famous coffee shops – Page 2

March 13, 2012March 14, 2012

Casbah Café from “A Lot Like Love”

Today’s blog is going to be a short one as I am heading out to the eye doctor in a bit to have my eyes dilated, which, second to being on an airplane, is my least favorite activity in the entire world. Speaking of flying, US Magazine recently published an article about celebrity riders which featured actor Billy Crystal’s “Flight Preboard Information”. The “Other notes” section of Billy’s rider states, “Normally holds hands w/ family during takeoff and landing. Keep informed of turbulence.” Um, LOVE IT! Like Billy, I, too, hold my parents’ hands during takeoff, and I am absolutely PETRIFIED of turbulence! Oh, how I wish I were a celebrity so that I could submit my very own flight rider in which I demanded that the crew keep me informed of any upcoming turbulence. Winking smile But I digress.

Anyway, just down the street from Bar Keeper – the store that stood in for Upon Gallery in fave movie A Lot Like Love, which I blogged about yesterday – is Casbah Café, a French Moroccan-style coffee shop that was also featured in the 2005 flick. And, even though I have already blogged about this location once before very briefly, I just had to drag the Grim Cheaper right on back over there to snap some pics – and grab some coffee, of course! – while we were in the area doing our Christmas shopping last December.

The Casbah Café, which first opened in 1997 and currently serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, is a very unique and quirky independent coffee house/gift boutique that sells clothing, jewelry and home furnishings collected from various locales around the world, including India, Mexico, Morocco, and Argentina. The shop’s eccentric interior features blue- and orange-painted walls covered in large framed tapestries, a French-inspired chalkboard mirror menu and exposed ductwork. In the March 2004 issue of Toro Magazine, journalist Stephen Hunt hit the nail on the head when he described the Casbah as follows: “On first glance, the café evokes one of those places where Indiana Jones hung out in Cairo. An almost too perfectly shady establishment in which to exchange letters of transit, or a Maltese falcon . . .” The place also has a definite hipster vibe to it. The GC always jokes that he is not cool enough to hang out there because he does not own a pair of skinny jeans. Winking smile And he is right – the Casbah Café is a place where skinny jeans abound.

Thanks to its fabulous coffee and free Wi-Fi, the Casbah Café has become insanely popular over the years – so popular, in fact, that curbside service has recently been added to provide for the many customers who cannot find a vacant table. Celebrities have even been known to pop into the eatery from time to time. Just a few of the stars who have gotten their caffeine fix there include Madonna, Mia Kirshner, Gwen Stefani, Sofia Coppola, Courtney Love, Patricia Arquette and clothing designer Diane von Furstenberg.

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In A Lot Like Love, Oliver Martin (Ashton Kutcher) and Emily Friehl (Amanda Peet) stop by the Casbah Café to grab coffee after their “silent” New Year’s Eve dinner. It is while there that Emily tries to pay for Oliver’s coffee, to which he says, “No. I appreciate the reach – the acting classes are really paying off – but I got it.” LOL

In a very brief scene in the Season 4 episode of Southland titled “Wednesday”, Officer Ben Sherman (cutie Ben McKenzie – sigh!) eats breakfast at the Casbah Café – and checks out some girls on their way to a yoga class while doing so.

The exterior of the Casbah Café shows up very briefly in The Freebie. According to a September 2010 Los Angeles Times article, Katie Aselton wrote the six-page outline for the 2010 indie flick while at the eatery and it even inspired one of the movie’s main storylines in which married man Darren (Dax Shepard) develops a crush on a barista at his local coffee shop. The Casbah will also be featured in the upcoming movie L!fe Happens, which stars Kate Bosworth, Rachel Bilson, and Krysten Ritter.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Casbah Café from A Lot Like Love is located at 3900 West Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake. You can visit the café’s official website here.

January 4, 2012February 2, 2012

Frank’s Coffee Shop and Restaurant from “Larry Crowne”

A few days before Christmas, while I was wallowing in a horrible head cold, the Grim Cheaper and I sat down to watch the 2011 flick Larry Crowne. Neither of us had very high hopes for the movie as it had received such horrible reviews, but I am very happy to report that we both ended up loving it. So much so that we watched it again a few days later when my parents came to town to celebrate Christmas with us. The whimsical storyline centers around Larry Crowne (aka Tom Hanks), a middle-aged former Navy chef who is forced to rethink his life after being fired from his job at the local U-Mart Store. He decides to enroll in a nearby community college where he not only makes friends with a group of wildly eccentric and endearing characters, but also finds his life finally start to take shape. If you have yet to see Larry Crowne, I highly recommend ignoring the critics and renting it! Anyway, one of the main locations featured in the flick was Frank’s Coffee Shop and Restaurant – a Burbank-area eatery that I had passed by countless times during my ten-plus years of living in Los Angeles, but had, for whatever reason, never dined at. So I immediately added the place to my “To-Stalk” list and dragged the GC right on out there as soon as we returned home from visiting my grandmother in Reno this past weekend.

As we pulled up to Frank’s Coffee Shop and Restaurant, I spotted an article about Larry Crowne posted on the café’s front door and knew right away that I was going to LOVE the place.

And I am very happy to report that I did! Frank’s Coffee Shop and Restaurant, which is also sometimes called Frank’s Steak House, first opened its doors in 1957 and not much has changed since. Walking into the diner is like stepping back in time about fifty years – and I mean that in the best way possible.

The interior of Frank’s, with its dark vinyl booths, popcorn ceiling, and Formica countertops, is straight out of the 1950s and it is not at all hard to see why countless location managers have flocked there over the years. The place also serves up some FABULOUS food at very reasonable prices, which pleased the GC to no end. I opted for a mushroom cheeseburger with French fries and a side of ranch dressing and it was all simply amazing – especially the steak fries, which were extremely thick and seasoned in a way that was reminiscent of the fries served at fave restaurant chain Red Robin. The GC ordered the homemade split pea soup and it was also out of this world.

I was absolutely floored when I spotted a photograph of Tom Hanks posing with Jose, Frank’s owner, on display on the wall next to the kitchen. As fate would have it, Jose happened to come over to chat with us while we were dining and, let me tell you, the guy could NOT have been nicer! He sat with us for a good twenty minutes and filled us in on the Larry Crowne shoot, which took six days to complete. Jose informed us that the cast and crew were some of the nicest that he has ever encountered – and he has encountered quite a few. He also told us about the restaurant’s vast filming history and showed us countless photographs that he had stored on his cell phone of the various filmings that have taken place on the premises and the numerous celebrities that have posed with him. As you can imagine, I was pretty much drooling the entire time.

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In Larry Crowne, Frank’s Coffee Shop and Restaurant is featured repeatedly as the eatery where Larry and his scooter-riding friends hang out.

Later on in the movie, Larry gets a job working as a line cook in the restaurant’s kitchen.

That kitchen is pictured above.

Jose, who has been a chef for over forty years, actually acted as Tom Hanks’ cooking consultant during the filming of Larry Crowne and at one point had to step in to do some chopping for the actor. The hands you see above, which are supposedly Larry’s in the movie, are actually Jose’s. So incredibly cool!

In the Season 5 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Squash It”, the exterior of Frank’s stood in for the Reno, Nevada-area diner where Valerie Malone (aka Tiffani Thiessen) convinced Ray Pruit (aka Jamie Walters) to return to Beverly Hills.

As you can see above, though, a different restaurant was used for the interior filming.

Jose informed us that Frank’s Coffee Shop had been featured in no less than 5 episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, one of which is the upcoming “Willows in the Wind”, which just so happens to be Marg Helgenber’s final episode. Unfortunately, Jose was unsure of the titles of the other four episodes filmed on the premises, but I was able to do some digging and tracked down two of them. Then, after publishing this post, a CSI message board led me to the other two. Win! Frank’s first appeared in the Season 6 episode titled “Rashomama” as the supposed Las Vegas, Nevada-area coffee shop where the car belonging to Nick Stokes (aka George Eads), as well as all of the crime scene evidence inside of it, was stolen.

And in the Season 7 episode titled “Law of Gravity”, Frank’s stood in for the restaurant where Michael Keppler (aka Liev Schreiber) ran into Frank McCarty (aka Len Cariou).

In the Season 9 episode titled “Mascara” (CSI’s 200th episode), Frank’s is where Dr. Raymond Langston (aka Laurence Fishburne) met up a few times with his former thesis student Sylvia Mallick (aka Aimee Deshayes).

And in the Season 11 episode titled “The List”, Catherine Willows (aka Marg Helgenberger) met up with Detective Vartann (aka Alex Carter) to discuss the case she was working on.

In the Season 2 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Ron and Tammy”, Frank’s stood in for the supposed Pawnee, Indiana-area restaurant where Ron Swanson (aka Nick Offerman) took his ex-wife, Tammy Swanson (aka Megan Mullally), out for lunch.

Jose also let us know that Frank’s was featured in the 2003 flop Gigli, but I scanned through the movie yesterday while doing research for this post and did not see it anywhere. I did, however, spot it briefly in the flick’s trailer, so the scene that was filmed at Frank’s appears to have been left on the cutting room floor.

That scene can be viewed at the 2:18 mark when Larry Gigli (aka Ben Affleck) tells Ricki (aka Jennifer Lopez), “I got a confession. I think we’re good together.”

Fellow stalker Jason also let me know that Frank’s Restaurant was featured in Chris Daughty’s “No Surprise” music video.

Chris Daughty–“No Surprise” Video Filmed at Frank’s Coffee Shop & Restaurant in Burbank

You can watch that video by clicking above.

Jose also told us that Frank’s Coffee Shop and Restaurant was featured in the A&E Network mini-series Stephen King’s Bag of Bones, but I scanned through it yesterday and did not spot the restaurant anywhere. He also told us that Criminal Minds had filmed on the premises recently, but I scanned through all of the Season 7 episodes that have aired so far and did not see it, so I am guessing that it will pop up in an upcoming episode in the very near future.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Frank’s Coffee Shop and Restaurant, from Larry Crowne, is located at 916 West Olive Avenue in Burbank.

September 28, 2011September 28, 2011

Johnie’s Coffee Shop Restaurant on Wilshire

Because I encountered so much filming location misinformation while researching my post on Bob’s Big Boy Broiler in Downey last week, I decided that I just had to write a blog about the place’s sister eatery, the now-defunct Johnie’s Coffee Shop Restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile District of Los Angeles, which has also appeared in countless productions over the years. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place this past Saturday afternoon.

Johnie’s Coffee Shop Restaurant, which was originally named Romeo’s Time Square, was built in 1955 by Louis Armet and Eldon Davis, the Googie-style architecture firm that was once deemed the “Frank Lloyd Wright of ‘50s coffee shops” by author Merrill Shindler in a 2009 Daily Breeze article that is sadly no longer available online. The Armet and Davis duo was also responsible for creating the Norm’s Restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard, the iconic Schwab’s Pharmacy on Sunset Boulevard, the now-demolished Holiday Bowl bowling alley on Crenshaw Boulevard, and Twain’s Restaurant in Studio City, which was featured in fave movie A Lot Like Love. The sleek, bright, space-age construction of Romeo’s was designed to catch the attention of passing motorists and lure them – and their wallets – in for a bite to eat.

Romeo’s Time Square went through several changes in ownership and name in the ensuing years, becoming “Ram’s Restaurant” in the 1960s and then, finally, Johnie’s Coffee Shop Restaurant shortly thereafter. In 1994, the property was purchased by the Gold family, owners of the 99 Cents Only Store chain, who sadly shuttered the eatery in 2000. The building has thankfully remained intact, though, and its parking lot is now being used by a 99 Cents Only Store located nearby. As you can see above, the store even made use of one of the original Johnie’s signs, which I think is so incredibly cool.

In 2003, the Gold family made a few restorations to the shuttered restaurant, including repainting the exterior, fixing the cantilevered roof, and repairing the many burnt-out lights on the exterior neon signage. According to this July 15th, 2004 article which appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Eric Schiffer, president of the 99 Cents Only Stores, would like to see the place re-open as a restaurant someday. He said, “This needs to be done in a special way. We’re open to hearing creative uses. We just don’t have time to go out and market the building.” Here’s hoping that a savior steps in soon, much like Bob’s Big Boy did with Johnie’s Broiler in Downey, and restores the historic eatery to its former 1950’s glory. Surprisingly, despite being closed for more than a decade, the restaurant appears to be in pretty good shape. I was able to snap the above photographs of Johnie’s interior through the many windows, on which the shades were, thankfully, not drawn.

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Thanks to its futuristic and streamlined design, Johnie’s has long been a location scout favorite. In a very prominent scene from 1988’s Miracle Mile, the eatery was where Harry Washello (aka Anthony Edwards) learned that the world was about to end.

In 1992’s Reservoir Dogs, Johnie’s was where Mr. Orange (aka Tim Roth) met up with his superior.

In the 1997 disaster flick Volcano, Johnie’s pops up very briefly in the scene in which the firefighters of Los Angeles stand off against the lava from a nearby volcano.

In 1998’s Very Bad Things, Johnie’s was where Michael Berkow (aka Jeremy Piven) announced to a roomful of confused diners that he had just killed his brother.

In 1998’s The Big Lebowski, Johnie’s was where The Dude (aka Jeff Bridges) and Walter Sobchak (aka John Goodman) discussed severed toes, victimless crime, and First Amendment rights.

Johnie’s popped up in 1998’s City of Angels as the spot where Nathaniel Messinger (aka Dennis Franz) told Seth (aka Nicolas Cage) how to become a human.

The diner was featured at the end of 1998’s American History X as the place where Derek Vinyard (aka Edward Norton) and his younger brother Danny Vinyard (aka Edward Furlong) stop to grab a bite to eat before heading over to Venice High School.

Johnie’s also appeared in the 1999 music video for the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ song “Swingin’”, which starred The Mentalist’s Robin Tunney and which you can watch by clicking here.

And the restaurant showed up in 2004 in Reba McEntire’s music video for her song “Somebody”.

Reba McEntire – Somebody Video Filmed at Johnie’s Coffee Shop Restaurant

You can watch that video by clicking above.

The diner was featured prominently in the 2007 music video for Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls”, which is SUCH a great song, by the way! I literally cannot stop listening to it!

Sean Kingston–Beautiful Girls Video filmed at Johnie’s Coffee Shop Restaurant

You can watch that video by clicking above. But be forewarned – it is HIGHLY addictive!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Johnie’s Coffee Shop Restaurant is located at 6101 Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile District of Los Angeles.

August 30, 2011August 29, 2011

Figaro Bistrot from “Made of Honor”

As I mentioned in my post about Le Petit Bistro back in early August, one location that I have been longing to stalk for quite some time now is Figaro Bistrot, an adorable little French cafe that has appeared in numerous productions over the years, most notably the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2009 advertising campaign which featured pop star Madonna. For whatever reason, though, the Grim Cheaper and I had just never made it out there. Until this past Saturday evening, that is, when we found ourselves in Los Feliz and I suggested stopping by for a cocktail. The sandwich board sign out in front of the restaurant proclaimed that Figaro offered “the very best Happy Hour in Los Feliz” and, let me tell you, it was not an exaggeration! Not only did the GC and I absolutely stuff ourselves silly, but we managed to get out of there for under $45!

As you can see in the photographs above, Figaro Bistrot is an absolutely ADORABLE little spot. Decorated with authentic French antiques, flower-shaped chandeliers, tiny sidewalk bistros, gilded mirrors, and a zinc-plated bar, the setting could not be more magical. Walking through the front doors, one is immediately transported to Paris. Not real life Paris, but a fantasy Paris – the Paris of the movies, the Paris that Bogey and Bergman so fondly reminisced about in Casablanca. And the food! Oh my god, the food! It was quite simply out of this world! The GC and I both ordered two items off of the happy hour menu, each of which were priced at around $5. The GC opted for the Beef Carpaccio and Moules Gratinees aux Fromage (mussels gratin with parsley butter sauce), while I ordered the Mini Burger, which was quite simply the best burger I have ever had in my life, and the Croquettes de Crabe (crab cakes), which were also divine. The GC was so insanely happy over the large portions, inexpensive prices, and fabulous fare that I can pretty much guarantee this is one spot we will be stalking again and again.

The Spring/Summer 2009 ad campaign for Louis Vuitton, which was directed by fashion icon Marc Jacobs and shot by legendary fashion photographer Stephen Meisel, featured the café quite prominently, most notably the bar area and the red leather banquettes located in the rear of Figaro’s southern-most dining room. And even though I am not a fan of Madonna – like at all – I have to admit that Meisel’s pictures of her are absolutely stunning. (The photographs above do not belong to me, but are the sole property of photographer Stephen Meisel and Louis Vuitton.)

As I mentioned in my post about Le Petit Bistro in August, the exterior of Figaro was featured in a brief establishing shot in the Season 3 episode of 90210 titled “How Much is that Liam in the Window”. It was used as the exterior of the French restaurant where Charlie Selby (aka Evan Ross) took Annie Wilson (aka Shenae Grimes) on a date. For some reason, though, the interior scenes were shot about six miles away at Le Petit Bistro in West Hollywood.

Our super-nice bartender informed us that Figaro had also made an appearance in the 2008 flick Made of Honor and I just about died of excitement. You see, I have always had a very special place in my heart for that movie because when I first asked my non-celebrity-obsessed best friend, Robin, who is male and lives in Switzerland, to stand up for me at my wedding, he sent me an email which stated, “I would do absolutely everything to be at your wedding. I just don’t know what the best man has to do. I’m not so familiar with the American rules of marriage. I went to watch a really bad movie last Spring with Steffi [his girlfriend]. I, of course, don’t know the name of the movie or of the actor in it, but it was with the guy who plays the doctor in Grace [his spelling, not mine – love it] Anatomy. Anyway, he had to organize the bachelor party for women and stuff like that. So you will have to give me a summary of the duties of the bride’s best man.” So incredibly cute! I immediately printed out that email and have carried it around in my wallet ever since. Smile The “really bad” movie he was speaking about was, of course, Made of Honor, which I had actually never before seen. So after our dinner at Figaro, the GC and I headed right on over to Blockbuster to rent it. And I have to say that it was not half bad. It is not great, mind you, but it is a cute, little lightweight romantic comedy. Anyway, Figaro Bistrot was featured a few times in the flick. The exterior first pops up as the supposed Manhattan bakery where Hannah (aka Michelle Monaghan) tries to guess what dessert her best friend Tom (aka Patrick Dempsey – the guy who plays the doctor in Grace Anatomy Winking smile ) is going to order.

It later pops up in the scene in which Tom, who has since realized that he is in love with Hannah, takes a random date out for dessert and tries to get her to play the guessing game, which she fails miserably at. While there, she also complains about the long line, to which Tom says, “This is the best bakery in the world! That’s why it’s worth waiting in line.”

And, finally, the interior pops up in the scene in which Tom, while eating two pieces of cake, thinks about Hannah, who is on a business trip in Scotland for six weeks.

Figaro Bistrot is also something of a celebrity hot spot. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there include Katherine Heigl, Josh Kelley, Isabel Lucas, Lindsay Price, Jessalyn Gilsig, and Keifer Sutherland. The GC and I also once spotted Archie Panjabi dining at one of the restaurant’s sidewalk tables while we were walking by after grabbing a bite to eat at nearby Fred 62.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Figaro Bistrot, from Made of Honor, is located at 1802 North Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here. Figaro offers Happy Hour from 5 to 7 p.m. daily, including Saturdays and Sundays!

August 8, 2011August 7, 2011

Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Pasadena – One of Joel McHale’s Favorite Hangouts

As I have mentioned quite a few times before on my blog, this stalker absolutely loves herself some Joel McHale. So when I saw that the cutie The Soup host/Community star had been interviewed about some of his favorite SoCal haunts in the August 2011 “The Best of LA” issue of Los Angeles Magazine, I just about died of excitement! And, being that this stalker also absolutely loves herself some coffee, when I discovered that the actor frequents a java spot right near where I live in Pasadena, I almost had a full-blown heart attack right on the spot! In the brief blurb, which is pictured above, Joel mentions that his two young sons love visiting Travel Town at Griffith Park and the Train Shack in Burbank and that a great night out with his wife would include meals or cocktails at Harvard & Stone, Girasole, Mozza, Cut, or Varnish (all of which I will, of course, be stalking in the very near future Winking smile ). But the quote that caught my eye had to do with a recently-opened coffee bar in Old Town Pasadena that I have walked by about a hundred times in the past few months, but had yet to visit. (I know, I know – a coffee bar that I have not yet sampled? Did hell freeze over or something?) When asked where Joel goes for “solo time”, the actor responded, “Solo time is in my car, but if I’m alone and want to be in a social atmosphere, I would choose LaMill in Silver Lake or Intelligentsia in Pasadena.” So I, of course, immediately ran right out to stalk the place the very next day.

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I first walked by Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea shortly after it opened in August of last year and was completely floored to discover that the place was not only a coffee house, but a restaurant and wine bar, as well. I am of the opinion that every type of public space should house a built-in coffee bar, e.g. nail salons, laundry mats, book shops, museums, clothing stores, etc., etc., etc. So when I saw that Intelligentsia not only served espresso, but champagne (which is my other culinary vice), as well, I was beyond excited! I immediately called up the Grim Cheaper and told him about the place and what a fabulous idea I thought it was. According to fave website Eater LA, of the concept owner Doug Zell says, “The neighborhood there in Old Town Pasadena reminds us of some European and South American cities where you can walk into a café or bar and be served a great espresso any time of day, but also a nice lunch, a beer after work, a glass of wine on a date.” Zell was apparently inspired to open the space after visiting an eatery in San Paulo, Brazil that served beer, wine, food, and fine coffee. Never have I so badly wanted to visit Brazil! Winking smile

The first Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea was opened in October of 1995 on the north side of Chicago by coffee-loving couple Doug Zell and Emily Mange. Sixteen years later, the Zagat-rated chain, which employs coffee sommeliers at each outpost (love it!), boasts nine locations in three different cities – Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. (The Pasadena branch is the first to offer food and wine.) Celebrities have been flocking to the company’s four L.A.-area locations since the very beginning. Just a few of the stars who have gotten their java on at the chain include Vanessa Hudgens, Zachary Quinto, Olivia Wilde, Scarlett Johansson, Joe Jonas, Christina Ricci, Jake Gyllenhaal, and, of course, Joel McHale. Amazingly enough, the recent Los Angeles Magazine article was not Joel’s first mention of the coffee house. He also spoke about it in a June 2011 Chicago Tribune interview in which he said, “I do drink Intelligentsia. I wish there was one slightly closer to my house. There are two of them right now. Hopefully, they’ll open more. But the coffee is—no, there’s three of them now, four; I don’t know. There’s a couple in Pasadena, one on Sunset and one in Santa Monica, which is not geographically conducive to me. But it’s great coffee.” Even though it is not geographically conducive, according to the barista that I spoke with, the actor does stop by the Pasadena outpost fairly regularly. She also told me that Joel could NOT be nicer, friendlier, or more down-to-earth, which was the exact impression I got of him when I met him at the Envelope Emmy Week Geek TV Event this past June. (I also just got to go to a taping of The Soup this past Friday, thanks to my good friend/fellow stalker Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, which was an ABSOLUTELY amazing experience that I will be blogging about soon.)

As my fellow stalkers very well know, I have long been a Starbucks girl at heart and can rarely find a coffee house that compares. But I am very happy to report that Joel McHale has some great taste in java, because Intelligentsia serves up some FABULOUS joe! I was VERY pleasantly surprised as I find that most independent stores make a brew that is far too strong for my taste. Intelligentsia’s was a perfect blend, though, and, coming from me, that is the ultimate compliment! And, let me tell you, I just about fell over when the girl ahead of me in line ordered a cappuccino and it came out looking like this. SO INCREDIBLY COOL!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea is located at 55 East Colorado Boulevard in Old Town Pasadena. You can visit the chain’s official website here.

May 26, 2011May 25, 2011

The Yellow Vase Café from “90210”

One location that I have been on the lookout for for over a year now is the yellow-hued coffee shop where Navid Shirazi (aka Michael Steger) ran into ex-girlfriend Adrianna Tate-Duncan (aka Jessica Lowndes) in the Season 2 episode of fave show 90210 titled “Another Another Chance”. I spent far more hours searching for this location than I really care to admit, but, for whatever reason, just could not seem to find it. Then last month, while scanning through the Season 2 episode of the series titled “What’s Past is Prologue” in order to make screen captures for the post I wrote about Crumbs Bakery, I spotted that very same coffee shop pop up in a scene featuring Miss Rumor Willis. Since Rumor has always been something of a paparazzi magnet, I figured that I might be able to find some images of her from the filming online and from there might be able to figure out the name and location of the ever-elusive bakery. And, sure enough, after just a few short minutes of searching I came across this article on the Pacific Coast News Online website which stated that the scene had been filmed at the Yellow Vase Café in Redondo Beach!!! Eureka! As fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, said after I told him that I had finally tracked down the cafe, “It’s nice to know the paparazzi are good for something!” Winking smile And even though I was absolutely DYING to stalk the place (like that very minute), the Grim Cheaper and I were not able to make it down to the South Bay until this past Saturday afternoon. I do have to say, though, that the restaurant was DEFINITELY worth the wait. In fact, it is one of the coolest coffee shops that I have ever been to in my entire life!

As you can see in the above photographs, the Yellow Vase Café, which is actually a bakery/full-service florist/coffee shop, is an adorably charming little restaurant that serves up some FABULOUS food. I opted to lunch on the Greek salad which was simply AMAZING, while the GC ordered up some homemade French Onion Soup which he absolutely devoured. I, of course, also had to sample a Yellow Vase latte while there and am very happy to report that it, too, was fabulous. The café’s bakery case was filled to the brim with colorful, freshly-baked sweets, which I so wanted to sample, but, being diabetic, couldn’t. They sure looked incredible, though. Sigh! Needless to say, I absolutely fell in love with the restaurant and its soft yellow-colored ambiance and so did the GC. Neither of us wanted to leave when we were finished with our meals. Ah well, I guess that just means we will have to go back there for a re-stalk in the very near future. Smile

In the “What’s Past is Prologue” episode of 90210, Silver (aka Jessica Stroup) sends her friend Gia Mannetti (aka Rumor Willis) to a “coffee shop on Robertson” to spy on her boyfriend Teddy Montgomery (aka Trevor Donovan) whom she suspects is cheating on her. As it turns out, he’s not, but the two break up anyway.

In the “Another Another Chance” episode, which aired three weeks after “What’s Past is Prologue”, the coffee shop was featured once again as the spot where Navid runs into Adrianna and he commends her for handling her recent break-up in such a “non-dramatic” way.

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Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, also clued me into the fact that Riviera Salon, which is located right next door to the Yellow Vase Café, was the spot where Silver and Adrianna got their nails done in the recently aired Season 3 finale of the series which was titled “To the Future!”

In the episode, the girls are shown walking out the doors of the salon and heading north on Catalina Avenue before stopping in front of the Yellow Vase Café to discuss Silver’s recent break up with Navid.

For some very odd reason, producers decided to swap the last two digits of the salon’s address number for the filming. As you can see in the above screen capture and photograph, in real life the salon’s address number is “1807”, while on the show it was switched to “1870”. I can see changing an address number on a private residence during filming, but on a public place? That just makes no sense to me! Ah, Hollywood!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Yellow Vase Café, from the “What’s Past is Prologue” and “Another Another Chance” episodes of 90210, is located at 1805 South Catalina Avenue in Redondo Beach. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here. Salon Riviera, from the “To the Future!” episode of 90210, is located nest door to the Yellow Vase Café at 1807 South Catalina Avenue in Redondo Beach.

October 14, 2010October 14, 2010

Elliott Bay Cafe – The Inspiration for Cafe Nervosa on “Frasier”

Another location that I stalked while visiting the Pacific Northwest this past May was Elliott Bay Cafe – the Seattle-area coffee shop that was the inspiration for Cafe Nervosa on the hit television series Frasier. I first learned about this location from my good friend Nat, who in turn learned about it a few years earlier while taking Bill Speidel’s “World Famous” Underground Tour of Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square District during a vacation in Washington State. And even though I was never a huge fan of Frasier (I watched the show occasionally, but it wasn’t a part of my weekly must-see-TV lineup), when I found out that I was going to Seattle I decided I just had to stalk the place – mostly because of how much I love me some coffee! So, just a few hours after stalking the very first Starbucks store, I dragged the Grim Cheaper, my good friend and fellow stalker, Kerry, and her husband, Jim, out to Elliott Bay Cafe for my second latte of the day.

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As it turns out, Elliott Bay Cafe is a SUPER cool little spot. In fact, I think I would have liked the place even had it not been a (sort-of) filming location. The cafe is located in Pioneer Square’s Globe Building, which dates back to 1891, and is actually most famous for the legendary bookstore, Elliott Bay Book Co., which up until earlier this year was located upstairs from it. The huge store, which carried over 150,000 different titles, originally opened in 1973 and had been patronized by everyone from former-President Bill Clinton to authors Barbara Kingsolver, Norman Mailer, and George Saunders. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I think there is absolutely nothing cooler than a combination coffee bar/bookstore. When Elliott Bay Book Co. was open, shoppers could buy a cup of espresso and then venture upstairs to loiter among the shelves or, consequently, grab a few books to peruse while sitting downstairs sipping on a latte. So darn cool! Sadly, the Elliott Bay Book Co. moved to a new location on Capital Hill in early 2010, but thankfully the Frasier cafe, which is actually located underground, remained behind. And yes, you read that right – Elliott Bay Cafe is located underground. Most of Seattle was situated “underground” at one point in time actually. The Pioneer Square District, which was established in 1852 and is considered the birthplace of Seattle, was originally built on tidal flats that, in the early years, would flood horribly each and every time it rained – which was quite often. So, after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 destroyed most of the city, it was decided that the new streets would be raised a full story higher than their predecessors. To accomplish this feat, retaining walls were constructed on each side of the district’s former roads. The area between them was then filled in with dirt and subsequently cemented over, which raised the entire city one full level. During the street raising, storeowners had built temporary street-level shops, so as not to lose out on business during the interim. When construction on the new roads was finally completed, the storeowners simply vacated their former shops and moved up to the second level to sell their goods. The street level spaces were then left abandoned and forgotten for the next seven decades.

Until 1965, when, in an attempt to restore the Pioneer Square District, a Seattle preservationist named Bill Speidel decided to start giving tours of the underground area. The tours became a huge hit with residents and tourists alike and has been going strong ever since. So, on the recommendation of my good friend Nat and because I wanted to learn more about the Frasier coffee shop, the Grim Cheaper and I purchased tickets for Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour. Sadly though, while I thought Elliott Bay Cafe was absolutely awesome, I can’t say the same for the tour. While the whole thing sounds very exciting, as you can see in the above photographs there just isn’t a whole lot to see. And the tour guides seemed to be more interested in telling lame jokes than they were in teaching us about Seattle’s unique history. From what I’ve read on the Yahoo! Travel reviews, the tour used to be fabulous, but has deteriorated greatly since Bill’s death in 1988. Whether or not it was ever good, I can’t say for sure, but I do know that the tour the Grim Cheaper and I embarked on was HORRIBLE. Like really, really horrible. So bad, in fact, that at one point while we were underground, the GC grabbed my arm and said, “I think I’ve found an exit door! I am pretty sure we can escape from this thing unnoticed!” LOL But I digress.

Anyway, Cafe Nervosa appeared weekly throughout Frasier’s eleven season-run as the hang out of radio host Frasier Crane (aka Kelsey Grammer) and his fellow KACL employees. As you can see in the above screen captures, while Cafe Nervosa does bear a passing resemblance to the real life Elliot Bay, according to the barista I spoke to while there, the place has been remodeled numerous times since Frasier was on the air, most recently in November of 1999, and formerly looked much more similar to its TV counterpart. Boo!

The exterior of Cafe Nervosa was also shown on the series from time to time.

As you can see in the above photographs, though, besides having a green awning, the set exterior looks nothing like Elliot Bay Cafe’s real-life exterior.

Even though the coffee house doesn’t much resemble Cafe Nervosa, I still HIGHLY recommend stalking the place! It’s a far better way to experience Seattle’s Underground than embarking on the tour AND they serve up some fabulous coffee to boot! 🙂

You can watch the Season 1 episode of Frasier titled “My Coffee With Niles”, which takes place in its entirety at Cafe Nervosa, by clicking above.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Elliott Bay Cafe is located at 103 South Main Street in Seattle, Washington. You can visit the Cafe’s official website here.