I would like to wish my fellow stalkers a very happy Memorial Day and offer a heartfelt thank you to all who have served to protect the freedoms of this great country of ours, especially those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
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NoMo Kitchen from “The Other Woman”
My favorite movie of 2014 was The Other Woman. The romcom may have been heavily panned by critics, but I loved everything about it. The Grim Cheaper and I saw it in theatres shortly after it premiered and then I purchased a copy as soon as it came out on DVD and have proceeded to watch it copious times since. I’m addicted! The flick was lensed primarily in New York and its environs and I, of course, tracked down the vast majority of its locales immediately upon buying the DVD. (I chronicled a few of them in an August 2014 Los Angeles magazine post which you can read here.) The spot I was most anxious to stalk was the restaurant featured at the end of the movie. I finally got my chance while in NYC last month.
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At the end of The Other Woman (spoiler alert!), after exacting revenge upon their cheating husband/boyfriend Mark King (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Carly Whitten (Cameron Diaz), Kate King (Leslie Man), and Amber (Kate Upton) headed to an absolutely gorgeous restaurant to celebrate.
The eatery’s setting was nothing short of magical and, even though it was only featured briefly in the movie, I became captivated by it while watching. Thanks to the On the Set of New York site, I learned that filming of the restaurant scene had taken place at Isola Trattoria & Crudo Bar located at 9 Crosby Street in SoHo. I added the information to my vast file of New York filming locations and did not do any further thinking on it until I started planning out itineraries for our April trip. Isola Trattoria was one of my must-see/must-eat-at locales and, upon Googling the restaurant’s name to see if reservations were suggested, I was heartbroken to learn that it had closed. I added it to my To-Stalk List regardless with the hope that I might be able to peek through a window and catch a glimpse of the place’s stunning interior.
Imagine my surprise – and elation! – when I arrived on the scene and discovered that the restaurant was not only still open, but that it looked exactly the same as it did onscreen! Thanks to the super friendly staff, I learned that the eatery had never actually closed, but had only undergone a name change, from Isola Trattoria & Crudo Bar to NoMo Kitchen.
NoMo Kitchen is located on the ground floor of the hip and elegant NoMo SoHo hotel, which was originally constructed as the Mondrian SoHo in 2011. The unique, dream-like schematic of both the hotel and restaurant was conceived by interior designer Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz, who drew inspiration from the 1946 film La Belle et la Bete (a French adaptation of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale).
When the Mondrian first opened, the restaurant was a “sustainable seafood spot” known as Imperial No. 9. Helmed by former Top Chef contestant Sam Talbot, the 180-seat, 5,000-square-foot venue consisted of two sections – an interior dining room and a greenhouse-like space enclosed by a glass atrium. The stunning greenhouse is the area that appeared in The Other Woman.
By August 2012, the eatery had become Isola Trattoria. While the menu received an overhaul at that time, the striking dining area thankfully did not. Aside from swapping out Imperial’s odd patio-furniture-like tables and chairs for more sleek leather and wood combinations, the space was left untouched. It was also left unaltered during the transition from Isola to NoMo Kitchen (the name is a combination of the words “nostalgic” and “modern”) in 2015.
NoMo Kitchen still retains its breathtaking garden-like setting, with towering crystal chandeliers hanging from the peaked glass roof, a sprawling cream stone bar backed by handsome oak shelving, and massive amounts of foliage adorned with twinkle lights.
The site also boasts an adorable outdoor patio.
I half expected fairies to start flying around while we were exploring the place. It’s truly that magical!
NoMo Kitchen is easily one of New York’s most beautiful spaces.
So it is no surprise that it also popped up in an episode of The Real Housewives of New York City. In Season 8’s “Airing Your Dirty Laundry,” Bethenny Frankel, Carole Radziwill and Ramona Singer met up there and discussed Sonja Morgan’s “cheater brand,” Tipsy Girl.
Besides functioning as a working restaurant and filming location, NoMo Kitchen is also available as a special events venue. I can’t even image how gorgeous a wedding there would be!
On a side-note – and speaking of special events – while in New York, the GC, my friend Owen (from the When Write Is Wrong blog), and I happened to meet a woman named Man-Lai Liang who did us an enormous favor. I won’t get into specifics, but to say she hooked us up would be a vast understatement. I wanted to say a huge thank you to her for her incredible kindness and also give her a shout-out. Man-Lai is a New York-based special events coordinator, so if you are looking for help in planning your next Big Apple party, I urge you to contact her. You can visit her website here.
Big THANK YOU to the On the Set of New York website for finding this location!
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: NoMo Kitchen, from The Other Woman, is located at 9 Crosby Street, inside of the NoMo SoHo hotel, in New York’s SoHo district. You can visit the eatery’s official website here.
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Stuyvesant Square Park from “Sex and the City”
At the risk of this blog becoming solely Sex and the City-based, here I am yet again with yet another locale from the hit HBO series. For those of you non-SATC fans out there, don’t worry, I will be chronicling NYC sites from other productions soon. I will also be interspersing New York spots with ones in L.A., as well, to break up any sort of location monotony. For today, though, it’s all about SATC and SJP. I bring you Stuyvesant Square Park, a spot I have long wanted to stalk thanks to its appearance in the Season 5 episode of Sex and the City titled “Plus One Is the Loneliest Number.”
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In the episode, which originally aired in 2002, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) meets a cute author named Jack Berger (Ron Livingston) while at her publisher’s office on the eve of the release of her first book. Her publisher suggests that Berger take Carrie under his wing and share with her the ins and outs of the book world. So the two head out to a park to chat, McDonald’s sack lunches in hand. I loved absolutely everything about the scene – Carrie and Berger’s chemistry and easy banter, the picturesque park surroundings, the McDonald’s meals (I’d take McDonald’s over a fancy restaurant any day!), and (especially) Carrie’s dress, shoes and hair. So I, of course, became obsessed with tracking down where filming took place.
The endeavor turned out to be pretty easy thanks to a sign reading “Stuyvesant Square” that was visible in the background of the scene.
In the episode, Carrie and Berger were sitting in the southwest corner of Stuyvesant Square Park, near the intersection of East 15th Street and Rutherford Place, in the general vicinity of the area pictured below.
After finishing their lunches, the two then exit the park through the gate located at East 16th Street and Rutherford Place . . .
. . . and proceed to walk south down Rutherford. It is there that Berger drops the bomb on Carrie that he has a live-in girlfriend.
Stuyvesant Square Park, also known simply as Stuyvesant Square, turned out to be quite the picturesque stalk! The serene site, which is bisected by 2nd Avenue, is comprised of shaded benches, sparkling fountains and meandering pathways, surrounded by a bevy of handsome and historic New York buildings. All that greenery and brick make for some glorious scenery!
The park has quite an interesting history. The tract was originally part of an 120-acre farm owned by Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch Director-General of the New Netherland colony. In 1836, Peter’s great-great-grandson, Peter Gerard Stuyvesant, sold a 4-acre parcel of the farm to the City of New York for $5 with the intention that it be used as a public park.
The land sat untouched for several years, though, causing Stuyvesant to file a lawsuit against the city to force development in 1839. It still took quite a while, until 1847 in fact, for landscaping of the site to begin and Stuyvesant Square Park finally opened to the public in 1850.
In 1847, during the development process, a large cast iron fence was installed around the perimeter of the park. Amazingly, it still stands today and has the distinction of being New York’s oldest cast iron fence.
In the 1930s, Stuyvesant Square Park was renovated by landscape architect Gilmore David Clark. Though it was rehabbed once again in 1982 and is currently undergoing some restorations, the space looks much the same today as it did when Clark completed work on it in 1937.
Sex and the City is hardly the only production to have made use of the park’s beauty.
April Wheeler (Kate Winslet) – wearing an amazing white dress – walks by Stuyvesant Square Park after picking up travel documents in the 2008 drama Revolutionary Road. The brief segment was shot on Rutherford Place, just north of East 15th Street.
It was at the park that Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) met with Patrick Scully (Jeff Binder) in the Season 5 episode of Damages titled “But You Don’t Do That Anymore,” which aired in 2012. (I cannot get over how different the park looks during the winter when there are no leaves on the trees!)
A large portion of White Collar’s Season 5 storyline centered around a priceless stained glass window located at a church across the street from Stuyvesant Square Park. As such, the park popped in a couple of episodes, most notably in 2013’s “No Good Deed,” in which Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) and Mozzie (Willie Garson) masqueraded as repairmen in order to steal the window.
Stuyvesant Square Park was also where John Reese (Jim Caviezel) took a cell phone call from Lionel Fusco (Kevin Chapman) and discussed the fact that all hell was breaking loose in the city in the Season 4 episode of Person of Interest titled “The Cold War,” which aired in 2014.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Stuyvesant Square Park, from the “Plus One Is the Loneliest Number” episode of Sex and the City, is located at 2nd Avenue and East 15th Street in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of New York.
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The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Torrance – South Bay from “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
I do not think O.J. Simpson is guilty. I know how incendiary that statement is and, up until a couple of years ago, had I heard it come out of someone else’s mouth I would have found the sentiment absurd. But in November 2012 I read O.J. Is Innocent and I Can Prove It, written by esteemed private investigator William C. Dear, and became convinced that the former footballer was actually innocent of the murders of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Simpson. Now before you jump down my throat telling me how batsh*t crazy I sound, I urge you to read the book yourself. It’s incredibly well-researched, thought-provoking, and detailed. Moreover, Dear’s theory just makes sense. All the pieces fit together – without involving drug deals gone bad, frame jobs, or Cuban neckties. My fascination with the Simpson case did not start with O.J. Is Innocent. Not only did I live through the trial, but I have read countless books (A Problem of Evidence is another favorite) and articles (Dominick Dunne’s Vanity Fair columns are by far the best) about the events of June 12th, 1994. One aspect of the case I never gave much thought to, though, was the extreme hardship that the jury was under. So I was especially enthralled by the “A Jury in Jail” episode of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. I quickly became fascinated by the chosen twelve’s (and their alternates’) experiences – and also a wee bit obsessed with tracking down the hotel featured on the show and the hotel where the actual jury was put up in real life. It did not take me long to find both and I ran right out to stalk them back in early April.
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While watching “A Jury in Jail,” I noticed that two large fish tanks were visible in the lobby of the hotel where the jury was sequestered. Knowing aquariums are not a typical hotel feature, I figured they would be my key in identifying the locale. So I did a Google search for “Los Angeles,” “hotel,” “lobby,” and “fish tanks,” but unfortunately the results yielded nada. A few weeks prior, I had noticed that the IMDB page about the miniseries’ filming locations mentioned that some scenes were lensed in Torrance, so I did a second Google search, this time inputting “Torrance,” “hotel,” “lobby,” and “fish tanks.” The first result to come back was a TripAdvisor page about the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Torrance – South Bay. So I headed on over to the property’s website and, sure enough, it was the right spot!
It is not hard to see why producers chose to feature the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Torrance – South Bay as the jurors’ upscale “downtown L.A.” digs. The sprawling property does have a very tony feel to it and, though not outdated by any means, bears a very ’90s vibe.
In real life, the DoubleTree features a fitness center, a large outdoor pool flanked by several waterfalls and ponds, a hot tub, two eateries (Andre’s Restaurant and the Tea Tree Café), 16,000 square feet of meeting space, a business center, and complimentary Wi-Fi and parking. Bonus – the hotel is located just steps away from Del Amo Fashion Center, an oft-filmed mall with an incredible half-abandoned section that I will be blogging about soon.
Several areas of the DoubleTree were used in The People v. O.J. Simpson, including the exterior;
the front entrance;
the lobby;
the Crystal Ballroom – which was both where the jury received their sequester instructions . . .
. . . and argued over what TV shows to watch;
one of the rooms (though we did not check out any of the DoubleTree rooms while we were there, as you can see below, the room shown in the episode matches an image taken from the hotel’s website);
and Andre’s Restaurant . . .
. . . which appeared in several scenes.
Had to do it!
The hotel where the jury stayed in real life was also a fairly easy find. When I first started doing research on the subject, I came across a fascinating October 1995 Los Angeles Times article about the final evening of the juror’s 265-night sequester which stated that the group was put up at the Hotel Inter-Continental in downtown Los Angeles. Though the Inter-Continental is no longer in existence, a quick Google search told me that the property is now the Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza located at 251 South Olive Street.
The 17-story, 453-room hotel was originally built in 1992, so when the jurors checked in on January 11th, 1995, it was practically brand new. The site has undergone two renovations since being taken over by the Omni brand in 2000, the most recent of which was a $15-million facelift completed in 2011.
The Four Diamond Omni Los Angeles Hotel boasts a heated outdoor pool, a fitness center, two restaurants, and a spa – none of which the jury was allowed to make use of.
The focal point of the spacious two-story lobby is a massive 3,000-pound glass-enclosed sculpture named “Yellow Fin” that was designed by David Stromeyer.
The Omni is situated adjacent to California Plaza, an outdoor gathering space popular with downtown workers that features restaurants, cafes, fountains, and walkways.
The hotel is also a filming location. It was seen briefly in the 2000 action flick Gone in 60 Seconds as the spot where Kip Raines (Giovanni Ribisi) and Tumbler (Scott Caan) stole a car by pretending to be a rock star and his driver, respectively.
And playing itself, it was the hotel where Brig. Gen. Bill Marks (Bruce Davison) was staying in the 2002 thriller High Crimes. (Please pardon the craptastic screen captures below, which I got off of YouTube.)
During their sequester, the 12 Simpson jurors and 12 alternates (by the end of the trial, only two of those alternates remained) stayed in standard rooms on the fifth floor of the Inter-Continental. As depicted in The People v. O.J. Simpson, televisions were removed from the jurors’ rooms, as were telephones and all reading materials. Security was so tight and the jurors kept so far removed from civilization, in fact, that the entire fifth floor remained off-limits to other guests. Hotel elevators were set to bypass the fifth floor entirely and jurors were forced to make use of a guarded service elevator. On the final night of the sequester (after their verdict had been returned, but not yet announced), the group threw a party in the Inter-Continental’s 17th-floor presidential suite, complete with champagne and salmon canapés, to celebrate the fact that they were finally going home. Honestly, after seeing everything they went through, it comes as no surprise that deliberations lasted only a scant 4 hours. The jurors wanted to get out of dodge as quickly as possible. And who can blame them? Sure, they had a job to do, one that needed to be taken extremely seriously, but what Johnny Cochran and Marcia Clark did to them was virtually criminal (and yes, as was depicted in the series, I believe Marcia’s hands were just as dirty as Johnny’s when it came to putting the jury through ridiculous ongoing time-consuming nonsense). The O.J. Simpson case was a sad situation all around and in the end it served to do only one thing – make a mockery of the U.S. justice system.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Torrance – South Bay, aka the hotel where the jurors were sequestered in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, is located at 21333 Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance. You can visit the property’s official website here. Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza, aka the former Hotel Inter-Continental where the Simpson jurors were sequestered in real life, is located at 251 South Olive Street in downtown L.A. You can visit the property’s official website here.
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My Latest Mike the Fanboy Article – About Meeting Edward Norton
Be sure to check out my latest article for Mike the Fanboy – it’s about my recent fabulous encounter with Edward Norton in New York City.
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Famous Original Ray’s Pizza from “Sex and the City”
The Grim Cheaper and I used to visit New York at least once a year. Prior to this recent trip, though, we had not been to Manhattan since October 2009! Being separated from my favorite city for almost seven years was quite a hard pill to swallow. During that time, I accumulated a ridiculously large list of must-see Manhattan filming locations that were chronicled in various files in my office and on my computer. Because our recent trip was booked very last minute, I did not have much time to plan my itinerary, which was especially frustrating to someone as hyper-organized as I tend to be. Adding to the haphazardness of my planning was the fact that some of my files seemed to be missing. One locale that I vividly remembered tracking down was a pizza parlor that appeared on Sex and the City. I couldn’t find a mention of it anywhere in my notes, though, nor could I for the life of me remember the name of the place, what episode it had appeared in, or even what the scene involving it entailed. So I went back to the drawing board and began the hunt for it all over again.
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I cannot tell you how many Google searches I did using the terms “Sex and the City,” “episode” and “pizza” to try to stir my memory. After what seemed like days of scouring the internet, I finally came across a mention of a scene in Season 2’s “The Caste System” in which Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) grabbed a slice of pizza with then boyfriend Steve Brady (David Eigenberg). So I popped in my SATC Season 2 DVD and, sure enough, it was the right episode! I was even further floored to discover that a logo reading “Famous Original Ray’s Pizza” was visible on a cup in the scene. From there, despite the fact that there are several “Famous Original Ray’s Pizza” locations dotted throughout the city, finding the right one was a snap.
In “The Caste System,” Steve treats Miranda to two large slices of pie at Ray’s, which they then eat while sitting on a bench outside. I had been mesmerized by the size of the pizzas upon originally watching the episode way back when, which is why I had wanted to track down the restaurant so badly the first time around. Walk-up pizzerias aren’t commonplace in California, nor are humongous slices that require two hands to eat, so I was dying to not only stalk the place, but to sample a slice of my own.
I mean, look at the size of those slices!
My wish finally came true during our third day in the city while hanging out with my friend/fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog. And the experience was everything I’d hoped it would be. Ray’s serves up some fabulous two-hands-required slices of pizza!
I was most thrilled, though, to see that despite the passage of 17 years (Seriously, 17 years! How is that possible?), the restaurant still looks very much the same today as it did when “The Caste System” was filmed in 1999.
Both the interior . . .
. . . and the exterior were featured in the episode.
Ray’s has quite the interesting – and confusing – history. At one point in time, there were countless iterations of Ray’s Pizzas dotted throughout the city. So many, in fact, that their presence was a running joke among Manhattanites – and even figured into a Seinfeld storyline. In Season 9’s “The Maid,” Kramer (Michael Richards) gets lost in downtown New York and calls Jerry (who played himself) for help. Kramer tells Jerry that he is standing in front of a Ray’s Pizza. The rest of the conversation goes like this – Jerry: “Is it Famous Ray’s?” Kramer: “No, it’s Original Ray’s.” Jerry: “Famous Original Ray’s?” Kramer (on the verge of hysteria) : “It’s just Original, Jerry!” You can watch the segment by clicking below.
The very first Ray’s – or should I say “original”? – which was dubbed “Ray’s Pizza,” was opened in 1959 by a Sicilian named Ralph Cuomo at 27 Prince Street in Little Italy. When asked why he didn’t name his restaurant “Ralph’s Pizzeria” while being interviewed for a 1991 The New York Times article, he told reporter John Tierney, “Ralph’s might have sounded, I don’t know, maybe too feminine. Besides, nobody ever called me Ralph. My family took the Italian word for Ralph — Raffaele — and shortened it to Rayfie or just Ray. All my life I was addressed that way.” A few years later, Cuomo opened a second Ray’s Pizza at 1073 First Avenue, which he subsequently sold in 1964 to another Sicilian named Rosolino Mangano. Rosolino quickly turned that single pizzeria into a virtual industry, establishing several additional eateries under the name “Famous Original Ray’s Pizza” in a short period of time.
The story doesn’t end there, though. In 1981, Mangano sold one of his outposts to New York native Gary Esposito. Gary went on to open five additional pizzerias under the name “Original Ray’s.” It was around that time period that copycat parlors, all using some variation of the “Famous Original Ray’s” name, began popping up across New York like a virus. To stop the insanity and to keep the integrity of his own chain intact, Gary tracked down the true original Ray (or should I say Ralph?), Cuomo, who sold him the rights to the Ray’s name. Esposito and Cuomo wound up joining forces by establishing a new company together in order to franchise additional Ray’s outposts. After some legal hassling, Mangano also joined the team and became vigilant about shutting down all non-licensed Ray’s sites. His efforts were largely successful and today there are eight licensed Famous Original Ray’s Pizza branches dotted across New York.
The Ray’s Pizza epidemic was also mentioned in the 2003 comedy Elf. Upon learning that Buddy (Will Ferrell) is to heading to New York City to find his father, Santa (Edward Asner) advises him on all things Big Apple. One of his tips is, “There are, like, thirty Ray’s Pizzas. They all claim to be the original, but the real one’s on 11th.” That’s actually incorrect, though. The 11th Avenue spot, formerly known as “Original Ray’s,” was an unaffiliated parlor opened by brothers Mario and Lamberto DiRienzo in 1973. That site was shuttered in 2011, thanks in large part to lawsuits filed by Mangano. Though it later re-opened under the name Famous Roio’s, the eatery closed its doors for good in 2013. The space that formerly housed it is now the site of a Chinese food restaurant. You can read a more in-depth history of the Ray’s Pizza battles here.
Famous Original Ray’s Pizza was also featured in the Season 6 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit titled “Identity” as the spot where Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) interrogated two teens about the death of one of their fellow gang members.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Famous Original Ray’s Pizza, from “The Caste System” episode of Sex and the City, is located at 204 West 9th Avenue in Chelsea. You can visit the pizzeria’s official website here.
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Two Boots To Go West Pizza from “Sex and the City”
There’s nothing quite like a slice of New York pizza! Just watching characters eat a piece on TV or in a movie is enough to make me drool. So I, of course, had long been dying to stalk the Big Apple pizzeria that appeared in the Season 6 episode of Sex and the City titled “Great Sexpectations.”
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In the episode, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) head to a pizza place for a second dinner after not being fulfilled by their meal at Raw, the hip new “vegan non-dairy” restaurant where “nothing is cooked over 118 degrees.” It is there that Miranda tells Carrie about her love for her new “boyfriend,” TiVo. As she explains, “While I’m eating this slice of pizza, my boyfriend is home taping my favorite TV show. With TiVo, when there’s something I don’t enjoy, I just speed right through it. And he surprises me with things that he thinks I might like, which is how I got hooked on Jules and Mimi.”
I loved absolutely every aspect of the scene – from the opening close-up of the girls’ fabulous shoes to the way the camera panned upwards to their faces to the fact that they were standing at a tall table eating their slices, instead of sitting down. The whole thing just looked so appealing and screamed “New York” to me and every time I watched it, I thought, “Yes, I want to do that!”
Unfortunately, there was not a whole lot for me to go on in tracking this location down. Though some signage was visible in the background of the scene, it was not clear enough for me to make out any words or names. Then, a couple of years ago, I came across a mention of On Location Tours’ Sex and the City Hotspots Tour which stated that Two Boots To Go West Pizza in Greenwich Village was the spot where Carrie and Miranda enjoyed their non-raw meal. So I immediately added the site to my New York Must-Stalk List and, as fate would have it, happened to randomly walk right by it on my way to another must-see locale while I was in NYC last month.
The first Two Boots eatery was originally established by Doris Kornish, Phil Hartman (not that Phil Hartman), and John Touhey at 37 Avenue A in the East Village in 1987. The restaurant, named for the shoe-like shapes of both Italy and Louisiana, served Cajun/Italian fare, including a popular cornmeal crust pizza. Demand for the unique slices was so great that a second takeout location named Two Boots To Go was opened nearby in 1989. Additional branches continued to follow, including Two Boots To Go West at 201 West 11th Street in the West Village in 1995. There are now 15 Two Boots outposts dotted throughout Manhattan, as well as in Brooklyn, Connecticut, Baltimore, New Jersey, Nashville, and Los Angeles.
Sadly, we had just eaten lunch a few minutes prior to happening upon Two Boots To Go West (at a different SATC pizza place, which I will be blogging about soon), so we were not able to sample the slices, which is a shame because the pizza looked – and smelled – uh-ma-zing! I am so heading right on over to one of Two Boots’ L.A. branches the next time I am in town.
I did manage to pop in and snap a few quick pics while I was there, though.
Seeing the restaurant in person threw me a bit as it did not look as I had imagined it to. On Sex and the City, only one side of the eatery was shown and the shots were all fairly tight, so I envisioned it to be tiny. In real life, Two Boots To Go West is actually quite large.
I was so thrown by the layout, in fact, that not only did I think for a time that I might be at the wrong Two Boots outpost, but I also failed to to snap photos of the exact spot where Carrie and Miranda dined.
For “Great Sexpectations,” one of the eatery’s tall tables was brought to the center of the restaurant, directly in front of the pizza counter, and that is where Miranda and Carrie stood. In actuality, there are no tables in that spot, as that is where the line is typically situated. You can check out an image taken from the same angle that was shown on Sex and the City here.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Two Boots To Go West Pizza, from the “Great Sexpectations” episode of Sex and the City, is located at 201 West 11th Street in New York’s West Village. You can visit the eatery’s official website here.
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The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa from “America’s Sweethearts”
Between our trip to New York and dealing with some matters out of state, the Grim Cheaper and I have been away from home for the better part of five weeks. While most of our traveling has not been for pleasure, I did just recently get to check an item off of my Stalking Bucket List. While in Nevada last week, we took a bit of a detour and headed out to Henderson to see The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa, aka the former Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort, Spa and Casino which had a prominent role in America’s Sweethearts, one of my favorite movies. I had been dying to stalk the gorgeous hotel ever since first seeing the romcom back when it originally premiered in 2001 – and it did not disappoint.
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The area known as Lake Las Vegas was the brainchild of actor J. Carlton Adair, who acquired 2,245 acres of land in Henderson in the 1960s with the intention of turning it into a lakeside community named “Lake Adair.” While water rights were secured, development of the site never came to fruition and J. Carlton wound up filing for bankruptcy in 1972, dashing his dreams of a man-made desert oasis in the process. The project suffered another failed attempt before being rescued in 1990 by Ron Boeddeker of the Transcontinental Corporation, who finally got the ball rolling on creating a 320-acre man-made lake fed from nearby Lake Mead. Construction of the surrounding village of large-scale homes, lush golf courses, fancy boutiques, world class restaurants, and premiere hotels was started shortly thereafter.
One of those hotels was the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort, Spa and Casino, which opened its doors in December 1999.
The grand 493-room, 21.6-acre property has changed hands and names several times over the ensuing years, first in December 2006, when it became Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort. Sadly, the entire LLV area was hit hard during the recession and in 2009, the owners of the hotel defaulted on their $117-million mortgage, causing it to be taken over by a court-appointed receiver. Five weeks prior to going into foreclosure in 2012, it became The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa. The site was finally sold in late 2015 to the investment firm Pacifica Companies, but has remained operating as a Westin. Miraculously, despite all the changes, very little of the property’s Moroccan-themed design has been altered since it originally opened almost 17 years ago.
Today, the resort boasts a spa, two pools (one with a waterslide), four restaurants including the AAA Four-Diamond award-winning Marssa, a cocktail lounge, a coffee bar/bakery, a private beach that offers water activities such as kayaking and paddleboarding, access to two golf clubs, a fitness studio, and 25 meeting rooms comprising 90,000 square feet of event space.
Oh, and it also boasts some pretty amazing views.
Travel + Leisure named The Westin Lake Las Vegas one of the “World’s Best Hotels” and it is not very hard to see why. The place is absolutely magical – and feels much more like a tropical resort than a Sin City lodging.
Walking the grounds, I felt like I had been transported to a Hawaiian island (which might explain why President Obama likes the place so much).
The Westin is relaxed, low key and tranquil – in short, though located only a scant 17 miles from The Strip, it is very far removed from any Sin City melee. A stay there would most likely entail sipping tropical drinks, working on a tan, and leisurely walks by the lake. The hotel is the perfect spot for a family vacation or a romantic getaway. I already told the GC that I want to go back for a week and do nothing but lounge by the pool and stroll down to The Village at night for dinner.
Ah, yes, The Village. Just down the road from The Westin is a quaint waterside shopping center known as The Village at Lake Las Vegas.
The site boasts several shops, boutiques and restaurants . . .
. . . flanked by a beautiful Hilton . . .
. . . and surrounding the gorgeous lake.
The Village truly feels like being on another continent and while there I could think of nothing better than booking a nearby room for an extended stay and strolling down to the quaint center every night to grab dinner. You can check out all Lake Las Vegas hotels here.
America’s Sweethearts made extensive use of The Westin. For those who have not seen it, the flick is a true romp – a hilarious take on celebrities and filmdom that pokes endless fun at Hollywood. I’ve watched it countless times over the years and yet it still manages to make me laugh out loud throughout. The film centers around divorcing movie stars Gwen Harrison (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Eddie Thomas (John Cusack). The former couple starred in dozens of hits together and were considered “America’s Sweethearts,” until Gwen cheated on and then subsequently left Eddie for a Castilian heartthrob named Hector Gorgonzolas (played to perfection by Hank Azaria) whom she met during the filming of Time Over Time. (The storyline was inspired in part by Elizabeth Taylor’s infamous love affair with Tim Burton during the filming of Cleopatra.) The break-up lands Eddie in a live-in healing institution, while Gwen and her career take a massive beating in the press. Audiences don’t like America’s Sweethearts apart. As Time Over Time is about to released, studio publicist Lee Phillips (Billy Crystal) decides to host the press junket far out of town in order to distract the media from Eddie and Gwen’s battling – and to divert attention away from the fact that the movie’s eccentric director Hal Weidmann (Christopher Walken) has yet to release a cut of the film for the press to screen. As Lee says, “We need to get these people out in the middle of nowhere. Once they find out there’s no movie, they can’t escape. We need to find a hotel like the one in The Shining – you know, isolated.” He settles on the newly-built Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas. Virtually all of the film takes place at the hotel.
In fact, The Westin is featured so prominently, it almost serves as a character. Areas of the property that appeared onscreen include the front entrance (though the scene shot there contained a lot of movement, so I was not able to make a great screen capture);
the beach;
the lobby stairs/The Arabesque Lounge;
the back terrace;
the neighboring Reflection Bay Golf Club;
and Rick’s Café (love the name!), where one of my favorite scenes took place.
When the movie was filmed, Rick’s Café was known as Café Tajine. You can see pictures of it from that time period here. Though certain elements, like the tile work, flooring, and curtains, have since been changed, the space still currently looks very much the same as it did when America’s Sweethearts was shot.
You can watch the scene shot at Rick’s below. I first saw America’s Sweethearts in the theatre with my best friend, Robin, who was visiting from his native Switzerland. When Lee uttered the line, “Word of advice, when you hit Formica – stop!” I started cracking up. Robin turned to me and whispered, “What is Formica?” When I explained, he began cracking up. To this day, I can’t watch the scene – or hear the word Formica, for that matter – without thinking of him.
One of the hotel’s private Casbah Villas also made an appearance as the spot where Gwen stayed with her sister, Kiki (Julia Roberts), during the press junket – and where Eddie was caught “giving himself a big favor.” Unfortunately, we did not venture out to the villas while there, but you can see a guest photograph of the exterior of one here.
The Westin boasts several Casbah Villas. The exact one used in America’s Sweethearts is the northeastern-most villa. It is denoted with a yellow arrow below.
Only the exterior of the Casbah suite appeared onscreen. Interiors were filmed on a set at Sony Studios, where portions of the movie were shot. You can see what the actual interior of a villa looks like here.
The interior of Lee’s and Eddie’s rooms were also set re-creations.
One spot I was unable to pinpoint while stalking The Westin was the restaurant where Kiki and Eddie – and then Gwen and Eddie – attempted to have dinner . . .
. . . and where Lee orchestrated a fight between Eddie and Hector.
What was shown in the scene does not match the décor or layout of the hotel’s main restaurant, Marssa (pictured below).
At the time that America’s Sweethearts was shot, Marssa was known as Japengo. You can check out some images of what Japengo looked like here. As you can see, despite the name change, little of the space has been altered and what is shown in the photos does not match the restaurant featured in the movie at all.
What is odd is that some portions of it, including the wall shelving (pictured below) and tile work, do resemble that of Café Tajine/Rick’s Café, which leads me to believe that the space was a set built at Sony that echoed the décor of the hotel. That scenario seems a bit unlikely, though, being that the restaurant was large and elaborately decorated. If it was a set, it was an extensive one, which seems like a lot of trouble to go to for a relatively short scene. But who knows?
I am also unsure of where the screening of Time Over Time took place.
While the space that was shown in the movie does bear a strong resemblance to The Westin’s Casablanca Ballroom, some things do not gibe. For instance, though the look of the real life doors seems to be a dead-on match to what appeared onscreen, the number of doors does not. I am guessing that the screening scene was shot on a set built to resemble the Casablanca Ballroom. But again, that is a lot of trouble to go to for what amounted to a relatively short segment. You can check out a wider view of the ballroom here.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa, from America’s Sweethearts, is located at 101 Montelago Boulevard in Henderson, Nevada. You can visit the property’s official website here.
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The Filming Locations of “Breaking Bad”
I am not a Breaking Bad fan. I know, I know – I am in the minority on this one. The Grim Cheaper and I started to watch the series, which ran on AMC from 2008 through 2013, and absolutely LOVED the first two episodes. They were hilarious. Then the show seemed to take a somber turn, focusing more on Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) illness than the dark comedy that was at the center of the inaugural episodes. So we stopped watching, against the advice of so many of our friends. But I was thrilled to recently receive an email from my friend Becky who grew up in New Mexico, where Breaking Bad was lensed, asking if I wanted her to write up a post on the locations featured in the series. My answer was a resounding yes! Thank you so much, Becky! So without further ado . . .
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Hi there! I’m so excited to write this blog post for Lindsay – as a longtime reader of her blog, I never thought I would be lucky enough to write a post for it! Although I live in California now, I am originally from New Mexico and went to college in Albuquerque.
When New Mexico started advertising film tax credits as a way to boost the economy, I was both amused and excited… hoping that it might mean I would get to see my beloved home state more often on TV and in movies. Sadly, most movies and shows filmed there use New Mexico as a backdrop for other cities and states – rarely featuring New Mexico as a character itself. When Breaking Bad aired, I was thrilled! Finally, a show based in Albuquerque! And it was fantastic television to boot!
During one of my visits home, I convinced my mom and sister to join me for a hunt of some of our favorite Breaking Bad filming locations. The good thing about living in a city for five years for undergrad and grad school is that you really get to know it – I knew almost every location without having to look it up (we filled in the blanks with the help of Foursquare)! I hope the rest of my fellow Breaking Bad fans enjoy this – happy stalking!
While Albuquerque as a whole is a major character, one cannot dismiss the importance that the White residence played in Breaking Bad. This house, given the fictional address of 308 Negra Arroyo Lane, is a real home used in every single season of filming. So many pivotal scenes took place at this home – it’s hard to pick a favorite. The screenshots above show the house through the years, including seasons 1, 3, and 5 respectively. Surprisingly, only the front and backyard ever make an appearance on the show. Despite looking incredibly realistic, the interior shots were not filmed on location – they were shot offsite on a soundstage. The owners have taken great pains to make sure people are aware of this – they’ve had quite a few classless looky-loos who have disrespected the property trying to get a sneak peek.
The White Residence
3828 Piermont Drive NE, Albuquerque, NM
When looking for the White home, I knew it was located in the Northeast Heights. Still, I was surprised that it was in a neighborhood that I know quite well. It’s actually only a few short blocks away from my cousin, and less than 5 minutes slightly southwest of Saul Goodman’s office. Thousands of fans have taken the trek to visit the iconic property, much to the annoyance of the owners and the neighbors. If you do decide to visit, be respectful of the private residence itself and the surrounding neighborhood. Don’t block traffic or driveways, and definitely don’t trespass, loiter, or vandalize the property (don’t throw pizza on the roof! Seriously – this happens A LOT apparently).
Saul Goodman’s Office
9800 Montgomery Boulevard NE, Albuquerque, NM
Since it was only a few minutes away, we stopped at Saul Goodman’s office next. Saul’s character was a riot, and appears to be based on a lawyer I remembered from my college days. (Yeah… not going to name him. But if you’re from Albuquerque, you probably know who I’m talking about!) Hilariously enough, I did not recognize this location when I watched the show despite it being right next door to one of my favorite bars in college. Haha! Note that this doesn’t appear to be the same location as they are using for the Better Call Saul prequel – fans of that show should visit 160 Juan Tabo Boulevard NE instead.
A1A Carwash
9516 Snow Heights Circle, Albuquerque, NM
Our next stop was just a little further south from Goodman’s… Everyone’s favorite front for Heisenberg’s empire: the A1A Carwash (Have an A-1 Day!) Standing in for the A1A Carwash, the Octopus Carwash chain was an Albuquerque staple for over 45 years. Sadly, the family owning the chain sold to Mister Car Wash shortly after our visit. Mister Car Wash did a good job of maintaining the overall aesthetic, but they recently sold to a private equity firm leaving the future of this location rather uncertain. So… stalk it while you can!
One of the most difficult characters for me to watch on the show had to be Wendy. Her depiction of the drug addicts and prostitutes I witness on Central Avenue (not far from my University) made my stomach turn – it hit too close to home. (Note: Julia Minesci deserved an award for playing Wendy. I’m always impressed when character actors can hold their own against heavy weights like Aaron Paul and Dean Norris.) Probably the best scene that depicted the sadness of Wendy’s plight had to be a montage you can watch here.
Wendy appeared to live at the Crossroads Motel during her three-season appearance on the show (screenshot above from the show). The motel is often referred to as the Crystal Palace throughout its run on Breaking Bad, referring to its popularity with junkies in the Albuquerque area. While some fan sites thought this was a shuttered motel used only for the filming, I knew it used to operate when I was in school. I was curious to see if it was still operating, so it became our next stop on the tour.
Crossroads Motel
1001 Central Avenue NE, Albuquerque, NM
The Crossroads Motel is still operating, albeit a bit empty the day we stopped by. And contrary to college rumors and its appearance on the show, I’ve read that the motel is a fine budget motel, centrally located and less than $50/night (but check with them directly). They get a fair number of tourists stopping by to take photos – while we didn’t have any issues, I’d still recommend stopping by the office to say hello. I’ve read online that some of the employees are a little wary of unknown people stopping by to take photos, but are pretty accommodating if you go into the office and ask first.
Houses were always a secondary character on Breaking Bad, which was something I really loved about the show. When Jesse Pinkman started apartment hunting in the second season of the show, I recognized the neighborhood immediately. HOME! Or at least my version of it. I knew this had to be in the University area – so many of my friends lived in duplexes similar to the one on the show during school, there was simply no way it could be located elsewhere! The screenshots from the series above show it from different angles – the style so familiar and easily placed in my mind.
Jane’s Apartment
325 Terrace Street SE, Albuquerque, NM
It came as no surprise at all when I looked up the Jane/Jesse duplex to find it just south of campus on Terrace Street. The building was built in the early 1900s, and is part of a group of buildings rented out by UNMRentals.com. The buildings have studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments, along with at least one three-bedroom, standalone house. Surprisingly, the Jane/Jesse building is on the corner of a fairly busy street… it would have been interesting to have seen them film here. From what I can tell, the actual interiors of these apartments were used on the show. I’m not sure what the going rent is for these buildings in particular, but similar one-bedroom apartments in this neighborhood range around $550 – 700/month. Not bad, especially when compared to similar homes in California! Be mindful that these are private residences on a fairly busy street, and the surrounding streets are one-way only – use caution and visit at your own risk.
Civic Plaza
1 Civic Plaza NW, Albuquerque, NM
Continuing west on Central Avenue, our next stop was the location of Walt & Jesse’s infamous showdown in episode 512, “Rabid Dog.” I instantly recognized this location the moment it aired – Civic Plaza is a common gathering place in downtown Albuquerque, hosting festivals, concerts, and more. That said, I did chuckle a bit when the episode aired – I don’t think I’ve ever seen vendors hanging out on the Plaza when an event wasn’t also going on. Still, filming at this location had to be a beast – it’s centrally located in downtown Albuquerque, with most of the city’s major government buildings and hotels located within a two-block radius. I wasn’t wrong – you can see a bit of what went into filming this via the AMC behind-the-scenes clip located here.
Without the trademark blue benches and nonexistent phone booths actually located in the plaza, my sister and I worried a bit that we wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the exact locations where filming took place. We were wrong! The surrounding buildings gave us great insight as to where to capture our reenactments, as demonstrated with both the Albuquerque Police Department behind Walt and the DoubleTree hotel behind Jesse in the scenes above (a big THANK YOU to my sister for recreating the poses for my own enjoyment… and now yours, too!).
The next location on our tour is one of my favorite hot dog stands in the world – the Dog House! Seriously – I probably ate a thousand of their chili dogs while I was in college, and I’m neither a chili or a hot dog fan. This is seriously spicy (and delicious) stuff! Definitely Yelp worthy – you can read the reviews here and decide for yourself! Anyway, I was SUPER stoked to see it featured early on in the series. It was the first location I saw and immediately exclaimed, “I’ve been there!” It actually appeared several times throughout the series – appearing in Seasons 1, 2, and 5.
The Dog House
1216 Central Avenue, Albuquerque, NM
Somewhat unsurprisingly, my family has not enjoyed the yummy-deliciousness that is the Dog House in Old Town Albuquerque. When I told my sister we’d be going there, she actually didn’t remember the iconic location upon first mention. Of course, she had also only seen the location on the show as it was filmed at night with all of its neon glory. Once we got there, however, she instantly recognized it as a favorite of Jesse’s on the show. You, too, can enjoy Jesse’s favorite hot dog joint next time you’re in Albuquerque – get the chili dog and a chocolate shake… you can thank me later ; )
The last location for our do-it-yourself Breaking Bad tour was the Pinkman residence, at first owned by Jesse’s parents and later owned by Jesse himself. This beautiful home was given the fictional address of 9809 Margo Street, but a quick Google search will show you that Margo Street doesn’t exist – the closest to it would be Margo Road in the somewhat rural South Valley. In reality, the Pinkman residence is located in the beautiful Huning Castle neighborhood, close to Old Town and the Albuquerque Country Club near the heart of the city (and not far from the Dog House mentioned above).
The Pinkman Residence
322 16th Street SW, Albuquerque, NM
This is one of my favorite locations in Albuquerque for a variety of reasons. I like the older, established neighborhood because it’s one of the few in Albuquerque to still have grass lawns and trees. It’s near both Old Town and Downtown, which in turn are close to many of my favorite restaurants, stores, and museums. And I love the style of the homes around here – it’s not a cookie cutter ‘hood at all! As with the duplex, the Pinkman residence is a real private residence. The actual interiors were used in Season 1, but the show was forced to rebuild the interiors on a soundstage after the home was sold in Season 2. Please be courteous when visiting – this is a quiet neighborhood.
While you are in the area, feel free to visit some of my favorite spots! The Albuquerque Zoo, Aquarium, and Biopark are nearby, as is wonderful Old Town. Heck, while you’re in Albuquerque… stay for a while! There’s a lot to love about my favorite city, and more to do there than you would think. Casinos, hiking, dining, museums – it’s a cultural mecca that I wish more people would take advantage of.
With Better Call Saul now filming in Albuquerque, along with several other films/movies, I think it’s high time I go back for another stalking adventure, don’t you? If I do, I’ll make sure to update my personal blog and probably Lindsay’s too! You can follow my blog (Temporary Rest Stop) online for more of my traveling adventures, and you can follow me on Instagram, too! Hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks Lindsay!
Editor’s Note – Thank you so much, Becky!
I thoroughly enjoyed the post and am wanting to re-visit New Mexico now more than ever! Such a beautiful place. -
My Latest Interview with Enchanted Serendipity
Be sure to check out my latest interview with Toni, from the Enchanted Serendipity website. You may remember Toni from her recent post on my site about Dawson’s Creek filming locations. You can read the interview here.
