To Live and Dine in L.A.

Take a ride along the streets of Downtown Los Angeles in 1946...

Tue, 16 Jun 2015 14:54:29 -0700

Take a ride along the streets of Downtown Los Angeles in 1946 and catch a glimpse of the Golden Gopher, Clifton’s Cafeteria, and Coffee Dan’s. #ToLiveandDineLA

This November 1956 advertisement for Scrivner’s invited Torrance...

Sat, 13 Jun 2015 16:36:28 -0700

This November 1956 advertisement for Scrivner’s invited Torrance Press readers to the grand opening of its eleventh location at 174th Street and Western Avenue. One of Los Angeles’ celebrated drive-in restaurants of the 1950s, Scrivner’s was also home to pioneering rock-radio DJ Art Laboe’s daily K-POP show, which aired live from its Hollywood location. #ToLiveAndDineLA

Sneak peek! The To Live and Dine in L.A. exhibition opens...

Fri, 12 Jun 2015 15:11:07 -0700

Sneak peek! The To Live and Dine in L.A. exhibition opens tomorrow in the Getty Gallery of the Los Angeles Public Library. For more information, visit http://live-and-dine.lfla.org/ #ToLiveandDineLA

In a February 1927 issue of the USC Daily Trojan, both Frank...

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 15:58:43 -0700

In a February 1927 issue of the USC Daily Trojan, both Frank Sebastian’s Cotton Club Cafe and Paulais took out advertisements in the paper’s “Dine and Dance” section. “Join the Merry Whirl,” Frank Sebastian’s invited, for the chance to win the silver trophy in the Sunday night dance contests. Or, “convince Her that you have ‘IT’” Paulais’ ad exclaimed, by treating her to Paulais candy at one of the confectioner’s three L.A. locations.

In February 1946, The SaMoJaC, Santa Monica City College’s...

Wed, 27 May 2015 11:10:19 -0700

In February 1946, The SaMoJaC, Santa Monica City College’s then-campus newspaper, started a new society column, Tillie Termite. In the very first issue, author Naomi Genser recapped her Friday and Saturday night adventures, which included back-to-back nights dancing at the Hollywood Palladium and a stop at Club Zarape for root beer.

One of the earliest menus featured in the To Live and Dine in...

Wed, 20 May 2015 19:14:37 -0700

One of the earliest menus featured in the To Live and Dine in L.A. book and upcoming exhibition is from an 1895 banquet organized by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce in celebration of its seventh anniversary. Following dinner, toastmaster Judge J. S. Slauson emceed the evening’s proceedings, which included a series of toasts: “Determining Elements in Our Destiny,” “A Hoosier’s Impression of Southern California,” “The Glorious Climate,” and “Southern California and its relation to the General Government.” The program also featured this poem, “The Transplanting,” which was read by Charles F. Lummis.

Photo

Wed, 06 May 2015 17:04:23 -0700

Some radio time travel back to the morning show, Breakfast in...

Wed, 06 May 2015 16:59:46 -0700

Some radio time travel back to the morning show, Breakfast in Hollywood, recorded live at Breneman’s Restaurant on Vine and Sunset. It was sponsored by Ivory Flakes, Kellogg’s Pep, and Kellogg’s Shredded Wheat.

“They fed/ Families with change and wiped/ Their Kitchens...

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 11:41:37 -0700

“They fed/ Families with change and wiped/ Their Kitchens clean./ Then another century came./ People like me forgot their names.”

Jericho Brown, “N’em”

One of the chefs who remixes a vintage menu from the Library’s...

Mon, 20 Apr 2015 10:53:37 -0700

One of the chefs who remixes a vintage menu from the Library’s collection in our forthcoming book is Cynthia Hawkins, owner and chef at Hawkins of House of Burgers in Watts. In our related exhibition, opening June 13 at the Central Library, she will also be featured in a short film (directed by Michael Bodie) about her family’s history in Watts, how burgers helped heal her neighborhood after the ‘92 uprisings, how the 105 freeway shut down a local farm, and the role of food in sustaining community when all else seems to fail. As a taste, here are a few snaps from this morning’s shoot.

Chef Roy Choi has been our “spirit guide” since this project...

Mon, 20 Apr 2015 10:41:13 -0700

Chef Roy Choi has been our “spirit guide” since this project began, looking through the archives with me, meeting with students, and writing the Foreword to the book. Here is another shot from the LA Times story on our Book Festival conversation: Roy with a 1946 menu from Van’s Louisiana Barbecue on E. Florence (between Main & San Pedro).

Festival of Books: Roy Choi and Josh Kun on food, politics and L.A. history

Mon, 20 Apr 2015 10:36:51 -0700

Festival of Books: Roy Choi and Josh Kun on food, politics and L.A. history:

In a conversation Sunday at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, author Josh Kun and author and chef Roy Choi discussed food, politics and L.A. history while offering a fascinating, in-depth preview of the book “To Live and Dine in L.A.: Menus and the Making of the Modern City.”

No wonder the Adams-Sheetz “drive-in” restaurants were...

Mon, 13 Apr 2015 10:54:08 -0700

No wonder the Adams-Sheetz “drive-in” restaurants were called “Drive Inns” in the 1940s. With offerings like these (from a location on 8th & Maple downtown), a nap before driving-out was probably in order. The great mobile promise of L.A. automotive culinary culture was perhaps nowhere better workshopped than with a plate of bacon-stuffed Welsh Rarebit eaten over a steering wheel.

‘Tis the season to think about Christmas menus past....

Wed, 24 Dec 2014 06:31:58 -0800

‘Tis the season to think about Christmas menus past. Here’s two glimpses into L.A. culinary Christmas history. Start with a 1906 menu from the restaurant of the Hollenbeck Hotel on Spring and Second, and then move to Glendale in 1928, where you’ll see four different Christmas menu advertisement lures (apparently 1928 'twas the year for eating Christmas dinner in Glendale). Hanukkah has rarely come with a similar culture of dining out– the candles could burn the house down!- so it’s no surprise that none seem to show up in the Library’s collection (then again, there are so many ways to spell it that I could just be searching wrong).

At the turn of the twentieth century, when L.A. was the premiere...

Thu, 18 Dec 2014 11:31:00 -0800

At the turn of the twentieth century, when L.A. was the premiere sanatorium destination for the infirm and the invalid— a TB tourist hot-spot— the restaurant dishes L.A was notorious for were vegetarian. At early health-conscious haunts like the Vegetarian Restaurant (which opened at the bottom of Bunker Hill in 1903) and the Nut Kettle in the 1930s (home of the nut burger), plant and vegetable dishes fed the city’s thriving vegetarian and raw food movements.

Home of: The Mutt, The Dachsund, The Chihuahua, The Boston Bull,...

Tue, 16 Dec 2014 12:02:13 -0800

Home of: The Mutt, The Dachsund, The Chihuahua, The Boston Bull, The Husky, The Beagle, & The Keeshond. In 1949, no dog over sixty cents.

Where to eat in downtown L.A. in 1910.

Tue, 16 Dec 2014 10:03:30 -0800

Where to eat in downtown L.A. in 1910.

When heading to Montebello for French cuisine didn’t raise...

Sun, 14 Dec 2014 16:52:32 -0800

When heading to Montebello for French cuisine didn’t raise an eyebrow…

The Clock, declaring its love for Southeast LA, 1940s.

Mon, 24 Nov 2014 15:10:24 -0800

The Clock, declaring its love for Southeast LA, 1940s.

ATOMIC NANCY PLAYS THE ATOMIC CAFE JUKEBOX

Fri, 03 Oct 2014 17:51:00 -0700

ATOMIC NANCY PLAYS THE ATOMIC CAFE JUKEBOX:

Ito and Minoru Matoba opened the Atomic Cafe in 1946. For the next forty years they served teriyaki dinners, chow mein, and chop suey alongside in-house creations like the mysterious Hamburger Gacha to an ever-changing downtown crowd. When the Matoba’s daughter Nancy took over the jukebox and the front of the house in the late 70s, the Atomic– for most of its run at 1st and Alameda– became the L.A. punk scene’s after-hours headquarters. Little Tokyo old-timers rubbed elbows with members of X and The Germs as the restaurant filled with songs by Roy Rogers, Yuzo Kayama, Henry Mancini, and The Weirdos. The jukebox became as famous as the food and by the 1980s listings for pork chop suey and a side of kamaboko were printed atop faded 45s by the B-52s and The Selecter. In 2009, “Atomic Nancy” stopped by Dublab to spin a set of some of her favorites from the legendary jukebox. Click above to listen.