Don’t forget to check out today’s Scene It Before post for Los Angeles magazine – about the DMV from fave movie License to Drive. You can find it here. My columns typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
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Café Figaro from “Jerry Maguire”
Today’s post is a long time in the making. Off and on for years now I have been trying to track down the restaurant where Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) got fired in the 1996 romcom of the same name. I decided to actively revisit the search a couple of weeks ago and, this time, got Mike, from MovieShotsLA, involved. He wound up finding the place shortly thereafter. As it turns out, Jerry was let go from Sports Management International while at Café Figaro at 9010 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. Sadly, the eatery was shuttered in 1997, but Mike and I headed right on out to stalk its former location nonetheless.
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Mike pinpointed the locale thanks to the unique trees visible outside of the restaurant during the firing scene. Those trees can only be found on a few streets in the L.A. area, one of which is Melrose Avenue. So he began his search at the start of Melrose (just east of where it intersects with North Doheny Drive) and, sure enough, found the right spot within a matter of minutes. The only trouble was, the space had gone through so many iterations in the years since Jerry Maguire had been shot, that it was a bit of a struggle for me to figure out what restaurant had been in operation at the time of the filming. Finally (after scanning through at least 25 Google search results pages), I came across this 2007 article which stated that an eatery named Café Figaro had once been located at 9010 Melrose Avenue and that its walls had been covered with “ticky tacky newspaper decoupages.” Eureka! With that information in hand, I did a Google search for “Jerry Maguire” and “Café Figaro” and turned up this post which confirmed the find. Woot woot!
Café Figaro first opened its doors in 1969. (Apparently, Bill Cosby was one of the initial investors.) It was founded by Tom Ziegler, who, in the 1950s, had pioneered a coffee shop of the same name on the corner of MacDougal and Bleecker Streets in Manhattan. When a rent hike forced Tom to close that eatery in 1969, he packed up all of its interior decor and migrated west to Los Angeles where he launched a new, larger Figaro. You can read a 1970 news article about the L.A. site shortly after its opening here. (Interestingly, a man named Ben Fishbein re-opened the Manhattan Café Figaro in 1975, six years after Ziegler had been forced out. The re-vamp proved extremely successful and remained in operation until 2008. You can read more about the East Coast Figaro’s history here.)
Café Figaro closed down in 1997, a whopping 28 years after its founding. The interior of the space was subsequently gutted and the Kass Bah steakhouse, which you can see of a photograph of here, opened in its place. By the summer of 2001, the Kass Bah had called it quits. Following that closure, the property went through numerous iterations – it was the Parisian Room, then Santo Coyote and then Murano, prior to which it was completely gutted once again. When Murano shuttered, the site became The Artichoke’s Heart, then, after yet another remodel (this one not as major as the first two, which were complete overhauls), Smoke. Since Smoke’s closing in 2013, the venue has remained vacant. It absolutely boggles my mind that Mike was able to locate a spot that had not only changed hands no less than six times, but had been completely gutted twice. Hats off to him!
In Jerry Maguire, Café Figaro stood in for Cronin’s, the “crowded” restaurant where Bob Sugar (Jay Mohr) rather comically fired Jerry. During the scene, Bob delivered this diatribe, one of my favorite from the movie – “What about me? You know what I went through knowing I was gonna have to fire my mentor? Carrying that around in my head for a week! Could you get past yourself for a second?”
Not surprisingly, while the general structure and set-up remain the same, the restaurant’s interior looks completely different today than it did onscreen. You can check out some photographs of Café Figaro’s interior from the early 1970s here and here, though, and see that it did indeed match what appeared in Jerry Maguire.
Café Figaro’s exterior (which was only seen in a limited view in Jerry Maguire) has also been remodeled since filming took place, but is still somewhat recognizable.
Thankfully, the space across the street, which was a children’s gym at the time that Jerry Maguire was filmed, has not changed over the years and still looks pretty much exactly the same as it did onscreen.
As does the building located next door to Café Figaro, which Jerry rushes by in the scene while on his way back to his office.
Mike and I were both floored to see that the manhole cover that was shown in the close-up of Jerry running was still there. Love that!
Me doing my best Jerry impersonation.
For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here
Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The former Café Figaro space from Jerry Maguire is located at 9010 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. The building that Tom Cruise runs by in the movie is located next door at 9006 Melrose Avenue. The manhole cover that he walks over can be found just east of that building’s front door.
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The Mercantile from “Major Crimes”
During a recent stalking adventure with Mike, from MovieShotsLA, the two of us passed by a unique building in Hollywood housing a restaurant named The Mercantile. While we did not have time to stop in that day, I made a mental note to revisit it for a meal at a later date. So I was absolutely floored to see the place pop up last week in the Season 3 episode of Major Crimes titled “Letting It Go.” I immediately texted Mike and told him we had to re-stalk the eatery as soon as possible and we ended up doing just that this past Thursday while I was in L.A. for a brief visit.
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The Mercantile was originally founded in November 2009 by restaurateur George Abou-Daoud, who also opened Delancey pizzeria, aka Tom’s Bistro from Parks and Recreation which I blogged about here. Abou-Daoud owns so many area eateries that he is often referred to as the “unofficial mayor of Hollywood.”
The Mercantile is housed in a two-story 1928 Spanish Churrigueresque-style building that boasts spectacular sculptural detailing. I fell in love with the place upon sight.
The interior of The Mercantile is just as picturesque.
I would give my eye teeth for the reclaimed wood table pictured below. I so want it for my apartment!
The combination gourmet market/restaurant/wine and cheese bar offers a pretty spectacular menu (50+ wines by the glass!), but, sadly, Mike and I did not get a chance to eat while we were there. I am definitely planning a re-visit with the Grim Cheaper in the near future, though.
In the “Letting It Go” episode of Major Crimes, The Mercantile was where Detective Amy Sykes (Kearran Giovanni) took rape victim/murder suspect Corporal Laura Day (Nikki DeLoach) for a cup of coffee to sober her up.
As you can see below, The Mercantile’s name and signage was visible in the scene, which is how I recognized it.
The Mercantile was also very briefly featured in the Season 3 episode of Scandal titled “We Do Not Touch the First Ladies” as Darcy’s Cafe, the spot where David Rosen (Joshua Malina) went to meet a reporter and wound up being kidnapped.
Speaking of Major Crimes, I am dying to track down the motel that was used in the series’ Season 3 promotional photographs. Does anyone happen to recognize it or know where it is? I have a feeling that the structure might have been digitally altered for the picture, but I would love to find it nevertheless.
For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The Mercantile, from the “Letting It Go” episode of Major Crimes, is located at 6600 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. You can visit the eatery’s official website here.
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Happy Fourth of July!
I would like to wish all of my fellow stalkers a very happy Fourth of July! I will be celebrating the holiday today with my family, but will be back on Monday with a whole new location.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
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New “L.A.” Magazine Post – Boston P.D. from “Rizzoli & Isles”
Don’t forget to read today’s Scene It Before post for Los Angeles magazine – about Boston Police Department from Rizzoli & Isles. You can find it here. My columns typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
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Marilyn Monroe’s Former Burbank Apartment Building
Shortly before I headed to Los Angeles for my weeklong birthday celebration with out-of-town friends Kim, Lavonna, Katie and Kaylee (that’s Katie and Kaylee in the above pic), I came across a Curbed post that mapped 43 properties where my girl Marilyn Monroe once lived. The blurb practically had me foaming at the mouth, obvs. I immediately sent the link to Lavonna and she added several of the addresses to her To-Stalk list, one of which was an apartment building located directly across the street from Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank. Since the girls had already scheduled a WB VIP Tour for the trip, this particular locale was quite convenient and we included a stalk of it on that day’s itinerary.
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Prior to reading the Curbed post, I had no idea that Marilyn had ever called Burbank home. According to the article, she lived in an apartment building at 131 South Avon Street for a very brief period during the summer of 1947 in what seemed to be some sort of house-sitting arrangement.
Per Realtor.com (and several other websites), the 13,283-square-foot structure (which I believe is comprised of 13 units) was originally built in 1835 – 179 years ago. Yeah, that seems a bit ridiculous to me, too. My guess is that the 1835 date is a typo (that somehow got picked up by numerous sources) and that the building was actually constructed in 1935.
Realtor.com also notes that the property was renovated in 1995. As you can see below, it definitely seems to have received a facelift at some point because the façade looks rather modern, especially the front doors and windows.
Because the building does look so new, I had originally wondered if Marilyn’s former domicile had been torn down at some point and a different edifice built in its place. That does not appear to have been the case, though. Pictured below is a 1972 aerial view of the property, as well as a current one. As you can see, the structure of the building seems to be the same in both images. Which means that Marilyn’s former home is actually still standing! How incredibly cool is that?
A peek inside the front doors – courtesy of Lavonna. Someone needs to tell the person in 102 that it’s time for the Christmas bow to come down.
Marilyn’s former Burbank home is located two doors north of the “fake Fendi” building from Sex and the City, so we also did a little stalking of that locale. And while we didn’t have any Fendi on us at the time, we were packing some Louis Vuitton (none of it fake, mmmkay!), so we just had to pose for a picture with it.
For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Marilyn Monroe’s former apartment building is located at 131 South Avon Street in Burbank. The fake Fendi building from Sex and the City is located two doors south at 141 South Avon Street.
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Sur from “Vanderpump Rules”
Last November, the Grim Cheaper and I became obsessed with the Bravo reality series Vanderpump Rules. Like obsessed. We binge-watched the entire first season in about two days. For those who have not seen the show, it centers around West Hollywood eatery Sur (which is co-owned by The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump) and its drama-fueled staff. And yes, as strange as it may seem, said staff does actually work onsite at the restaurant. If you stalk the place, you will see them. Naturally, the first words out of my mouth upon realizing this fact was, “We have to go to dinner there!”
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Wrongly assuming that Sur would be exorbitantly expensive (as it turns out, the place is completely affordable), I told the GC that the only thing I wanted for my birthday in June was dinner there. When he found out that my good friends Lavonna, Kim, Katie and Kaylee would be in town on my big day, he included them in on his plans and promptly made reservations (eight months in advance!) as a surprise for me. Yep, he’s a keeper!
To say that we had a blast would be an understatement. The evening honestly could not have turned out more perfect or more fun, as evidenced by the picture below.
Prior to doing research for this post, I was under the impression that Sur was a relatively new restaurant. Come to find out, the place has actually been around since 1998! It was originally founded in January of that year by Argentinian chef Guillermo Zapata.
It was not until 2005 that Guillermo brought in Lisa and her husband, Ken Todd, as partners. The eatery was then expanded and revamped with Lisa’s special touch shortly thereafter. The result is nothing short of spectacular!
Everywhere one looks, there is something new and fabulous to discover – from unique chandeliers to vintage mirrors to repurposed doors and windows used as wall hangings. It is worth a trip to Sur just to check out the interior design alone!
When the property next door to Sur became available in 2011, Lisa jumped at the chance to purchase it. She transformed the 2,500-square-foot space into what is now Sur Lounge. It was there that we started off our evening. We arrived on the scene about twenty minutes prior to our reservation time and were informed that we could either be seated immediately or grab a drink in the lounge first.
Upon deciding to grab a cocktail, the host, Adam, informed us that we were welcome to take our time and to just let him know when we were ready to be seated. How incredibly nice is that? (That’s Adam pictured below. While not a Vanderpump Rules cast member, he is a Wilhelmina model, so we had to get a picture with him!) Amazingly, everyone at Sur was beyond nice! The place had zero hoity-toity attitude and all of the staff we encountered went above and beyond to make our evening special. And believe me, the way we were carrying on and running around the place (we were absolutely ridiculous as you will come to see in later pictures), they would have had every right to be annoyed. Instead they bent over backwards to make our evening special! We were treated as if we were VIPs and we loved absolutely every minute of it!
Sur Lounge is like a dream world!
The courtyard area is especially stunning and does not look like part of a restaurant at all, but like the backyard of your hippest, classiest friend.
The interior of Sur Lounge is just as beautiful, with private seating spaces and vintage décor tucked into every nook and cranny.
Of the design, Lisa said in a 2011 The Hollywood Reporter interview, “I took a bit from here, a bit from there. There are some industrial elements mixed with little velvet mushroom stools that I had made. Huge, extra-long leather Chesterfields. Lots of plants. Things I’ve bought during my travels and brought in. I was looking for an eclectic feeling. Is it Vietnamese? Balinese? French? I wanted you to not be able to put your finger on it.”
After enjoying Happy Hour cocktails (the prices were amazingly low!), we headed to our table and shortly thereafter saw Guillermo. Because he regularly appears on Vanderpump Rules, we had to get a picture with him. After we did, the woman sitting at the table next to us also asked him for a photo. As it turns out, she, too, was dining at Sur because of her love for Vanderpump Rules. She said to us at one point, “I am so glad that I am sitting next to you guys, otherwise I wouldn’t know what I was doing!” To which I responded, “Oh honey! You don’t know how lucky you are! We are the ultimate stalkers!”
Prior to ordering, I sent Lavonna – and her thick Southern accent – to speak with a man standing near Sur’s entrance. (I assumed he was a manager and never did actually find out his job title.) Lavonna explained to him that she, Kim, Kaylee and Katie had come from out of town to celebrate my birthday and that we were all huge Vanderpump Rules fans. Well, from that point forward, the man, whom we found out was named Ali, pretty much became our personal guide. He helped us get photographs with the cast, took us around the restaurant and gave us info on the filming that was going to be taking place there later that night. He was absolutely amazing and our evening would not have been nearly as fun without him! (That’s Ali pictured below.)
One place that we were all desperate to see was the back alley where the Vanderpump Rules cast is often shown taking smoking breaks – and creating massive drama. When we told Ali, he marched us right through the rear employee-only areas (which we had seen on the show!) to take us there and, let me tell you, we were pretty much dying the whole time!
That’s me and Kim re-living some Rules drama.
While we were outside, Lavonna happened to spot a film crew sitting in a van nearby, so she rushed right up to ask them some questions. That’s one of the camera guys below. He was quite amused at how excited we were and when we mentioned some of the intel that Ali had told us about the filming that was taking place there that night, he said, “You guys know more about our schedule than I do!” Yep, that’s how we roll!
A little bit later, while we were ordering our meal (we still had not yet ordered any food at that time!), Ali informed us that Jax had just arrived on the scene, so we all rushed over to get photos with him. Jax was very nice at that point in the evening, but when we encountered him again a few hours later he was rather douchey, which came as a surprise to no one.
We also met Scheana Marie;
a new cast member named Rachel;
Tom Sandoval;
and Katie Maloney, all of whom were very nice. I did not get to meet my favorite cast member Stassi Schroeder, because she, sadly, left the show at the end of last season and currently resides in New York.
I should mention here that the poor GC spent most of the evening sitting at our table by himself, while we ran around taking pictures. The crap that my poor husband has to put up with! Thankfully though, the meal was exceptional! And completely affordable! I opted for the Crispy Chicken Breast (which Stassi had stated in an episode was her favorite menu item) and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD.
I cannot more highly recommend stalking Sur! We had such an incredible night there and it turned out to be the best birthday present I could have asked for! A big, HUGE THANK YOU to the GC, Lavonna, Kim, Katie and Kaylee for making it all happen!
For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Sur, from Vanderpump Rules, is located at 606 North Robertson Boulevard in West Hollywood. You can visit the eatery’s official website here. Lisa’s newest restaurant, Pump Lounge, is located just around the corner at 8948 Santa Monica Boulevard.
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The “Must Love Dogs” House
One location that I had always wondered about, but never put much time into tracking down was the charming bungalow where lovelorn preschool teacher Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane) lived in the 2005 romantic comedy Must Love Dogs. Then, this past May, a fellow stalker named Linda challenged me to find the place and just a few days later I got an email from Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, with an address. He had seen Linda’s challenge and decided to do a little digging and, lo and behold, found the locale. Thank you, Geoff!
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Geoff was able to find the residence thanks to an address number of “1181” that was visible above the front porch in several scenes. Figuring that the pad was most likely located in Pasadena due to its Craftsman-style architecture, he began searching 1100 blocks in the area and it was not long before he found the right spot.
I was not at all disappointed when I finally saw the house in person. The place is just as adorable and picturesque as it appeared to be onscreen.
In real life, the 1921 dwelling features four bedrooms, one bath, 1,874 square feet of living space and a 0.32-acre plot of land. It was last sold for $280,000 in October 1997, which means that the people who own it today owned it at the time that Must Love Dogs was filmed. Love that! Wish I could have spoken to them while I was there.
The exterior of Sarah’s residence popped up repeatedly throughout Must Love Dogs.
Sadly, the gorgeous interior shown in the movie was just a set.
I am absolutely in love with Sarah’s décor (hello, claw-foot tub!). The entire place just looks so cozy and inviting. You can read a great Hooked on Houses article about Sarah’s interior design style here.
I managed to find some photographs of the real life interior of the residence online and, as you can see, it looks quite a bit different than what was shown onscreen. Some of the set does appear to have been modeled after the actual home, though. The built-in buffet in Sarah’s dining room is very similar to the property’s actual buffet.
And her green tiled fireplace is also very reminiscent of the the real home’s fireplace.
Sarah’s bedroom looks nothing like the real life master bedroom, though.
The two kitchens do not resemble each other, either. You can check out the real one here.
For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.
Big THANK YOU to Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location!
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Sarah’s house from Must Love Dogs is located at 1181 East Elizabeth Street in Pasadena.
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New “Los Angeles” Magazine Post – Eli Wallach’s House from “The Holiday”
Today’s Los Angeles magazine post was written in honor of the legendary actor Eli Wallach, who passed away yesterday at the age of 98. Wallach portrayed one of my favorite movie characters of all time. Rest in peace, dear Arthur Abbott. You can read the post here. My columns typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
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The Viper Room from “Entourage”
Once I found the location of Zebra tattoo parlor, on which Jeremy Piven’s name was displayed during the opening credits of Entourage each week (I blogged about it here), I just had to track down the spot where cutie Jerry Ferrara’s moniker was showcased. Upon finally doing so, I was a bit embarrassed that I had not recognized the place beforehand, being that it is one of Hollywood’s most well-known landmarks – The Viper Room in West Hollywood.
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Although arguably most famous for the fact that it was where River Phoenix died of a drug overdose in 1993, The Viper Room had a long, storied history prior to that time. The space was originally the site of a night spot named The Cotton Club, which then became Greenwich Village and then the Rue Angel – all during the first half of the 20th century. When the Rue Angel was burned in a fire in 1950, its doors were shuttered. The site reopened shortly thereafter as The Last Call, a drag show venue, which did not prove fruitful. The Last Call was closed in April 1951 and was subsequently transformed into The Melody Room, a small jazz bar that opened on June 14th of that same year. The Melody Room was successful for almost two decades and was reportedly frequented – and maybe even backed -by mobsters Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen.
In 1969, The Melody Room was sold and became Filthy McNasty’s, a live rock ‘n’ roll venue. Sometime during the late ‘70s/early ‘80s, the property’s name was changed once again, this time to “The Central.” By 1993, The Central, which had remained a forum for rock ‘n’ roll acts, was on the verge of closing. When actor Johnny Depp found out, he decided to invest. Along with a few partners (one of whom, Anthony Fox, mysteriously went missing in 2001), he revamped the place and dubbed it “The Viper Room.” It opened to the public on August 14th, 1993, with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers serving as one of the inaugural acts. The Viper Room was immensely popular from the get-go, especially with the young Hollywood set. Just a few of the celebrities who were spotted there during the early years include Christina Applegate, Drew Barrymore, Jen Aniston, Nicole Eggert, Tim Burton, Quentin Tarantino, Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger, Johnny Cash, Tommy Lee, Pamela Anderson, Gwen Stefani, Ellen DeGeneres, and Michael Keaton.
Shortly after its opening, The Viper Room would be forever marred by the death of 23-year-old actor River Phoenix, who passed away on the sidewalk just outside the club’s front doors in the early morning hours of October 31st, 1993. Following the tragedy, the venue closed down for a full two weeks.
While stalking The Viper Room recently with Mike, from MovieShotsLA, we were shocked to see a payphone nearby. (I wasn’t aware those things still existed!) After some research, I learned that it was the payphone where Joaquin Phoenix made his now infamous call to 911 following River’s collapse. The phone is located in front of the Sun Bee food mart at 8860 West Sunset Boulevard. And yes, I realize how morbid this subject matter is, but I was absolutely astounded to discover that it was still standing, all these years later, especially considering the fact that payphones are such a rarity in today’s world.
In 2004, in the midst of a lawsuit with his partners, Johnny Depp sold his portion of The Viper Room. Today, the property is owned by Harry Morton, son of Hard Rock Café founder Peter Morton. You can check out some photos of the venue over the years in all of its many incarnations here and you can see some pictures of what the interior of the club looks like today here.
In the Entourage opening credits, Jerry Ferrara’s name was shown in neon lettering above The Viper Room awning. As I mentioned earlier, I am embarrassed to admit that I did not recognize the site during all my years of watching the series. No, it was not until a couple of weeks ago, when I did a Google search for “Terner’s Liquor,” a neighboring storefront visible in the Entourage credits, that I made the connection. In my defense, though, The Viper Room looked quite a bit different in the opening, as you can see below.
You can watch the Entourage opening credits by clicking below.
The Viper Room has been spotlighted onscreen several times over the years. In 1983, when it was still operating as The Central, its interior popped up in the movie Valley Girl as the site of the club where Randy (Nicolas Cage) took Julie Richman (Deborah Foreman) shortly after meeting her. Only the interior of The Central was used, though. The exterior was a bar in Hollywood that has since been torn down.
In 1991’s The Doors, The Central masqueraded as the London Fog where Jim Morrison (Val Kilmer) and the group played in their early days. At the time, the exterior, which has since been painted black, looked considerably different than it does today.
The real life interior of the club also appeared in The Doors.
In 2005’s Be Cool, The Viper Room was where Chili Palmer (John Travolta) heard Linda Moon (Christina Milian) sing for the first time. Only the exterior of the site was used in the shoot.
The interior of the club that appeared in Be Cool is far larger than The Viper Room’s actual interior. I have been to The Viper Room a few times over the years (one of my acting class friends used to date a bouncer there, so we were VIP all the way, all the time!
) and the inside of it is tiny. I’m talking tiny. Like I’m pretty sure my apartment has more square footage. I am guessing that the interior of the Be Cool bar was a set. Either that or filming took place inside of a a different Los Angeles nightclub.
For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The Viper Room, from the opening credits of Entourage, is located at 8852 West Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. You can visit the club’s official website here.
