Izzy’s Deli from “Curb Your Enthusiasm”

Izzy's Deli Curb Your Enthusiasm (10 of 15)

Because our flight home from Switzerland landed smack dab in the middle of rush hour on a Friday evening, the Grim Cheaper and I decided to book a hotel and spend the night near the airport rather than make what probably would have been a four-plus hour drive to Palm Springs. It turned out to be quite the fortuitous decision, too, because the following morning, on our way back to the desert, we randomly stopped for breakfast (after first grabbing a Starbucks, of course!) at a Santa Monica delicatessen named Izzy’s Deli. While I had passed by Izzy’s countless times over the years, for whatever reason, I had never ventured inside, so I just about fell over when I spotted the above sign while walking through the front doors. Um, Deli to the Stars? Count me in! I was even further surprised when, upon sitting down, I pulled out my trusty iPhone to do some research on the place and discovered that it is also a filming location! Score!

[ad]

Izzy’s Deli was originally founded in August 1973 (almost four full decades ago!) by two Brooklyn-ites, Izzy Freeman and Ernie Auerbach. Freeman first moved to Los Angeles in 1953 and had dreams of opening a New York-style delicatessen, like the ones he had dined at as a boy, in the area. While volunteering at City of Hope National Medical Center in 1972, Freeman met Auerbach, who by that time was a successful Santa Monica-based developer. Auerbach decided to help Freeman on his quest and Izzy’s Deli became a reality the following year.

Izzy's Deli Curb Your Enthusiasm (11 of 15)

Izzy's Deli Curb Your Enthusiasm (15 of 15)

Izzy’s Deli became an almost immediate hit, with lines of hungry patrons often stretching around the block. The eatery, which has won such awards as “Best Designed Restaurant” and “Best All Night Restaurant”, is, amazingly enough, still owned and operated by Freeman (who calls himself “the Deli Lama” – LOVE IT) and his family to this day.

Izzy's Deli Curb Your Enthusiasm (9 of 15)

Izzy's Deli Curb Your Enthusiasm (7 of 15)

Stars have long been drawn to Izzy’s and the restaurant even boasts a Celebrity Wall of Fame consisting of autographed headshots to prove it. Just a few of the luminaries who have been spotted there include Eugene Levy, Walter Matthau, Florence Henderson, Hal Linden, Rod Steiger, Shaquille O’Neal, and Bill Clinton.

Izzy's Deli Curb Your Enthusiasm (4 of 15)

Izzy's Deli Curb Your Enthusiasm (5 of 15)

And while our breakfast was great, it is really hard for me to judge a restaurant based on breakfast alone. (It is pretty difficult to mess up eggs!) I am jonesing to return for lunch, though, because the lunch menu looks uh-ma-zing! Fried chicken sliders? Yes, please!

Izzy's Deli Curb Your Enthusiasm (2 of 15)

Izzy's Deli Curb Your Enthusiasm (3 of 15)

Thanks to the Complex City Guide, I learned that Izzy’s Deli has appeared in no less than three episodes of the television series Curb Your Enthusiasm. In the Season 5 episode titled “The Ski Lift”, Izzy’s was where Larry David (who plays himself) met Ben Heineman (Stuart Pankin) for lunch after hitting – and denting – his car. As you can see below, the restaurant was dressed quite a bit for the filming and all of the celebrity headshots were removed from the walls for the shoot. Boo!

ScreenShot8137

ScreenShot8138

In the following episode, which was titled “The Korean Bookie”, Larry once again met Ben at Izzy’s, this time to confront him over the fact that Ben has failed to fix his car with the $1,500 Larry had given him.

ScreenShot8134

ScreenShot8135

In Season 7 episode titled “The Bare Midriff”, Izzy’s popped up once again as the restaurant where Larry ate lunch with Jerry Seinfeld (who also played himself).

ScreenShot8139

ScreenShot8141

For the filming of this episode, the restaurant’s décor – including the Celebrity Wall of Fame – was left intact.

ScreenShot8142

ScreenShot8144

Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for even more stalking fun! And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Izzy's Deli Curb Your Enthusiasm (14 of 15)

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Izzy’s Deli, from Curb Your Enthusiasm, is located at 1433 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here. The eatery is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Rent-A-Swag from “Parks and Recreation”

Rent-A-Swag Parks and Recreation (10 of 15)

Back in early May, fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, emailed me to let me know that he had just tracked down Rent-A-Swag – the supposed Pawnee, Indiana-area high-fashion rental store for teenagers owned by Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) on fave show Parks and Recreation. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk it – Starbucks in hand (but to be fair when do I not have a Starbucks in hand? Winking smile) – while visiting Los Angeles this past Memorial Day weekend.

[ad]

While watching the Parks and Rec Season 5 finale, which was titled “Are You Better Off?”, Owen had spotted an address number placard with a missing digit (120-9) on the exterior of the Rent-A-Swag storefront. His eye was immediately caught by that missing digit and his interest piqued, so he decided to begin searching for the locale. Thankfully, the hunt was an easy one and he wound up finding the shop at 12059 Ventura Place in Studio City.

ScreenShot7958

And while Owen and I had both assumed that the 5 had been removed during the Parks and Rec shoot in order to thwart the efforts of us stalkers, that does not appear to have been the case. As you can see below, the digit is missing in real life, too, which I was shocked to discover!

Rent-A-Swag Parks and Recreation (5 of 15)

Rent-A-Swag Parks and Recreation (6 of 15)

In real life, the Rent-A-Swag storefront is vacant and looks to have been so for some time, which is probably how it came to be used on Parks and Recreation. The 4,000-square-foot space, which is currently divided into two separate units, most recently housed a branch of the US Postal Service. In January, EaterLA reported that the property was rumored to be the site of the future Valley outpost of the popular mid-city restaurant Joan’s on Third. And while Joan’s founder Joan McNamara did talk about opening a cafe in a former post office on Ventura Place in this April 2012 Los Angeles Times article, as you can see below, the site is still presently available for lease, so that venture appears to have fallen through.

Rent-A-Swag Parks and Recreation (2 of 15)

Rent-A-Swag Parks and Recreation (1 of 15)

Unfortunately, the GC and I showed up to stalk the site on Sunday morning, smack-dab in the middle of the highly-popular Studio City Farmers Market which takes place directly in front of Rent-A-Swag, so I was not able to get the greatest of photographs.

Rent-A-Swag Parks and Recreation (3 of 15)

Rent-A-Swag Parks and Recreation (13 of 15)

Rent-A-Swag first showed up in the Season 5 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Pawnee Commons” and has been featured fairly regularly ever since.

ScreenShot7951

ScreenShot7950

In “Pawnee Commons”, Tom rents out a space, which he states in a later episode is located on Durham Avenue, to house his latest brainchild – a store in which he will lease his expensive threads to tweens. Of the new venture, he says, “I started a business where I rent my fancy clothes to teens so their parents don’t have to buy them nice things they’ll just grow out of. So if you see a 14-year-old kid wearing a Louis Vuitton cravat, you know who to thank – me . . . and Louis Vuitton, for making some dope-a*s cravats.” LOL In “Pawnee Commons”, Tom enlists his Parks and Recreation Department co-workers to help him get the space, which is in pretty dire straits, ready for the grand opening. The real life interior of the store, which you can see pictures of here, was also used in the episode, as well as in several episodes since.

ScreenShot7942

ScreenShot7944

The group’s first go at the renovation turns out rather dire, as well, so they wind up remodeling it twice in the episode.

ScreenShot7947

ScreenShot7948

The final result is pictured below.

ScreenShot7945

ScreenShot7946

In an odd twist, while scanning through Season 5 episodes of Parks and Recreation to make screen captures for this post, I discovered that the other side of the Rent-A-Swag storefront (as I mentioned earlier, the space is currently divided into two separate units) was used as the Pawnee VideoDome/XXX Adult DVD Emporium in the episode titled “Bailout”.

Rent-A-Swag Parks and Recreation (9 of 15)

In “Bailout”, Councilwoman Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) petitions the city council to declare Pawnee’s local video store, Pawnee VideoDome, a historical landmark to prevent its impending closure. Leslie succeeds, but the site winds up re-opening as a pornographic video shop – owned in part by the government. LOL

ScreenShot7956

ScreenShot7953

The real life interior of the space was also used in the episode.

ScreenShot7952

ScreenShot7957

I was shocked to learn, while doing research for this post, that the very same location was used in another of Owen’s favorite shows – Seinfeld. The Rent-A-Swag storefront popped up briefly in the Season 4 episode titled “The Trip (2)”, which aired in 1992, as the spot where Jerry Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld) and George Costanza (Jason Alexander) watched as two policemen arrested a man for attempted robbery. At the time, the space housed the Bicycle Shack bike store and looked quite a bit different than it does today. Although, structurally still the same, since the time that Seinfeld was filmed, a large awning has been added, significantly altering the look of the place.

ScreenShot7965

ScreenShot7963

The location also appeared in 1994’s Beverly Hills Cop III, in the background of the scene in which Det. Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) jumps out of a car to escape from Jon Flint (Hector Elizondo).

ScreenShot7959

ScreenShot7961

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location! Smile

Rent-A-Swag Parks and Recreation (7 of 15)

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Rent-A-Swag from Parks and Recreation is located at 12059 Ventura Place in Studio City.

Runyon Canyon Park from “The Hills”

P1030749

A few years ago, after my good friend Nat happened to spot Runyon Canyon Park pop up in an episode of fave reality series The Hills, she sent me an email asking if I had ever stalked the place.  And while I had long known that the locale was not only a big-time celebrity hangout, but also a popular filming location, because I am not a fan of hiking (or working out in general, if we are really being honest here), I had never added it to my “To-Stalk” list.  But I assured Nat, who is very much into calisthenic-type activity and who, unlike me does not actually consider walking to Starbucks a form of exercise, that the next time she came to visit, we would definitely hit the place up.  Which is how, bright and early a few Sundays ago, the Grim Cheaper, Nat and I found ourselves in Hollywood about to embark upon a morning hike at Runyon Canyon Park.  I even bought some new workout pants for the occasion!  (Now, shopping – that is definitely a type of exercise that I can get behind!)  Unfortunately for Nat, though, because there did not seem to be any restrooms on the trail and because I had downed a Venti iced latte shortly before arriving there, our trek was pretty short-lived.  See what I mean?  I was just not made for the outdoors.  The GC made fun of me relentlessly while we were hiking, by the way, due to the fact that I was carrying my Louis Vuitton purse.  Men!  I mean, what the heck else was I supposed to do with it?  Leave it in the car?  As if!

P1030753 P1030760

P1030757 P1030758

The 160-acre parcel of land that now makes up Runyon Canyon Park was originally named “No Man’s Canyon”.  It came to be known by its current moniker thanks to one of its early owners, coal baron Carman Runyon, who used the sprawling site as a hunting and riding venue.  In 1929, the grounds were purchased by Irish tenor John McCormack, who had a large mansion built on the premises which he dubbed “San Patrizio”, in honor of St. Patrick.  When A&P Supermarket heir Huntington Hartford bought the estate in 1942, he renamed it “The Pines” and commissioned architect Frank Lloyd Wright to build a pool house on the site.  Hartford’s friend Errol Flynn was a frequent guest at the pool house and is rumored to have thrown some wild parties there.  Sadly, when Jules Berman, a wealthy liquor importer, purchased the property in the late 1960s, he demolished “The Pines”.  The Lloyd Wright-designed pool house was subsequently destroyed by a fire in 1972.  All that remains of the two historic structures are some ruins located near the Fuller Avenue entrance to the park.  So incredibly sad!  In 1984, the City of Los Angeles stepped in and acquired the vacant acreage, subsequently turning it into a public park, as it remains to this day.

P1030754 P1030755

P1030762 P1030766

Thanks to Runyon Canyon Park’s proximity to Hollywood and the stunning views that it boasts (which you can see above), the place has long been a stomping ground of the rich and famous.  Just a few of the stars who have been spotted working out there include Gilles Marini, Famke Janssen, Eriq La Salle, Josh Hartnett, Hayden Panettiere, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, Matthew McConaughey, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kathy Griffin, Scarlett Johansson, Josh Duhamel, Kellan Lutz, Ryan Gosling, Dane Cook, Orlando Bloom, Sheryl Crow, Ashley Tisdale, Haylie Duff, Anne Hathaway, Ali Fedotowsky, Amanda Bynes, Matthew Perry, Ali Larter, Joe Jonas, Amanda Seyfried,  Adrian Grenier, Natalie Portman, and Chris Pine.  And while we did not see any celebs during our hike, when fellow stalker Lavonna was in town this past November, she spotted B.J.Novak, aka Ryan Howard from The Office, walking the trails.

[ad]

ScreenShot3836 ScreenShot3837

ScreenShot3838 ScreenShot3841

In the Season 3 episode of The Hills titled “With This Ring . . .”, Whitney Port had a one-on-one training session/date with her personal trainer, Jarett Del Bene, at Runyon Canyon Park.

ScreenShot3821 ScreenShot3823

ScreenShot3824 ScreenShot3825

And in the Season 4 episode of The Hills titled “Who To Choose?”, Lauren Conrad and Audrina Patridge discussed Audrina’s love life while on a hike at Runyon Canyon.  And I could swear that the park showed up in yet another episode of the series in which Lauren and Whitney were shown working out, but I cannot seem to find it anywhere.

ScreenShot3832 ScreenShot3833

ScreenShot3834 ScreenShot3835

In the Season 4 episode of Seinfeld titled “The Trip, Part 2”, Jerry Seinfeld (who played himself), George Costanza (Jason Alexander), and Kramer (Michael Richards) visited Runyon Canyon Park immediately after Kramer was released from jail, where he was being held as the supposed “The Fog Strangler” serial killer.

ScreenShot3826 ScreenShot3827

ScreenShot3828 ScreenShot3830

In the 2009 flick Funny People, Runyon Canyon Park was where Ira Wright (Seth Rogan), Leo Koenig (Jonah Hill) and Mark Taylor Jackson (Jason Schwartzman) discussed the illness of fellow comedian George Simmons (Adam Sandler).

ScreenShot3842 ScreenShot3844

ScreenShot3847 ScreenShot3848

Thanks to fave book Hollywood Escapes: The Moviegoer’s Guide to Exploring Southern California’s Great Outdoors (and I just figured out how to write in color on my blog, by the way!  In heaven!!!!), I also learned that in the ultra-weird 2001 flick The Anniversary Party, Runyon Canyon was where Joe Therrian (Alan Cumming) and his wife Sally (Jennifer Jason Leigh), along with their friends Skye Davidson (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Levi Panes (Michael Panes), searched for their missing dog, Otis.

P1030748

Hollywood Escapes also states that 1983’s Breathless and 2005’s Undiscovered were filmed at Runyon Canyon Park, but, unfortunately, I could not find copies of either movie with which to make screen captures for this post.

P1030764

Some filming locations are also visible from the various Runyon Canyon trails, including the abandoned Solar Drive mansion from Law & Order: Los Angeles that I blogged about last December;

P1030767

and the John Lautner-designed Garcia House from Lethal Weapon 2, which I blogged about way back in February of 2008.  And there is a also private home known as Runyon Ranch located inside of the park that has been featured in countless movies and television shows over the years, including my fave, Beverly Hills, 90210, but I am saving that location for a different post.

Big THANK YOU to my good friend Nat for forcing me to suggesting that I stalk this location.  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Runyon Canyon Park from The Hills is located at 2001 North Fuller Avenue in Hollywood.  You can visit the park’s official website here.