center Mall, which appeared in the “Redemption” episode of The Mentalist, a store employee actually tried to confiscate my camera! Not kidding. Because I was taking pictures inside of a store – pictures of an area that had been immortalized on a hit TV show for all of the world to see, mind you – she told me she was going to call security and attempted to take my camera out of my hands! Um, OK. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. If you do not want photographs to be taken of your store, fine, no problem, but then do not put said store on national television! Sigh. I just really do not get people sometimes, but I digress.

At the very end of the episode, Michael throws a coin into the mall’s fountain and makes a wish “for every woman in the world”. Of his wishes, he says, “I wished for Jan to get over me. I wished for Phyllis a plasma TV. I wished for Pam to gain courage. I wished for Angela a heart. And for Kelly, a brain.” LOL LOL LOL Ah, Michael Scott, how we miss you!

And, let me tell you, seeing that fountain in person after so many hours of searching for it was the absolute highlight of the stalk for me! Whoo hoo!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Westfield Fashion Square Mall, aka Steamtown Mall from the “Women’s Appreciation” episode of The Office, is located at 14006 Riverside Drive in Sherman Oaks. The water fountain that Michael Scott tried to climb into can be found just outside of The Disney Store on the mall’s first level. The Victoria’s Secret store where the women shopped in the episode is located just a few doors down from The Disney Store, also on the mall’s first level. The Food Court, where the women ate lunch, is located on the mall’s second level. The gang sat just outside of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf café and Stone Oven restaurant.

January 10, 2012