Living in Los Angeles it’s often difficult to know where hell is. I mean, yes, we are close to the sea, mountains and desert. Add a one-liner and this could easily be a description of Disneyland. What I mean is that Los Angeles is not a city, but more like an unhappy collection of disparate neighborhoods that don’t want anything to do with each other. Walk down Hollywood Boulevard, synchronizing your footsteps with the star of the sidewalk, and you’ll find yourself standing in front of the oldest operating restaurant in Los Angeles that, by all accounts, still carries the torch of competition. Musso and Franks.
Constellation of food
Musso’s and Franks opened in 1919 and regularly saw crowds with early movie stars like Charlie Chaplin. In fact, “Charlie’s Booth” still offers convenience to anyone lucky enough to know to ask for it; From my perspective, there is another Charlie’s booth at a Vietnamese restaurant in Vermont, but this one has a completely different meaning. You’ll see contemporary movie stars in Mossos, and I would be remiss if I mentioned any of them publicly here. Suffice it to say, they’re the cool kind of movie stars. Someone “likes” Jack Nicholson or someone “likes” Jeff Goldblum. Did Jennifer Lawrence just order the seafood salad? I think she did. Once dining in the main room with the bar, Al Pacino came with a good-sized entourage. It was interesting to watch because he didn’t seem to intentionally make eye contact with anyone. Even when he reached across his table to get the salt, he seemed to make himself invisible. A year later, Scene of a Woman came out in which Al played the role of a blind man. He was training for his role!
Authentic food like Mae West
The biggest stars at Musso’s aren’t the amazing martini that comes with the obligatory side bottle refill, the anchovy salad dressing, the fire-and-charcoal-grilled lamb chops, the creamed spinach, or the legendary “vanilla cake,” a house-made invention somewhere between a pie and a thinking paper. No, the stars of Musso are the waiters and always have been. Union waiters who stay with the company forever. In the 80’s there was this waiter for life. His name was Ebi; I think he went to the great dining room in heaven, but Eppie used to recommend the French fries because “Humphrey Bogart used to ask me like that every Thursday“.Me? Sam Spade’s dishes were good enough for me.”
Manny “Felix” was the star of the dining table and would perform magic tricks at the table for you. He was a great guy and would put up with my often grumpy mood. He knew to bring me a martini before the menu, which, by the way, they print out every day.
for hollywood dog,
Steven Alan Green…Woof!
Bartender to the stars
Official website of Mossos and Franks