Le Chene French Cuisine from “Sharp Objects”

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I am a very black and white person.  Opinions typically come to me immediately and tend to swing towards either loving or hating something.  I don’t deal much in grey.  For some reason, though, I cannot decide if I like Sharp Objects.  I thoroughly enjoyed the Gillian Flynn novel on which the new HBO series is based (it is my favorite out of all of her books) and could not have been more excited to watch, especially when I heard it being referred to as “the next Big Little Lies.”  But five episodes in and I’m still on the fence.  The show’s acting is indisputably top-notch and its storyline gripping, but I also find it slow-moving, bleak, and all-around odd.  I was thrilled to learn, though, that while set in the fictional town of Wind Gap, Missouri, filming largely took place in Southern California.  I was also thrilled to recognize one spot that I stalked a few years ago, but never blogged about – Le Chene French Cuisine.  The Grim Cheaper and I happened by the Santa Clarita eatery way back in March 2013 while doing some stalking nearby and I recalled its unique exterior from its many appearances in film location books and websites chronicling its cameo in 1971’s Duel.  So we promptly pulled over to snap some pics.  Though the place went right out of my mind and into my stalking backlog, as soon as it showed up on Sharp Objects, I knew I had to dedicate a post to it.

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Le Chene French Cuisine was originally established as the Oaks Garage gas station by mechanic William A. Dodrill and his wife, Rachel Swanson, in 1917.  The initial structure that stood on the premises was not much more than a small wooden shack with an adjacent concession stand that offered cold sodas to passersby.  You can check out a photo of what it looked like at the time here.

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In 1923, the couple decided to broaden their budding enterprise by adding an eatery to the site.  Boulders were brought in from Big Rock Creek in Palmdale to cover the new restaurant’s exterior.  The unique façade earned the place the nickname “rock house,” as well as “Castle Oaks Garage and Café” thanks to its castle-like appearance.

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During the 1940s, the business was acquired by Chester and Marie Lamar and became a hotbed of celebrity activity.  Just a few of the well-knowns who popped in while filming in the area or passing by on their way to local attractions include Gregory Peck, Lee Marvin, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Wallace Beery, William Boyd, Jane Wyman, Keenan Wynn, Mickey Cohan, and Clark Gable (who was not the best customer, reportedly).

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Since the Lamars’ tenure ended in 1957, the property has been bought and sold several times.  It was finally leased by Juan Alonso in 1980.  The Spanish-born chef transformed the site into upscale French eatery Le Chene, which translates to “the oak.”

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Despite the fact that it is located pretty much in the middle of nowhere, the restaurant quickly became a popular dining spot and Alonso purchased it in 1981.  Years later, when the need to expand arose, he gutted the former garage and turned it into a banquet room.  He has since enlarged the kitchen and main dining room, remodeled the bar, and added a large garden and a 6-acre vineyard.  Today, the eatery boasts a whopping 8,900 square feet.

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Le Chene popped up in the fourth episode of Sharp Objects, titled “Ripe,” as the supposed Wind Gap restaurant La Mere, where Camille Preaker (Amy Adams) meets with some of her mother’s friends including Jackie O’Neill (Elizabeth Perkins) and Annie B (Beth Broderick).  Both the exterior . . .

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. . . and interior of the site appear in the episode.  Sadly, Le Chene was closed when we dropped by, so I did not get to see the inside, but you can check out some photos of it here.

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In the television movie Duel, which has the distinction of being Steven Spielberg’s first foray into full-length film directing, Le Chene portrays Chuck’s Café, where David Mann (Dennis Weaver) crashes his car after being chased by a menacing truck driver (played by Carey Loftin).

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After the collision, David ventures into the restaurant (which looked much different at the time the flick was lensed in 1971) to clean himself up and soon discovers that the truck driver has followed him inside to terrorize him further.

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Though an old LoopNet listing for the property suggests that additional filming has taken place the premises, I have been unable to dig up any other productions the place has appeared in.

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For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Le Chene French Cuisine, aka La Mere from Sharp Objects, is located at 12625 Sierra Highway in Santa Clarita.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.  The eatery is only open for dinner most days (on Sunday, brunch is served), so plan accordingly.

The Omega Beta Zeta House from “Scream 2”

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This past Saturday, while I was out stalking the Oscars, fellow stalker Tony spent his day trying to track down the large Victorian mansion which appeared as both the Omega Beta Zeta sorority house in Scream 2 and the Strong residence in Catch Me If You Can.  Tony knew that the house was located somewhere in the Altadena area and, since I live in the vicinity, was hoping I could help him find it.  We spent quite a bit of time emailing back and forth that day – me on my blackberry while out and about in Hollywood and Tony on his computer at home.  I am sad to say that I was unable to provide him with any help whatsoever in this particular hunt, though, as I had long been under the incorrect assumption that the Woodbury Story House on Madison Avenue in Altadena was the residence used as the Strong mansion in Catch Me If You Can.  Tony proved me wrong, though, and, as it turns out, didn’t need my help after all.  He managed to track down the correct location fairly quickly, first using Google to make a list of all of the large Victorian-style houses in the Altadena area and then viewing each one using aerial maps.  YAY!  Thank you, Tony!  So, once Tony gave me the address, I, of course,  had to run right out to immediately stalk the place.

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The Scream 2/Catch Me If You Can estate is actually known as both the Crank House and Fair Oaks Ranch and is something of a historical residence.   The vacant property was first owned by a wealthy landowner named Dr. John S. Griffin.  In 1862, Griffin sold the lot to his sister, Eliza Griffin Johnston, for $1000 after her husband, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, passed away during the Civil War.  Eliza built a small abode on the property and dubbed her new home “Fair Oaks Ranch”, after the city of Fair Oaks in Virginia where she was born.  In 1864, following the death of her son in a steamship accident, Eliza sold the property to Benjamin Eaton, one of Pasadena’s first founders.  Eaton ended up splitting the land in half and in 1876 sold one of the halves to a New Yorker named James F. Crank.  Crank had Eliza’s original home moved off of the property (it is currently located at 2072 Oakwood Avenue in Altadena) and in 1882 built a much larger, two and a half story, Victorian-style abode, named the Crank House, in its place.  In 1910, after investing and subsequently losing his fortune in the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroads, Crank was forced to sell the residence.   And while his property was further subdivided after the sale, I am happy to report that his former house still stands and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.  The seven bedroom, four bathroom home measures a whopping 6,450 square feet and currently sits on over one and a half acres of land.  Sadly, though, the residence is situated behind a large gate and is not very visible from the street.

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But, as luck would have it, when I showed up to stalk the place yesterday, not only was the property’s back gate standing open . . . 

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. . . but, the front gate was, as well!  So, I just had to stick my arm around the open gate and snap the above pictures!  YAY!  🙂 

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And, being that the house is not visible from the street, I can’t really recommend visiting it in person.  But if you are absolutely dying to catch a glimpse of it, I am happy to report that parts of it can actually be seen from the streets surrounding the property.  🙂   

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In Scream 2, the Crank House stood in for the Omega Beta Zeta sorority house located on the campus of the fictional Windsor College in Ohio.

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The house is where sorority girl CiCi Cooper (aka Sarah Michelle Gellar) meets her untimely end thanks to a push off the mansion’s second floor balcony.  In the movie, the house is supposedly situated within walking distance of the Delta Lambda Zeta house, where the “Martini Mixer” fraternity party was held, but in actuality it is located a good six miles away from that residence.  On a side note – I have to admit that I must have jumped out of my chair at least ten times while making the above screen captures!  LOL

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In Catch Me If You Can, the Crank House stood in for the New Orleans residence belonging to Roger (aka Martin Sheen) and Carol Strong (aka Nancy Lenehan) and their daughter Brenda (aka Amy Adams).   The house showed up in several scenes in the movie, most notably as the location of Frank Abagnale (aka Leonardo DiCaprio) and Brenda’s engagement party.

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Both the interior and the exterior of the Crank House were used extensively in the filming of Scream 2 and Catch Me If You Can.  As you can in the above screen captures, which were taken from both films, the interiors match almost exactly.  Love it!

Big THANK YOU to Tony for finding this location!  🙂  And be sure to check out Tony’s Flickr site, as it features some fabulous photographs of filming locations in and around the L.A. area.

On a very sad side note – I was heartbroken today to learn of the untimely death of actor Corey Haim.  Corey was one of my very first movie star crushes.  I was eleven years old when I first layed eyes on him in 1988’s License to Drive and I think it’s safe to save I’ve been smitten ever since.  My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones at this difficult time.  I hope that in death Corey has finally found the peace that he never seemed to have in life.  Rest in peace, sweet Corey. 

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

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Stalk It: The Crank Estate, aka Fair Oaks Ranch, is located at 2186 East Crary Street in Altadena.  The property’s front gate is located around the corner, at the end of Layton Street.  Remember, this is a private residence, so please do not trespass.  To see the best views of the house, drive on Crary Street just a bit east of the property and look backwards or drive a block south to Garfias Drive and look north.  I’ve marked the areas with the best views of the house on the map above.

Julia Child’s Childhood Home

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One of the best things about being a member of the Screen Actors Guild is that each and every January all guild members receive, often without notice, DVDs of various movies that have been nominated for an upcoming SAG award.  These DVDs are doled out “for your consideration” so that members can watch them before casting their ballots for the upcoming awards.  And, let me tell you, I can hardly stand the anticipation as I head to my mailbox each day during awards season, wondering what treasure I will find waiting for me in there. It’s like Christmas in January!  This week alone I received five different DVDs, one of which was Julie & Julia.  Ironically enough, while at a birthday celebration last Sunday night, some new friends were inquiring about my blog and asked if I had yet to see the Meryl Streep/Amy Adams movie, which I had not.  They ordered me to run right out and rent it immediately, as not only was it a fabulous flick, but its plot also centered around the true life story of an intrepid young blogger named Julie Powell who they said reminded them of me.  So, you can imagine my surprise when I opened up my mailbox just a few days later and found a copy of Julie & Julia waiting for me!  YAY!  So, I, of course, watched the movie that very night.  I honestly didn’t have high hopes for it, though, despite the glowing recommendation I had just heard, because I am not that interested in the culinary arts.  Actually, truth be told, I am not AT ALL interested in anything having to do with the culinary arts.  I am an absolutely HORRIBLE cook.  I somehow managed to ruin an entire serving of rice the other night – while using a RICE COOKER, no less!  I am very lucky, though, because my fiancé actually does all of the cooking in our household.  He LOVES to cook – says it calms him after a long day at work – and, really, who am I to argue?  😉  What can I say, he’s the perfect guy – he not only brings home the bacon, but cooks it, too!   Anyway, amazingly enough, I ended up absolutely ADORING Julie & Julia.  I pretty much loved EVERYTHING about the movie – both Meryl Streep and Amy Adam’s performances, the love both women had for their husbands, the amazing life story of the famous chef and how she inspired a young government worker to spend an entire year cooking out of one of her cookbooks and then writing a blog based on her experiences.  But what I loved the most about Julie & Julia is the fact that it is the very first movie ever to be based on a blog.  Now I just need someone to create a movie based on my blog and I’d be one happy camper!  🙂  Amazingly enough, the movie also inspired me, rice-ruining Lindsay, to cook!  I have never in my life had a desire to cook anything – ever.  But after watching Julie & Julia, I immediately ran right out and bought my very first cookbook, written by Julia Child, of course.  I opted to purchase The Way To Cook, instead of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which is the tome Julie Powell conquered in the movie, because the former is geared toward people with “little to no cooking experience”, which, let’s face it, describes me to a T!  🙂  But more on that later.  Anyway, while watching Julie & Julia, I was shocked to find out that Julia Child actually grew up in Pasadena – the same city which I now call home!  So, after watching the movie, I went on a cyberstalking mission to find her childhood house and almost immediately came across a website called Pasadena Daily Photo, which spelled it all out for me!  Thank you, Pasadena Daily Photo!  🙂  So, the next morning, I dragged my dad right out to stalk the place.

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As the daughter of John McWilliams, Jr., a successful landowner, and Julia Carolyn Weston, heir to the Weston Paper Company fortune, Julia Child grew up very wealthy.   The Colonial-style home pictured above was built for her parents in 1912 by architect Reginald Johnson, who was also responsible for designing Pasadena’s All Saints’ Church and Santa Barbara’s Biltmore Hotel, among numerous other prominent Southern California structures.  The home, which boasts five bedrooms, five bathrooms, and a whopping 4,210 square feet of living space, is truly ginormous and beautiful in person and it definitely has that Old Pasadena feel to it!  It was so fascinating to be standing there decades later, imaging Julia Child as a little girl playing in the front yard, looking out the blue-shuttered windows, and walking in and out of the front door.   While living in this house, Julia attended the prominent Westridge School for Girls, which is also located in Pasadena.  While doing a bit of research on the world-famous chef, I found out that while growing up Julia’s family not only employed full-time drivers, gardeners and housekeepers, but chefs, as well.  Ironic, dontcha think?  😉    And, her parents also honeymooned at San Diego’s Hotel Del Coronado, an oft-used filming location which I blogged about last summer.  🙂   So cool!!! 

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Taking a page from Julie Powell, I decided to not only cook a Julia Child meal this past Friday night, but to also blog about my experiences, as well.  Like a dolt, though, I completely forgot to take photographs of the finished feast, so you’ll just have to take my word for it that it turned out beautifully.  🙂  For the meal I decided to cook Julia’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, Broccoli-Sauced Broccoli, and Chicken Breasts Meuniere: Sautéed in Butter.  And while the chicken and soup turned out simply AMAZING – so amazing that I am still finding it difficult to believe I actually cooked them – the broccoli left a bit to be desired.  But I am fairly certain that was due to me either leaving out an ingredient or misreading an instruction somewhere along the way, because the finished product did not look anything like its photograph in the book.  When I realized I had messed up the dish, I had visions of Rachel Green after she completed her English Trifle/Mincemeat Pie desert in “The One Where Ross Got High” episode of Friends.  🙂  Anyway, I’d like to share a few things that I learned while cooking on Friday.  One – my fiancé and I do not own a set of measuring spoons.  How that’s even possible I’m not sure!  Two – simmer does not mean low heat, as I had previously believed.  It actually refers to a temperature just below boiling.  And three – cooking is HARD WORK!  It’s enjoyable work, don’t get me wrong, but, wow, it’s WORK!  I had no idea how hard it was.  I truly felt like I needed a nap afterwards.  🙂  But it was also extremely fun and I am already looking forward to my next go at it.  I swear, if you had told me two weeks ago that I’d actually be able to enjoy the act of cooking in the near future, I never would have believed you in a million years.   

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Julia Child’s childhood home is located at 625 Magnolia Avenue in Pasadena.