Monday, May 28, 2012

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”.
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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. 

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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.
stuff 006Clearly, 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.   stuff 007
We ordered and shared a couple of caprese salads for the table.  The tomatoes were organic and very sweet. 
stuff 009In 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. 
stuff 012 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. 
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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. 

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The young owner of Suck It, creates daily gluten free frozen pops and desserts. 
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It was hard choosing a flavor, but ultimately I decided on hibiscus flower and lemon. 
stuff 023The 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.

16 comments:

  1. It impossible not to have double entendre where ice-pops are concerned. But the one with the boiled sweets is new. I think it's the kiss over the pink 'I' that turns it somewhat.

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    1. @vince - ha ha it's a good one alright. Boiled sweets? I'm not sure I know what those are.

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  2. I would die for those chicken pot pies! But 7PM! You're a wild woman! That's when I'm getting the kids ready for bed.
    m.

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    1. @mark - I'm usually getting myself ready for bed at 7:30 on a Thursday night too, when I'm working at least. The pot pie is so mid century isn't it? Not something we saw around too much in restaurants nowadays. It was so yummy.

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  3. How was your popsicle? The pot pie looks divine!

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  4. That pot pie looked absolutely scrumptious! And I LOVE the name of the sweets shop, LOL! What's with the sign saying, "We strongly object to the name of your store." ???

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    1. @kelly - it's a good name. Apparently before the shop opened, some people in the neighborhood didn't like the name. So to face matters head on they sneakily attached it to the front door while the store was closed. She's framed it and put it up in the store.

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  5. It sounds like a wonderful evening, only in Southern Ca...a popsicle shop...named suck it...!

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    1. @bc - that's probably true. I guess the name "Popsicle" is a brand name that is trademarked so she couldn't use that.

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  6. http://slipsweetshop.com/sweet-shop.php?cat=4

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    1. @vince - ah, got it. We call those hard candies or suckers (Insert more innuendos here:). What a cute place. I saw they have rhubarb candy. Do you visit?

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  7. I like any place w/ chicken pot pie!

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