Old School Hollywood (and a new place too)

Due to a Friday furlough day, three friends and I headed out to Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard Thursday night. The restaurant dubs itself the “oldest restaurant in Hollywood”.

Restaurateur Joseph Musso and entrepreneur Frank Toulet opened their doors on September 1919.  For over 90 years it has played a part in Hollywood’s history with film, television, and literary elite frequenting as customers. 

I had not been to Musso & Frank in years.  Since we didn’t have to work the next day, we arrived about 7:00 – much later than our regular school night hours.
Clearly, 7:00 is a bit too early for Hollywood’s elite.  It seems as if the silver-haired customers’ hours are more similar to teacher hours. 

I felt like I traveled back to the 1950s on an episode of “I Love Lucy” (the Hollywood episodes of course) when Mike ordered a gimlet.  
We ordered and shared a couple of caprese salads for the table.  The tomatoes were organic and very sweet. 
In addition to their regular (and virtually unchanged since 1919) menu, Musso & Frank has daily specials throughout the week.  Thursday night is chicken pot pie night.  We each ordered one.  The savory pies come to the table all puffed and pretty, bubbling out of the crust. 
Right after snapping the picture, the waiter removed the piping hot pies from their dish and plated them for us.  The buttery top crust is removed and becomes the bottom of the dining plate. 
The pie is rich and creamy with big hunks of chicken breast.  The peas, carrots, and potatoes were perfectly cooked.   It was delicious and filling!  I took about half of it home and had it this afternoon for lunch.

Hollywood Blvd. is more of a tourist destination.  With the exception of the theatre, the Hollywood Bowl, and some long standing restaurants, most locals stay away from the area.  So instead of hanging out there, we got in the car and headed back into Studio City.  Mike has been raving about a new gourmet popsicle place just down the street from where he lives that opened about 9 months ago. 

The young owner of Suck It, creates daily gluten free frozen pops and desserts. 

It was hard choosing a flavor, but ultimately I decided on hibiscus flower and lemon. 
The others ordered strawberry shortcake or a frozen banana. 

After a very long couple of weeks of standardized testing, we very much looked forward to the 4-day weekend (even though one of the days was a furlough day).  It was a very nice start to a few days off.