Villa Restaurant from “Must Love Dogs”

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Some filming location finds turn out to be a disappointment in person while others wind up to be better than I ever could have imagined.  Today’s stalk – of Villa restaurant from the 2005 romantic comedy Must Love Dogs – was a little bit of both.

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For several months, I had been on a fruitless search for the outdoor eatery that appeared in the beginning of Must Love Dogs, in the scene in which Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane) showed up for a date with someone she met online only to discover that her date was actually her father, Bill (Christopher Plummer).  The bistro was absolutely adorable and reminded me quite a bit of Aroma Café in Studio City, one of my favorite spots in all of L.A.  Try as I might, though, I just could not seem to locate it.  I finally enlisted the help of fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, and he found the place in record time.  A Google search of the terms  “restaurant, patio, fountain, San Fernando Valley,” led him to the website for Villa in Woodland Hills.  Images posted there proved it was the right spot.  Sadly though, the images also showed that the eatery had been remodeled in recent years and, in the process, seemed to have lost much of its charm.  I was heartbroken to learn of the renovation, but decided to stalk the place nonetheless.  As it turns out, despite the facelift, Villa is still quite spectacular.

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The space that currently houses Villa was originally the site of Eckberg’s Steakhouse, which was founded in the 1960s.  At the time, the property was a private home owned by Russ and Eleanor Eckberg.  Russ worked in the meat industry and, upon retiring, decided to convert the living room of his house into a small ten-table restaurant with an adjacent open kitchen.  And yes, Russ and Eleanor still lived on the premises.   When they fully retired in the late 1970s, the space was taken over by restaurateur John Makhani.  He remodeled and expanded the residence (keeping much of the original framing intact) and re-opened it in 1981.

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The restaurant has gone through several incarnations under Makhani’s tutelage.  At one point, it was a French eatery named Lautrec and then later it became an Italian spot named Villa Piacere.  It was during its time as Piacere that Must Love Dogs was filmed on the premises.  Makhani decided to revamp the space again in 2012 and, with the help of designer Thomas Schoos, transformed both the interior and the exterior.

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When it was re-opened, the “Piacere” was dropped from the name and the restaurant became known simply as “Villa.”

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The filming of Must Love Dogs took place on Villa Piacere’s back patio.

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As you can see below, that area, while still somewhat recognizable, looks significantly different today.

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Gone are the flowered tablecloths, country-style furniture and tiered water fountain.

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While I was originally disappointed to learn of the changes, I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped onto Villa’s patio.  In the photographs Owen had found online, the space looked sleek and cold, but in person, it turned out to be quaint, adorable and absolutely charming.  I fell in love with it on site!  So did Mike, from MovieShotsLA, who had joined me on the stalk, and we both promptly made plans to return there for dinner with our significant others in the near future.

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The super-nice server whom we spoke with while we were there informed us that Villa had appeared onscreen numerous times over the years.  The interior of the eatery popped up in the 2013 biopic Jobs as the spot where Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) made the decision not to give Daniel Kottke (Lukas Haas) any Apple stock options.

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A different exterior was used for the establishing shot of the restaurant in the scene.

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In the Season 4 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Operation Ann,” the exterior of  Villa masked as the Bluebell Cafe.  Interiors were filmed at the Hamburger Hamlet in Sherman Oaks, though.  (Interiors from Season 2’s “Galentine’s Day” were also filmed at the Hamburger Hamlet.)

In the Season 1 episode of LeAnn & Eddie (and let’s hope that there only winds up to be one season of that train wreck of a show) titled “Babes and a Baby,” LeAnn Rimes dined at Villa with some of her childhood friends.

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Villa’s tree-canopied parking lot appeared in Buick’s recent “Hmm” commercial.

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The parking lot is absolutely gorgeous in person!  I can only imagine what it looks like at night all lit up.

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Villa Restaurant Woodland Hills Must Love Dogs (46 of 47)

You can watch the Buick “Hmm” commercial by clicking below.

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

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

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Villa restaurant, from Must Love Dogs, is located at 22160 Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills.  You can visit the eatery’s official website here.

The Coffee Gallery from “The Office”

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A few weeks ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, told me about a coffee house in Altadena named the Coffee Gallery which was featured in the Season 4 episode of The Office titled “Chair Model”.  He figured that because the place was both a coffee shop and a filming location that it would be right up my alley!  And how right he was!  So, yesterday I stopped by my parents’ house in the hopes that I could talk either my mom or my dad into accompanying me to stalk the place as I needed someone to take a picture of me while there.  Thankfully, my dad acquiesced and just before we were leaving my mom happened to ask what it was exactly that I wanted to stalk.  When I told her we were heading to the Coffee Gallery she informed me that one of her neighbors, a woman named Julie, actually owns the place!  Well, let me tell you, I just about fell over when I heard that and immediately ran down to Julie’s house to give her the third degree!  How I never knew that my parents’ neighbor owned a coffee house when I am a complete and total coffee fiend is BEYOND me, but I digress.  Unfortunately, Julie wasn’t home when I stopped by, so I was not able to get any behind-the-scenes scoop about the filming.  I’ve left word with her son, though, that I am VERY interested in speaking with her, so if I do find out any good trivia, I will for sure share it with my fellow stalkers! 

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The Coffee Gallery is a very cool place to hang out – and I mean that both figuratively and literally!  While it is a super hip little spot, it is also blissfully air-conditioned and after walking in from the 95-degree heat yesterday, I vowed never to leave!  😉  The Coffee Gallery actually reminds me a LOT of a place in San Mateo called the Coffee Critic where I used to hang out pretty much every afternoon when I was in high school, so walking through those front doors yesterday felt like returning home.  In fact, the cafes are so similar it was striking!  My dad even commented on how much alike they look, but I digress once again.  The Coffee Gallery is cozy and inviting and the barista who waited on us could NOT have been nicer.  I can say with certainty that I will for sure be frequenting the place regularly from now on.  Oh, and they serve up some great coffee, too!  😉

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In the “Chair Model” episode of The Office, Pam Beesly (aka Jenna Fischer) sets up her boss, Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell), on a blind date with Margaret, her landlady.  The two decide to meet for the first time at the Coffee Gallery.

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At first, Michael mistakenly believes that the above-pictured blonde woman is Margaret, even though she explained to him that she has straight brown hair and that she will be wearing blue jeans and a black top.  When he first sees the blonde, though, he says, “I give her a ten for looks and a three for her ability to describe herself”.  LOL LOL LOL 

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When he finally meets the real Margaret, he blurts out, “Ugh!” and then proceeds to pretend that he is not actually Michael Scott.  He is found out, however, when the barista yells out his name to announce that his drink is ready.   God, I love The Office!

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The two then sit by the cafe’s front window and proceed to have a very awkward conversation about how “hot” Michael’s former girlfriend was. 

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The Coffee Gallery’s super nice barista also told me that the 2005 flick Must Love Dogs had been filmed on the premises, as well.  The exterior of the coffee house was featured in a scene towards the end of the movie in which Jack (aka John Cusack) meets his ex-girlfriend’s father, Bill (aka Christopher Plummer), for the first time.  According to the barista, the Coffee Gallery was left open during the filming of Must Love Dogs and both John Cusack and Christopher Plummer were extremely nice and posed for photographs with all of the people who stopped by on their morning coffee run.  Let me just say here that I would absolutely die if I showed up at my local coffee house one morning to find a movie being filmed!  Sigh!  🙂

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Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Coffee Gallery from Must Love Dogs and the “Chair Model” episode of The Office is located at 2029 North Lake Avenue in Altadena.  You can visit their official website here.