New Year wishes and some reflection…

Posted on December 31, 2014 by The Jab

Thank you from the bottom of my glass for being faithful readers of Le Continental. In 2015 I’ll be posting more about my recent Spain and Ireland trips, as well as about more vintage American restaurants (it seems I’m always remembering ones I still need to post about, especially in Los Angeles, which I’ve barely covered).

But today I would like to reflect on the past year or so. We’ve lost a lot of great classic time-travel restaurants in the past couple of years here in the Bay Area and around the country. In 2013 the greatest local loss, in my opinion, was the closure of Bella Vista, the last true great Continental restaurant in the Bay Area. They had excellent food and service up to the end of their 70 years in business, as well as wonderful vintage atmosphere at a stunning site among the redwoods south of San Francisco with amazing views. I still miss it all the time and there is no substitute in the area.

This year we lost so much (but thankfully got one back already). Closed in January alone: Trader Dick’s in Sparks, Nevada (became a Gilley’s), Joe’s of Westlake in Daly City, CA (sold by the owners to Original Joe’s, to reopen in 2015), and The Big 4 at the Huntington Hotel in San Francisco (closed for remodeling by the hotel’s new owners). Thank goodness the Big 4 reopened in May without much altered (mostly new carpets). I’ve recently dined there and can say without reservations that the atmosphere and service have not changed one bit (a good thing). I thought the food was overall a bit better before (a new chef took over this year), but some of their best dishes are still on the menu and as good as ever (the pork chop and lamb shank come highly recommended). But stick with the entrees because the puny appetizers seemed too pricey.

postcard photo of Empress of China bar by Heather David on Flickr

Chinatown has not fared well in the recent economic boom in San Francisco. As property values rise to astronomical levels old businesses can no longer afford to operate, or property owners sell while the getting is good. In 2012 divey Chinese restaurant Sam Wo closed after over 100 years of operation. And yesterday was the last day of business for the once-elegant, but sadly worn and almost forgotten in recent years, Empress of China. Faded royalty that closed for a condo development. Its closure got tons of media coverage (strangely, considering it never was very popular before) unlike Tommy Toy’s closure in 2013. Tommy Toy’s was newer (1985) but famous, also a celebrity hangout in its heyday, and was beautifully elegant with reportedly excellent food and service (sadly, I only went once for a cocktail but never dined there).

I loved hitting the Empress’s original 1968 bar for happy hour – too-sweet Mai Tais and greasy appetizers with amazing views of Coit Tower. But as a dining destination I thought the food was overpriced and mediocre, especially compared to so much great Chinese food around the city. And the service was always pretty cold, and sometimes downright rude. Which made it doubly sad to see it close. You could almost see the writing on the wall. Maybe if the food and service were better…. Remember when the Tonga Room almost closed about 5 years ago for a new Fairmont Hotel tower development? I would like to believe that Tiki aficionados, who rallied to save it, prevented its demise, but that wasn’t the case. Even a study of its historic value by the city didn’t save it. What saved it was a lucky break when the city rejected the new tower’s design as inappropriate for the neighborhood. The developer pulled out in the weak economy and the Tonga Room has since experienced a revival. Recently improving their food, cocktails, and service undoubtedly helped. But in today’s economy we may not have been so lucky.

Can increased regular business save these classic places? Perhaps. Maybe if the Empress had improved their food and service while retaining the atmosphere (with a cleaning) more people would have visited over the past 15 years. It seemed to mainly rely on walk-in tourist trade. In the case of Joe’s of Westlake, I don’t think improved food and service would have prevented the owners from selling the restaurant. They decided to sell because they chose to retire and needed the money. Besides, it was usually busy so it didn’t close from lack of business.

I do believe that increased business can help classic restaurants stay open. Maybe not in every case, but it certainly can’t hurt. And if the owner does decide to sell and the restaurant is doing well, the new owner may decide to continue to operate it (like what happened to Joe’s of Westlake), rather than it being torn down for a drug store or Starbucks.

So, my plea, dear readers, is for you to visit the restaurants and bars on these pages, often, before they are threatened. It may save them and certainly can’t hurt. Let’s all make a pledge to visit an old restaurant once a week in 2015. It’s fun to become a regular at places where a veteran waiter cares about the food, service, and its clientele (something lacking at chain restaurants). Why not start a small dining group (or two) that visits a classic, historic restaurant once-a-month or so? I’ve been in such a group for five years and I always look forward to our next adventure in dining.

Happy New Dining Year!

The Jab

Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant, Valley Glen, California

Posted on November 21, 2014 by The Jab

The story about Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant, still owned by the Monteleone family (since 1950), is actually a story of three restaurants. Two are now history, but the story has a happy ending.

photo by baronesfamousitalian.com

The original Barone’s restaurant was opened in 1945 at Beverly Glen and Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks by Tony and Frank Arpaia, Jerry and Josephine Barone, and Joe Izzo. It quickly became popular so had to move into a larger building at 14151 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks (where it remained until 2006). In 1950 more members of the extended family, Frank (Josephine’s brother) and Mary Monteleone joined in the business. According to Frank Monteleone‘s son Tom, who now runs the restaurant, the Dead End Kids would come in all the time to eat after a day’s work filming (Lucille Ball, John Wayne, and Jane Russell were also regulars). One day they asked why Barone’s didn’t serve pizza. The owners told them they didn’t know how to make pizza because they were from Buffalo. The Dead End Kids showed them how to make a good sauce and a New York style thin-crust, but the restaurant didn’t have mozzarella so they used Monterey Jack cheese. The Jack came in square blocks, so they made a rectangular pizza covered with square slices of jack cheese. It was the first rectangular Neapolitan style pizza in California and to this day the restaurant still makes the pizza the same way, with Monterey Jack cheese.

Barone’s, Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks – photo by city-data.com

The second restaurant involved in the story of Barone’s is a German restaurant, Hoppe’s Old Heidelberg, which opened in 1958 at 13726 Oxnard St. in Van Nuys (now Valley Glen). Old Heidelberg was decorated with modern stained glass windows to filter out the light, dark carved wood walls, deep red leather booths, and Teutonic bric-à-brac. The waitresses wore dirndls. After over 36 years of serving German specialties, it was purchased by award-winning Swiss chef Ueli Huegli, who came with experience from a long list of European and Southern California restaurants. He renamed it Matterhorn Chef (the third restaurant in our story) and added Swiss dishes to the menu.

Barone’s dining room – photo by The Jab, 2013

In 2006 the Matterhorn Chef closed. Barone’s moved out of the Ventura Blvd. location and into its space on Oxnard St. So when you go to Barone’s today you are actually in the original Hoppe’s Old Heidelberg, which thankfully has not changed much since 1958! Perhaps the German/Swiss decor was replaced with Italian paintings but the red booths, woodwork, and stained glass windows are all intact (the lighting is newer). I went once to the Barone’s location on Ventura Blvd before it moved and I admit that I like the “new” Old Heidelberg/Matterhorn Chef/Barone’s space better. Good news for Matterhorn Chef fans came in 2010 when Ueli Huegli opened a new restaurant in Valley Glen called Swiss Chef, with many of the famous dishes that were on the menu at Matterhorn Chef.

arty stained glass windows at Barone’s – photo by The Jab, 2013

The menu is long at Barone’s, with pizza, Italian specialties, and steaks. I had the “famous” New York pepper steak (USDA Choice grain-fed, aged 21-days), which was good as I recall. But you really should try the pizza because that is what they are famous for. Barone’s has long been famous for its old school entertainment, and the tradition continues every Friday and Saturday night after 8:30, when performers playing jazz, standards, and oldies get people of all ages in the bar cuttin’ a rug on the dance floor. It’s a lively scene I experienced back when I visited the old Sherman Oaks location and again in 2013 at the Valley Glen Barone’s.

scene from Fast Times at Ridgemont High filmed at Old Heidelburg (now Barone’s)

You may recall a funny scene in 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High (one of my top-ten favorite 80s films), where Mark “Rat” Ratner (Brian Backer) and Stacey Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh) had a date, but Rat forgot to bring his wallet. That scene was filmed at Old Heidelberg (now Barone’s). You can clearly see the red booths and stained glass in the above still (I think this is the same room that I snapped a photo of but looking towards the front of the restaurant instead of the back). Too bad the high-backed leather chairs are gone today (though similar ones are still used at The Imperial House In San Diego and at the Sycamore Inn in Rancho Cucamonga). The restaurant has been used in other films as well.

Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant
13726 Oxnard St, Los Angeles, CA 91401
818-782-6004
Open daily at 11:00am, lunch served Mon-Fri 11:00am-3:00pm, dinner Mon-Thu until 9:30pm, Fri-Sat until 11:30pm, Sun until 9:00pm
Live entertainment Friday and Saturday 8:30pm-12:30am

La Dolce Vita, Beverly Hills, California

Posted on October 17, 2014 by The Jab

I first heard about this hidden gem of a restaurant on the defunct web site latimemachines.com by a man named Jonathan M., who I never had the pleasure of meeting, but I felt a kinship with him through our shared love for time-travel restaurants. Sadly, he closed his website a few years ago and I don’t know what became of him. I was able to print many of the pages from his site before it went down, which grew very extensive in its last years of 2009-2011. He championed La Dolce Vita as one of the Top 10 Time Machine Restaurants in Los Angeles. Perhaps it was even #1 on his list (though I seem to recall that Musso and Frank Grill had that well-deserved spot). Anyway, I finally was able to visit La Dolce Vita recently with friends and now I know what Jonathan was raving about. Even after a minor remodel in 2013 and without long-time maître d’ Ruben Castro, who retired the same year, it was a wonderful dining experience, so now it is one of my favorite overall restaurants in California.

photo by The Jab, 2014

Near the busy intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards, La Dolce Vita was opened in 1966 by two waiters from Patsy D’Amore’s Villa Capri, Jimmy Ullo and George Smith. The legend goes that Frank Sinatra and actor George Raft helped fund the restaurant. You will hear many restaurants claim that Sinatra was a regular, but at La Dolce Vita it’s a fact. It was his main hangout until his death. He liked to sit at table #2, a small table for two near the bar with a view of the front door and the entire restaurant (table #15 was his regular booth for entertaining, and is now marked with a brass plaque with his name). Other regulars included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Gregory Peck, Don Rickles, Anthony Quinn, and every President (today, photos and brass plaques honor its previous celebrity clientele)..

La Dolce Vita bar – photo by The Jab, 2014

In the 1980s, Ruben Castro was hired as a waiter. His local resume was impressive, having worked at Sunset Strip landmarks Frascati’s, Estephanino’s, La Rue, Nicky Blair’s, and The Saloon in Beverly Hills, since emigrating from Mexico in 1966, the same year La Dolce Vita opened. He moved to captain, then maître d‘, until his retirement in 2013.

dining room – photo by The Jab, 2014

In 2000 Ullo and Smith sold the restaurant and it started to go somewhat downhill, no longer attracting local diners. The great-great-grandson of Henry Ford, Alessandro Uzielli, an AFI-graduate who works for Ford Motor Company in movie product placement, as well as being a movie producer (Bongwater), purchased La Dolce Vita in 2003 to try to save a fading Hollywood landmark. After a slow start people started to show up again, including Robert Wagner, Jill St. John, Don Knotts, Bob Newhart, and Tony Martin. Today’s regulars include Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Lorne Michaels, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Steve Martin, and Penélope Cruz.

dining room – photo by The Jab, 2014

In 2013 the restaurant closed for a week for a refurbishment. Not much was changed that I can see from photos taken before the remodel. The original brick walls (which are actually fake), tufted booths, gilt-framed and paned mirrors (which make the place look larger than it is), decorative metal wall dividers, and lamps from the 1960s remain. The only change that is obvious is an acoustic tile ceiling was replaced with a more attractive ceiling (a change for the better). A slight disappointment on my recent visit was the original brass-tacked bar stools (in pic below) have been replaced for some reason with contemporary high-backed bar “chairs” that didn’t look right (strangely, the old ones were still present in the pics on this post-remodel article), though I loved the diamond tufted bar front in gold.

bar with old bar stools – photo by la-confidential-magazine.com

The restaurant has no windows, which makes for a nice dark and romantic atmosphere, just how Le Continental likes it. Classic songs by Sinatra, Dino, and other legendary vocalists plays at a soft volume.

dining room – photo by The Jab, 2014

Also in 2013, the menu was revised, but most of the restaurant’s dishes are Italian classics (such as chicken and veal scaloppini and steak Florentine), and their famous dishes, such as steak Sinatra (a prime filet mignon with red peppers and a chianti demi glace) and veal meatballs with spaghetti, remain on the menu. All of their pastas are made in house. I had a starter of arancini, followed by a Caesar salad, and steak Sinatra. Everything was excellent and the service was top-notch.

steak Sinatra – photo by The Jab, 2014

The next time you’re in the Los Angeles area you owe it to yourself to make a reservation to dine in style at La Dolce Vita. Wear a suit. Dino would have.

La Dolce Vita
9785 Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 278-1845
Open Sun-Thu 5:00pm-10:00pm, Fri-Sat 5:00pm-11:00pm

Bakersfield – Basque City

Posted on September 12, 2014 by The Jab

Let’s stick with the American Basque restaurant theme after last week’s post on the Overland Hotel in Gardnerville, NV.

Bakersfield, California, is without a doubt the Basque capital of the west, if measured by the number of Basque bars and restaurants. There are three historic Basque hotels with bars and eateries in the old part of east Bakersfield by the railroad tracks (that was originally the town of Sumner, then Kern City, before becoming part of Bakersfield), plus a few Basque restaurants of more recent vintage in other parts of town.

photo by The Jab, 2011

The Pyrenees Cafe opened in 1887 as a hotel, saloon, and bakery. The hotel, which reportedly once housed a brothel, is now apartments, the bakery is still open under separate ownership, while the saloon remains pretty much the same, with the original bar and stools. It is the oldest operating bar in Kern County and it’s claimed to be haunted. If you only have time for one Basque meal in Bakersfield don’t miss the Pyrenees bar for a before dinner Picon Punch.

photo by The Jab, 2011

Noriega’s was opened by Faustino Noriega and Fernando Etcheverry in 1893 as a boardinghouse. It remains a boardinghouse to this day, making it the only remaining original Basque hotel still operating in the U.S.

The Noriegas – photo by The Jab, 2011

In 1931, French Basques Juan and Gracianna Elizalde purchased Noriega’s, adding a bar and restaurant in 1940, which have not changed a bit since then (except for a small TV in the bar).

The Elizaldes – photo by The Jab, 2011

Today Noriega’s is still owned by the same family. It’s run by the Elizaldes granddaughters, Rochelle Ladd and Linda McCoy, who received the James Beard American Classic award for Noriega’s in 2011.

Noreiga’s bar – photo by WineGoddess6 on TripAdvisor.com

Noriega’s dining room – photo by The Jab, 2011

As in most classic American Basque restaurants the food is served family style on long tables. Noriega’s menu includes breakfast, lunch (single seating at 12pm), and dinner (at 7pm), all very hearty meals, with dinner being the largest. The dinner “set-up” (Basque term for the various non-main courses) is generous, including homemade soup, fresh local salad with vinaigrette dressing, their famous pickled tongue, cottage cheese with mayo, pasta or rice, hand cut french fries (usually served with the main course), vegetable, beans, salsa, bread from the Pyrenees bakery nearby, excellent homemade blue cheese, dessert, and ice cream. When I dined there we also received potato salad. House wine, served in unmarked bottles, is included, as well as coffee, tea, or milk. And all that comes with TWO entrees, which vary by the day. Clearly a bargain. The Noriega is famous for their tender oxtail stew, served on Saturdays.

Noriega’s set-up – photo by The Jab, 2011

Wool Growers restaurant – photo by David H. on Tripadvisor.com

Wool Growers Restaurant was opened in 1954 by J.B. and Mayie Maitia, French Basques, to fill a need in the community for an eatery during the hours when Noriega’s wasn’t serving. It is still owned by Mayie, along with her daughter, Jenny, and granddaughter, Christiane, and this year Mayie and her family are celebrating Wool Growers’ 60 years in business!

Wool Growers bar – photo by The Jab, 2011

The restaurant has tables and booths for four and two, so it’s a good choice if you’re dining alone or prefer more privacy than communal dining provides. The dinner menu has several choices of hearty entrees, unlike many Basque restaurants which have a few entrees that change daily, and includes some French dishes like French Onion soup and escargots. At lunchtime they offer burgers and sandwiches in addition to a large selection of hearty meals. Saveur magazine wrote about the restaurant, praising their oxtail stew.

Wool Growers dining room – photo by Darryl Musick on wheelstraveler.blogspot.com

Although all three restaurants are worth visiting, If I had limited time I would try to eat at Noriega’s and have a Picon Punch in the bars at Pyrenees and Wool Growers. But why not make a weekend of it and eat at all three?

Pyrenees Cafe
601 Sumner St, Bakersfield, CA 93305
(661) 323-0053
Open Mon 10:00am-6:00pm, Tue-Th 10:00am-10:00pm, Fri-Sat 10:00am-12:00am, closed Sunday

Noriega’s
525 Sumner St, Bakersfield, CA 93305
(661) 322-8419
Open for breakfast Tue-Sun 9:00am-11:00am, lunch Tue-Sun 12:00pm (single seating), dinner Tue-Sun 7:00pm (single seating), closed Monday

Wool Growers
620 E 19th St, Bakersfield, CA 93305
(661) 327-9584
Open Mon-Sat 11:30am-2:00pm, 6:00pm-9:30pm, closed Sunday

Happy National Hot Dog Day!

Posted on July 23, 2014 by The Jab

Since it’s National Hot Dog Day I thought I’d highlight a few of my favorite hot doggeries around the country. One of my favorite historic hot dog restaurants, and tops in the country for original vintage decor, George’s Coney Island in Worcester, Mass, was one of my first blog posts a few years back.

The hot dog was brought over to the U.S. from European immigrants, but its European origins are disputed. Sausage dates back to the 9th century BC (mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey), while the type of sausage used for hot dogs is similar to Weinerwurst or Vienna Sausage, which originated in Austria. However, the city of Frankfurt, Germany, claims it invented the frankfurter or “dachsund sausage” in 1497. Yet another claim is that a butcher in Coburg, Germany, invented the hot dog sausage in the 1600s and brought it to Frankfurt.

In any case the American hot dog on a roll is what we are concerned with here, which was reportedly already a German custom to eat sausage on a roll. It is a fact that hot dogs were first sold in New York City, either by a German immigrant from a cart in the Bowery in the 1860s or by Charles Feltman, a German butcher who opened the first Coney Island hot dog stand in 1871 (his employee, Nathan Handwerker, started Nathan’s in 1916). In 1893 hot dogs became popular at baseball parks and sold like hot cakes (or rather like hot dogs) at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago (sold by a pair of Jewish immigrants from Vienna who later founded Vienna Beef, Chicago’s most popular hot dog manufacturer). Also in 1893 the oldest mention of the term “hot dog” on record occurred in a Knoxville newspaper. (For more hot dog history visit the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council’s web site, where I sourced this info).

Superdawg, Chicago – photo by The Jab, 2003

Which city has the best hot dogs: New York or Chicago? People will argue this forever, but based on my experience Chicago wins hands down for best hot dogs in the country. Then there are the arguments within Chicago about who has the best hot dogs. We won’t go there because there are so many different types of hot dogs in Chicago (likewise, for pizza). There’s the classic Chicago dog “dragged through the garden” that is a steamed all-beef frankfurter on a poppy-seed roll with sliced tomato, raw chopped white onions, yellow mustard, bright green sweet relish, pickled sport peppers, celery salt, and a pickle spear (but never ketchup), reportedly invented at Fluky’s in 1929 (sadly, the only Fluky’s left is at a Wal-Mart in Niles, IL). Then there’s the char-grilled “char-dog”, which is terrific at Weiner’s Circle, where they only serve hot dogs cooked that way. And until it closes this October, the always busy Hot Doug’s serves dozens of hot dog specialties.

photo by The Jab, 2003

My favorite hot dog stand in Chicago is Superdawg. My Chicago friends may not agree, and I admit the hot dogs at Weiner Circle and Gene and Jude’s are great also (Wolfy’s is another one that comes out on top in polls), but I love the all-original drive up with car hops that is SUPERDAWG! Opened in 1948 by Maurie and Flaurie Berman, who have been represented on the roof of the restaurant as caveman and girl “dogs” since the beginning, it hasn’t changed much and, amazingly, it is still owned by the Berman’s, who run it with their children. They still have the same ordering system as in 1948: you drive in to the parking lot, order from your car into a mic/speaker, and your meal is brought to you on a tray in a very cute vintage looking box, which you will want to take home as a souvenir (mine still sits in my kitchen). This is one of the last restaurants in America that still has car hop service.

Superdawg with fries – photo by The Jab, 2007

In addition to the Superdawg™, which is a spicy dog that comes fully dressed and includes a pickled green tomato wedge, they also offer a Whoopskidawg®, which is a Polish-type sausage on a roll with special sauce, grilled onions, and pickle, and several other sandwiches. Their crinkle-cut super fries are excellent.

photo by The Jab, 2003

In New York City your best sources for hot dogs are the many hot dog carts around the city and the bargain Papaya-drink-and-two-hot-dogs stands which started in 1932 when Papaya King opened on the upper East Side of Manhattan (still on the same street corner of 86th St and 3rd Ave, and in several other locations in NYC). Although it originally only sold fruit drinks it started serving hot dogs because the neighborhood was predominantly German-American at the time. In the 1970s and 1980s Gray’s Papaya and Papaya Dog copied the concept, but Gray’s is down to only one location. Which is the best? I’ll let you be the judge as I’ve only been to the original Papaya King.

photo by The Jab, 2005

If you’re in Georgia, the town of Macon is worth a detour for Nu-Way Weiners, open since 1916 (their sign was misspelled in 1937 and they kept it that way to this day) and still in the same location (plus several other locations). Their specialty is chili dogs, which are made with their special homemade chili sauce (no beans, just the way I like a chili dog).

photo by Carrie Swing on Flickr

My favorite hot dog stand in greater Los Angeles closed and was demolished in 2011. Papoo’s Hot Dog Show (yes, it was more than just a stand, it was a SHOW!) opened in 1949 in Burbank, across the street from Bob’s Big Boy designed by Wayne McAllister in the Googie style in the same year (and still open).

photo by Terry Guy on Flickr

You can see Papoo’s in the original version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).

Inside Papoo’s – photo by Carrie Swing on Flickr

Lastly, in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I live, I’ve been disappointed by most of the hot dogs I’ve had (they are usually lukewarm, not hot). My favorite was the old Kasper’s on Telegraph Ave at Shattuck Ave, which closed “for remodeling” way back in 2002 and never re-opened. Kasper’s was started by Kasper Koojoolian, from Armenia, in 1930 at the corner of Fruitvale Ave and MacArthur Blvd (old US 50). Partners invested and It expanded into other locations in the 1940s, but in 1955 Kasper’s brother Paul split off, continuing as Kasper’s, while the rest of the partners started a chain of hot dog restaurants called Casper’s. Today there is still a Kasper’s on MacArthur Blvd (not in the same location as the original), in addition to others in Castro Valley, Hayward, and Pleasanton.

Kasper’s, MacArthur Blvd., Oakland – photo by The Jab, 2013

Casper’s continues with 8 Bay Area locations, and most have the original 1960s modern look in bright oranges and browns. Since 1989 the company has made its own frankfurters under the Spar Sausage name. I like the hot dogs at both Kasper’s and Casper’s, but Casper’s has the edge for taste and for decor.

Casper’s, Telegraph Ave., Oakland – photo by The Jab, 2013

I leave you, dear readers, with this photo I took on the road in Georgia in 2005, and a video of an amazing neon sign at Taylor Brothers Hot Dogs in Visalia, CA (where I need to go!). Please check the linked web sites for location, addresses, and open hours of the above establishments.

photo by The Jab, 2005

Le Continental

dining and drinking with The Jab

Tag Archives: California

New Year wishes and some reflection…

Barone’s Famous Italian Restaurant, Valley Glen, California

La Dolce Vita, Beverly Hills, California

Bakersfield – Basque City

Happy National Hot Dog Day!

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