There is a distinct breed of family restaurant founded in spades across the nation between the 40s and the 50s, few of which survive, that provided a Disneyana environment where the family could dine surrounded by a Yogi Bear-era “outdoor” look: faux trees, the occasional water feature, “log cabin” woodwork, abundant taxidermy. Clearman’s North Woods Inn, in San Gabriel, is one such institution.

I happened to be passing there the other day while spending quality time with the Mom. I went to Clearman’s only once, long ago, when I was in junior high school. For reasons that will forever remain elusive I had developed a passion for miniatures, along with another girl in my class, and the two of us made plans to go–or rather, made plans for our moms to drive us–down to San Gabriel where a miniature store sold itty-bitty pieces of handpainted china for lilliputian table settings to be set in itty bitty houses. Clearman’s happened to be right next door.

My friend had been there before. “You have to get the potato with the cheese butter,” she announced. Her mom, petite as a chihuahua and as perky, leaned over the table toward my mother and I. ‘CHEESE BUTTER,” she said in a low whisper… (more…)

El Cholo has won by a whopping two votes! We are off to the original (as of 1927 anyway) location on Western. Here are all the details:

Saturday July 18
5:30pm — ??

I’ll make a reservation for 15 since that seems like the average amount of Classic Eaters who come along. I’ll also be there with a sign as per usual.

El Cholo
1121 Western Ave.
(323) 734-2773

Want more incentive to come other than great nachos and margaritas? You may hear some funny tales of bloggers and guns from earlier in the day. I’ll say no more.

Thanks again for the votes and we all look forward to seeing you at El Cholo!

My love for Kim Cooper’s projects & collaborations is no secret, but this latest endeavor thrills me even more. Chronicling the glittering and ghastly history of LA’s Historic Core, centered around the footprint of the Downtown Artwalk/Gallery Row, the blog “In SRO Land” is only a week old but already is a treasure trove of info that’s left me utterly absorbed.

Every year Kim’s original blog, 1947project, undergoes a re-casting and covers a different year in Los Angeles history. But this year it becomes “In SRO Land,” named alternatively after the Single Room Occupancy hotels that are so prevalent in the area, and “Standing Room Only”–the common refrain of Broadway, whose golden era was a cavalcade of dancers and entertainers, criminals and movie stars, freaks and fans.

I am so stoked to have this new blog up and running, and I’ll be sure to check it every day. Welcome to the party, In SRO Land.

Also, a great big Congrats to Kim Cooper’s husband & Esotouric curator Richard Schave, the newly-minted Director of the Downtown LA Art Walk.

Photo by In SRO Land contributor Rob Clampett.

Oh Hai!

Okay, where were we? Oh yes, Classic Eats! 

Now that we’ve had our Very Special Episode of Classic Eats, we can return to the relaxed monthly event that is our standard get together at various parts around town. 

So save the date: July 18 for Classic Eats #6! I will put a poll together in a week or two so we can vote on our next destinations.

Looking forward to wearing less food shaped clothing and actually getting a chance to sample the food or drink at whatever place we go next.

While catching the turgid 1949 film version of The Fountainhead this week, I noticed that, in the climactic courtroom scene, all the jurors were men, and white ones at that. This reminded me of the 1957 film 12 Angry Men, which, as the title indicates, also features a completely vag-less jury. Next thing I know, I was up to my favorite form of multitasking: looking things up on the laptop while simultaneously watching a movie on cable. I found some interesting results about the history of women on juries in California, in which the Los Angeles area plays a major part.

Sit on this (jury), after the jump

After breakfast at Local on Sunset this morning, my wife Susan and I checked out a new mural next door to the restaurant, now finished (hat tip to the blogs of Jesus Sanchez and Kathy McDonald) that  I first glimpsed in its beginning stages earlier this month. The vintage cityscapes are from Silver Lake artist Nicky Gagliarducci who bridged the past with the present by inserting multiple images of the community’s seemingly omnipresent Walking Man, also known as Dr. Marc Abrams, who as fate would have it I fauxtographed striding on Sunset across from Tacos Delta. Below is a seven-frame pano of the finished awesomeness (clickably ginormifiable):

I haven’t done any drum-banging here on Metblogs about the weekend components of my personal “Bike Every Day in May” campaign, because the Saturday and Sunday rides are pretty casual… no spoke cards, no printed routes — plus they’re waaaay too early for most sensible people. But if I do say so myself (and I do) this Saturday’s ride is shaping up to be something pretty cool.

Originally, the intent of the ride was to visit the places Elizabeth Short was last seen alive and first found dead, while working in an unstructured cruise around the Historic West Adams district and taking in some of the phenomenal residences that exist there. Then I relocated a book chock full of details on structures living and long gone in the famed community  and I couldn’t help but channel my inner tour-guide and plot out specific points for us to visit.

There they are at right, tiny and in the abstract (click to largify). The following link will take you to the live Google maps version with more info on the specific stops:  Black Dahlia / West Adams Mosey.

The points in the upper right and lower left are the Biltmore Hotel and the location where Elizabeth Short’s remains were found. Among those markers in between  I found homes of heroes, villians, superstars and city changers and much more. I’ll be bringing the aforementioned book along to provide some brief background info. In addition, after the ride we’ll be including a stop at the Convention Center for anyone needing to late-register and/or pick up their stuff for the  L.A. Marathon Bike Tour, Monday. And on our way there we’ll be hitting El Parian on Pico near the 110 overpass, my new favorite taco place.

If you want to join, I’ll be departing from Silversun Plaza (northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard and Parkman) in Silver Lake, at 7:30 a.m., Saturday, May 23. The route is casually paced and will run about 25 miles and end back at Silversun Plaza.

I spent two weeks at the Hotel Figueroa recently for work purposes.  It’s located in Downtown Los Angeles just across the street from L.A. Live.  I’d been walking by it quite a bit and was fascinated by the structure. Getting to spend a week inside the historic building was a fantastic adventure.  

The building was originally erected in 1924 as a YWCA.  It seems to have been part of a small block cultivated by women.  Across the street is a venerable piece of architecture known as the Variety Arts Center built the same year by a social and political club for women.  After the Depression, the YWCA was turned into a hotel, which is what it has remained to this day.  Five or six years ago, the Hotel Figueroa was given the Casablanca meets Arabia theme it now languishes in.  It’s absolutely beautiful and haunting at the same time.  It is as if the building has managed to capture every year that has gone by and kept a piece of it like a soul gathered.  Every time I stepped into the lobby, I felt as if I was walking through a mist or veil into a unique convergence of moments – some rooted in the present and some decades old.

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In the midst of remodeling/renovation of our 102-year-old Silver Lake craftsman, my wife and I were tasked yesterday with clearing out the dungeon basement to make room for work and machinery that will ultimately be oh-so-glorious central air and heating.

During the course of that fun and dust-choked chore, I happened upon a crumpled-up and very yellowed section of newspaper wedged for reasons unknown between a support beam and the concrete floor of the home’s original front porch. Excavating it tore the aging classified pages up, but afterward I found a fragment that showed it was the Los Angeles Times of Sunday,  Sepember 2, 1945 and later on I sat down with my camera on macro and snapped some of the amazing real estate ads, along with some interesting employment opps, as well as the news that famed conductor Leopold Stokowsi would be twirling the baton that evening at the Hollywood Bowl joined by legendary violinist Isaac Stern in a program of Wagner, Tchaikovsky and more:

Anyway, if you’re in need of a diversion this Monday that’ll take you back 68 63 years or so to the Los Angeles of a couple months after the end of World War II, feel free to browse my Flickr photoset.

Classic Eats #4 is on the 4th — April 4th. Where shall we meet? That is up to you!

Our intrepid tech-meisters are still working on the Metblogs internal polls, so for now please click here to vote for C.E. #4. As before, the time will be determined once a location is chosen. We tend to try and time the event early on a Saturday evening so you can come to Classic Eats then move on to your main evening event.

Click through past the jump for details on all candidates on the ballot.

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