Grub Restaurant from “The Hills”

IMG_3874

While scanning through episodes of The Hills this past weekend looking for the scene that was filmed at Pinches Tacos in West Hollywood, which I blogged about yesterday, I just about fell off my chair when I spotted Grub Restaurant pop up in Season 5’s “Can’t Always Get What You Want”.  Amazingly, way back in February of 2011, I had dragged the Grim Cheaper out to Grub as part of his Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt across L.A. (during which we had stalked LACMA, Boardner’s of Hollywood, and the HMS Bounty Bar and Restaurant), but at the time I was completely unaware that the place was a filming location.  Thankfully, I snapped some pictures of it regardless, as I am always apt to do when visiting new eateries.  I first learned about Grub thanks to fave book Peaceful Places Los Angeles: 110 Tranquil Sites in the City of Angels and Neighboring Communities, which I read while planning the GC’s hunt.  Of the Hollywood hideaway, author Laura Randall had this to say, “Hidden by a high trellis bloom-full of seasonal morning glories, the restaurant’s small patio is marked by homey touches such as potted plants, mismatched umbrellas, and flea-market antiques.  It sort of feels as if you’re eating in a friend’s back garden.”  Because the place sounded so absolutely idyllic, I decided to make it the very first stop on our hunt.

IMG_3873 IMG_3870

IMG_3871 IMG_3872

Grub Restaurant was founded in 2001 by former San Francisco actress Betty Fraser and Arkansas native Denise DeCarlo, BFF’s who originally met a few years prior while waitressing at a L.A.-area California Pizza Kitchen.  The two first launched a catering company in 1995, which they dubbed “As You Like It Catering” and ran out of a 1920s-era bungalow-style duplex in the heart of Hollywood’s Post-Production District.  When neighbors began suggesting that they open an eatery in the charming little space, they thought “Why not?” and Grub Restaurant was born.  The eclectic and humorous menu (one entrée is named “Our Friggin’ Amazing French Toast”) features upscale “California comfort food” with offerings such as the White Truffle Burger – a large patty topped with roasted mushrooms, Swiss cheese, caramelized onions, white truffle oil, and fresh arugula, and served on a toasted brioche bun – and the After School Special – a cheddar and Swiss grilled cheese sandwich on thick sourdough bread paired with a cup of homemade Creamy Dreamy Tomato Soup.  Um, love it!  Grub Restaurant has won countless well-deserved accolades over the years including LA Citysearch’s “Best Lunch Spot” in 2003, 2004, and 2005 and “Best Breakfast in Los Angeles” in 2009 and 2010, Los Angeles Magazine’s “Best Tuna Melt in LA” in 2009, and Zagat Survey’s “Top Five Breakfast Spots” in 2007.

IMG_3875

Thanks to Grub Restaurant’s proximity to various Hollywood studios and post-production offices, the place has become a mecca for celebs.  Just a few of the stars who have gotten their grub on there (see what I did there Winking smile) include Sacha Baron Cohen, Charlize Theron, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Tom Sizemore, Jim Caviezel, Bob Guiney, Galen Gering, Zac Efron, Luke Wilson, and Daryl Hannah.  Owner Betty Fraser is even a minor-celebrity herself, having appeared on Top Chef, The Today Show and Rachel Ray’s Tasty Travels.

[ad]

ScreenShot4376 ScreenShot4377

ScreenShot4379 ScreenShot4380

In the Season 5 episode of The Hills titled “Can’t Always Get What You Want”, Brody Jenner and my girl Kristin Cavallari discussed Brody’s tumultuous relationship with ex-girlfriend Jayde Nicole over breakfast at Grub.  Upon first arriving at the eatery, Brody turned to Kristin and said, “You swear by this place”, so I am guessing that KCav used to be a frequent customer.

ScreenShot4378 P1010448

On a Hills side-note – while watching Season 5 of the series way back in 2009, I became just a wee-bit obsessed with the gold square-shaped necklace that KCav wore in almost every episode.  And while I spent countless hours scouring the web trying to figure out who made the darn thing, I came up completely empty-handed.  Then, last October, I happened to come across a post on the fabulous The Budgetista blog detailing exactly where I could order one.  I ended up buying a gold-plated replica of the necklace (the GC would have killed me had I spent $300 on the actual thing) and not only is it absolutely adorbs, but it is also now one of my favorites.  (I am wearing it in the above pic with Idris Elba.)  Can’t thank you enough, Budgetista!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Grub Restaurant, from the “Can’t Always Get What You Want” episode of The Hills, is located at 911 Seward Street in Hollywood.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

Pinches Tacos from “The Hills”

P1040215

As always seems to happen when Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I get together, while out doing some stalking in West Hollywood this past Thursday afternoon, the two of us stumbled upon a filming location without even meaning to do so.  After stopping by the Sunset Strip’s new Pink Taco to grab some lunch and finding it inexplicably closed, we headed across the street to a different pink-hued Mexican eatery named Pinches Tacos.  Upon ordering our food, we made our way to the restaurant’s patio area and, as I am apt to do when dining at a new place, I started doing some iPhone research to see if, on the off chance, Pinches had ever been used as a filming location.  Well, let me tell you, I just about fell off my chair when I came across some behind-the-scenes footage of my girl Kristin Cavallari shooting an unspecified Season 5 episode of fave show The Hills in the very spot where I was then sitting!  How I had missed that tidbit when the episode originally aired is beyond me, but needless to say I was absolutely floored over the information and promptly grabbed my camera and ran inside to snap some pics and speak with the manager.

P1040216 P1040214

P1040213 P1040212

The Sunset Strip Pinches Tacos was first founded in 2007 by brothers Miguel, Jorge and Javier Anaya – nephews of Jose Prado, the former longtime chef of The Ivy turned restaurateur who established The Original Cha Cha Cha in Silverlake, Cocina Primavera in Beverly Hills, Prado Restaurant in Larchmont Village, and Cha Cha Chicken in Santa Monica and Northridge.  Everything that the fast-fix hot spot serves – from the salsa to the tortillas – is homemade daily using hundred-year-old secret family recipes from the Anaya brothers’ hometowns of Guadalajara and Jalisco.  Thanks to its extremely reasonable prices, fresh fare, and late-night hours (Pinches is open until 3 a.m. each Thursday through Saturday), the eatery became insanely popular virtually overnight and three more outposts have since been launched.  Besides West Hollywood, the chain currently boasts restaurants in Culver City and Santa Monica, all of which are family-owned and operated.  And Alabama native Ty Taylor loved the place so much that he convinced the Anaya brothers to partner with him in founding an annex in Taylor’s hometown of Homewood.  That restaurant opened in January of 2011 and is doing so well that the group is already looking to establish another outpost in Birmingham.

P1040208 P1040209

P1040210 P1040211

And for those wondering where the name “Pinches” came from, while a note on the eatery’s door states that the term is Spanish slang for “kitchen boy”, Google translate dug up a far more interesting (and far more NSFW) meaning, which you can take a look at here.  All I can say is LOL.

P1040206

While the interior of Pinches Tacos is quite adorable, the patio area, which overlooks the Sunset Strip, is where most people choose to eat, including Mike and me.  I cannot tell you how cool it was to sit there, just feet from the bustling Strip, and watch all of the cars zipping by, not to mention the countless Hollywood tour buses – one of which you can see in the background of the above picture.  Love it!

P1040207

Because I am extremely picky about my meat, I opted to order Pinches vegetarian tacos and not only were they bursting with flavor – not something one expects from vegetables – and FABULOUS, but, at $2.95 a piece, were less expensive than a Starbucks latte!  I am so going to have to bring the Grim Cheaper back there for lunch.  Winking smile

[ad]

ScreenShot4372 ScreenShot4373

ScreenShot4374 ScreenShot4375

Oddly enough, the behind-the-scenes footage of The Hills that Mike and I watched while at Pinches did not look at all familiar to me, so when I got home I popped in my DVDs of the series and scanned through each and every Season 5 episode. As it turns out, the Mexican eatery appeared in the episode titled “It’s On Bitch” as the spot where Brody Jenner, Jayde Nicole, Stephanie Pratt, Lo Bosworth, Stacie the Bartender (I so love that she was never referred to by her full name), Justin “Bobby” Brescia, and my girl Kristin Cavallari celebrated Frankie Delgado’s birthday.  “It’s On Bitch” was actually the very first episode of The Hills that KCav appeared in, so I am extremely embarrassed that I failed to recognize it.  I must be losing my mojo or something!  Winking smile Besides being a filming location, Pinches Tacos is also something of a celebrity hotspot.  Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there include Kat Von D, Jesse James, Leonardo DiCaprio, Emma Roberts, Megan Fox, Brian Austin Green, Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone, Gabriel Aubry, Balthazar Getty, Isabel Lucas, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Pinches Tacos, from the “It’s On Bitch” episode of The Hills, is located at 8200 West Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.  You can visit the restaurant chain’s official website here.

The Painted Nail from “Nail Files”

P1010813

Back in November, when my good friends, fellow stalkers Lavonna, Melissa, Beth, Kim, and Sandy, came out to Los Angeles from Ohio for a little stalking vacay, Lavonna booked them all a pampering session at The Painted Nail in Sherman Oaks – the salon that is featured regularly on the TV Guide Network’s reality series Nail Files.  And while Lavonna had invited me to join them for some medi/pedi action, because I knew that the Grim Cheaper would be having none of that, I, unfortunately, had to say no.  I did stop by the salon for a brief visit that evening, though, so that I could take some photographs of the place and hopefully blog about it.  Well, imagine my surprise when, a few days later, Lavonna, being the incredible sweetheart that she is, gave me a gift card for an Ice Cream Sundae pedicure, The Painted Nail’s specialty, so that I could experience the salon for myself.  How awesome is that!?!?  I finally used my gift card last Friday morning and I have to say that it was an incredible experience!  Thank you, Lavonna!!

P1010804

Before learning about The Painted Nail from Lavonna, I had actually never before heard of the place, or of Nail Files for that matter.  I have said it before and I will say it again – Lavonna is a FAR better stalker than I am.  She somehow manages to have her hand firmly on the celebrity pulse of Los Angeles, despite living thousands of miles away in Cincinnati.  (That’s Lavonna and the gang, in manicure and pedicure heaven, pictured above.)

P1010803 P1010805

P1010806P1010807

As you can see, The Painted Nail is an absolutely darling place.

ScreenShot2983

The salon was founded by Katie Cazorla, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Nails” (that is her pictured above with Lavonna and Company), who moved to Los Angeles from Elmira, New York in 2000 in order to pursue a career in acting.  One evening, after receiving an overpriced, shoddy manicure at one of Southern California’s run-of-the-mill, cookie-cutter salons, Katie went home and decided to take matters into her own hands by opening up her very own nail bar.  That dream was realized in March of 2009 when The Painted Nail first opened its doors.  The place was an immediate success, attracting celebrities and locals alike, and in 2010 Citysearch named The Painted Nail “the Best Mani/Pedi”.

ScreenShot2978 ScreenShot2979

ScreenShot2981 ScreenShot2982

The Painted Nail was so successful, in fact, that it was not long before Katie decided to expand, building a private party room upstairs from the salon (pictured above) and The Hair and Make-Up Bar next door.   (Katie is currently engaged to music producer Walter Afanasieff, which explains the numerous multi-platinum records which decorate the party room’s walls.  I cannot tell you how incredibly cool it was to see those records in person!)

P1020555

During her November visit, Lavonna had gotten her nails done by manicurist Lisa Person and had insisted that I do the same on my visit.  And I am so glad that she did, because Lisa was nothing short of UH-MA-ZING!  Not only does the woman give an incredible massage, but she also has to be one of THE nicest people I have ever met in my life.  I had so much fun just hanging out with her and dishing about Tinseltown that the pedicure almost seemed to be beside the point.

P1020557

And she even painted these amazing little flowers on my toes, which I am in love with.  I do have to note, though, that when I walked in the door, the GC took one look at my feet and said, “Your toes look ridiculous!”  LOL LOL LOL  Ah, men!  Gotta love ‘em!

[ad]

ScreenShot2986 ScreenShot2985

ScreenShot2987 ScreenShot2988

The first episode of Nail Files premiered in June of last year and was an immediate hit, drawing in almost 1.6 million viewers.  And while a series about a nail salon does not sound like it would be very interesting, I watched an episode while doing research for this post and can honestly say that it was riveting!  And the fact that celebs regularly drop-in only adds to the allure.

ScreenShot2971 ScreenShot2973

ScreenShot2974 ScreenShot2975

In the episode I watched, which was titled “Let’s Do The Oscars!”, Dean McDermott stopped by to pick up some gifts for his wife, Tori Spelling.

ScreenShot2964 ScreenShot2967

ScreenShot2965 ScreenShot2966

The Painted Nail was also featured in the Season 1 episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills titled “Payback’s a Bitch . . . Just Ask Your Husband” in the scene in which Kim Richards and Taylor Armstrong try to mend their volatile friendship over Ice Cream Sundae manicures.  And the salon was also supposedly featured in an episode of Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, but I was not able to figure out which one.

P1010808 P1010810

Besides being a filming location, The Painted Nail is also a celebrity hot spot.  Just a few of the stars who have gotten their mani and pedi on there include Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, singer Tiffany, Sarah Chalke, Lisa Rinna, Debbie Gibson, Vanessa Williams, the Jersey Shore girls, Paula Abdul, Candace Cameron, Teri Hatcher, Haylie Duff, Hilary Duff, Melina Kanakaredes, Nicole Eggert, and Brooke Burke.

ScreenShot2990

On an AMAZING side-note – For Christmas, fellow stalker Lavonna gifted me with a pair of Tom Ford “Jennifer” sunglasses, the very same sunglasses that my girl Jen Aniston wears on an almost daily basis.   As you can imagine, I almost had a full-blown heart-attack upon opening the box!  I have been coveting those sunglasses for about three years now and the fact that I now have a pair . . . well, let’s just say that I am still pinching myself over it!  Best!  Present!  Ever!  Thank you, Lavonna!

imitating-jen-1 ScreenShot2989

Now we’re twins! Winking smile (And yes, I do realize I am a total dork!)

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for telling me about this location and for the fabulous gift card!  (And for the amazing sunglasses!)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Painted Nail, from Nail Files, is located at 13327 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks.  You can visit the salon’s official website here.  I highly recommend requesting manicurist Lisa Person – she is incredible!

Kathy Griffin’s House from “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List”

P1010853

When fellow stalkers Lavonna, Melissa, Beth, Kim, and Sandy came to town from Ohio for a little stalking vacay two weeks ago, they scored four tickets to the November 14th taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show and invited me to tag along.  A few days before the episode was set to film, though, Lavonna learned that not only would the cast of The Twilight Saga flicks be Ellen’s guests for that particular show, but that the entire audience would be treated to a free screening of the series’ latest installment, Breaking Dawn.  Because I am in no way, shape or form a Twi-Hard, I decided to sit this one out, as did fellow non-Twi-Hard Sandy, and the two of ended up spending the day together stalking from one end of Los Angeles to the other.  One of the places we stopped at was the hilltop abode that belongs to comedienne Kathy Griffin and that is featured regularly on her Bravo reality series Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.  The only problem was that, as you can see above, I had the incorrect address written down in my trusty “To-Stalk” notebook and Sandy and I wound up stalking the wrong house!  Not kidding!  As Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, would say, “FAIL!”

P1020057

I was informed of this location by a fellow stalker named Melissa (not the same Melissa visiting from Ohio), who had stalked the dwelling way back in the summer of 2009 and had emailed to tell me about it.  Melissa is a huge fan of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and had scoured the internet looking for the comedienne’s home prior to a visit to Los Angeles.  And while she could not find its exact address, she did manage to track down some photos of the house on a blog in which the street name was mentioned.  She searched through the many pictures featured on the blog and, in true stalker fashion, keenly spotted an address number of “2968” on the wall of a neighboring residence.  Love it!  When Melissa emailed me to let me know about the property, she said that it was “across from 2968 Passmore Drive in the Hollywood Hills”.  My blondeness must have been in full effect when I copied the information to my “To-Stalk” list, though, because I somehow failed to take note of the “across from” part, and Sandy and I wound up taking pictures in front of the house numbered “2968”.  Doh!  After realizing my mistake later that same week, I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on back out to the Hollywood Hills so that I could stalk the right place.

P1020052 P1020063

P1010854 P1020058

Kathy’s 4-bedroom, 5-bath, 8,098-square-foot home was originally built by a former Los Angeles City fireman/actor named Bernard Subkoski and his wife, Celeste Dickinson.  The couple purchased the half-acre vacant plot of land on which the dwelling now sits sometime during the late 1990s and construction on it took four years to complete.

P1010856

Bernard and Celeste dubbed their residence “Wings”, as, according to Bernard, it very closely resembled a bird in flight.  Due to medical issues, though, the couple was forced to put their dream home on the market shortly after it was completed and in April of 2004 it was purchased by Kathy for a cool $2.85 million. Kathy later sued Bernard and Celeste over some structural problems with the dwelling.

P1010857 P1010855

As you can see above, located just outside of the main gate is some sort of statuary that was built to resemble the house.  I originally thought that the structure was a mailbox, but upon closer inspection it did not seem to have any sort of a mail slot, so I am unsure of what it actually is.

[ad]

ScreenShot2243 ScreenShot2247

ScreenShot2236 ScreenShot2239

ScreenShot2250 ScreenShot2249

The home, which in this stalker’s never-to-be-humble opinion is strictly A-List, is featured weekly on Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.

ScreenShot2251 ScreenShot2252

ScreenShot2238 ScreenShot2248

ScreenShot2241 ScreenShot2246

The interior is also shown regularly.  Kathy temporarily moved out of the property in the Season 6 episode of the show titled “Toddlers and Remodelers” due to a massive remodel she had just commissioned.

ScreenShot2231 ScreenShot2233

ScreenShot2230 ScreenShot2232

The home was also featured in an April 2009 OK! Magazine photo shoot in which Kathy posed in a bikini.  And it also popped up in the February 2006 issue of W Magazine, in the August 8th, 2005 issue of In Touch Magazine, and in an episode of MTV Cribs.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Kathy Griffin’s house from Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List is located at 2955 Passmore Drive in the Hollywood Hills.

The Pasadena Recovery Center from “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew”

P1010821

One location that I stalked with my good friends, fellow stalkers Lavonna, Beth, Melissa, Kim, and Sandy, while they were in town visiting from Ohio last week was the Pasadena Recovery Center from Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.  And while I had never before actually seen an episode of the VH1 reality series, which just finished up its fifth season, Beth is a MAJOR die-hard fan of it and the treatment facility was the Number One location on her Southern-California-To-Stalk list.  So after grabbing lunch at The Slaw Dogs – a Pasadena-area hot dog restaurant that has quickly become my most recent culinary obsession – the six of us headed on over to North Raymond Avenue to check out the famous rehabilitation center in person.

P1010822 P1010823

P1010825 P1010826

Before doing research on the Pasadena Recovery Center for today’s post, I had incorrectly assumed that it had been founded by Celebrity Rehab star/executive producer Dr. Drew Pinsky, but as it turns out I do not think that the “Silver Fox” (as Chelsea Handler likes to call him) has much to do with the place outside of the filming the show.  In reality, the facility was started in 2001 by Dr. Lee Bloom, a former psychiatrist for the United States Air Force.  When Dr. Bloom passed away in 2008, his son Michael and daughter Alison took over the center’s management and they continue to run it today.

P1010828 P1010829

P1010824 P1010827

I am very happy to report that the Pasadena Recover Center looks EXACTLY the same in person as it does on TV.  Before writing today’s post, I sat down to watch a few episodes of the series and found it to be highly addictive (pun intended).  It is a mesmerizing, compassionate look into the face of addiction and has made me more understanding of certain celebrities who I previously thought were pretty useless.  Bai Ling’s storyline, for example, was especially heartbreaking and, where I had before thought the actress was out-of-her-mind crazy, after hearing about her childhood I feel nothing but sorrow and empathy towards her.  That poor, poor woman.  It is amazing she is even able to stand after what she lived through.  Amy Fisher, on the other hand, is (in this stalker’s never-to-be-humble opinion) nothing but a heartless, sociopathic, spoiled brat who makes me want to put my fist through the TV, but I digress.  Winking smile Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew is a fabulous show and I highly recommend checking it out.

[ad]

ScreenShot2168 ScreenShot2169

ScreenShot2149 ScreenShot2158

All five seasons of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew have taken place at the Pasadena Recovery Center, during which participants move into the holistic treatment facility for 21 days in the hopes of beating their various addictions.

ScreenShot2153 ScreenShot2161

ScreenShot2159 ScreenShot2160

The real life interior of the facility also appears regularly on the show.  You can check out some photographs of that interior on the Pasadena Recovery Center’s official website here.

ScreenShot2163 ScreenShot2167

ScreenShot2164 ScreenShot2165

The backyard and pool area also show up quite frequently on the series, although there are, sadly, no images of those spaces featured on the facility’s website.  Besides Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, the Pasadena Recovery Center also appeared on the WE tv series Secret Lives of Women.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Pasadena Recovery Center from Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew is located at 1811 North Raymond Avenue in Pasadena.  Please remember that it is a working rehabilitation facility, with actual patients whose privacy needs to be respected at all times.  You can visit the Pasadena Recovery Center’s official website here.

The Grill on Main from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”

P1010717

Last month, while watching the Season 2 episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills titled “Game Night Gone Wild”, I just about fell over when sisters Kim and Kyle Richards (neither of whom I can actually stand) walked into The Grill on Main – a La-Quinta-area eatery that I had been to just a few weeks prior while visiting my parents for the weekend in the Coachella Valley.  Well, been to and walked out of, I should say.  Winking smile My parents, the Grim Cheaper, and I had headed to The Grill on Main one night to grab cocktails before dinner, but, unfortunately, the only champagne (my mom’s and my drink of choice) that the restaurant served was seriously terrible, so we ended up leaving and going to the nearby Hog’s Breath Inn instead.  But I digress.  Anyway, for my mom’s 60th birthday, which was last Monday, her very best friend, Doina, flew out – from Switzerland – to surprise her and we all spent the week together in the Desert.  One morning during our stay, after grabbing coffee at the Old Town Coffee Company (which has recently replaced Starbucks as my favorite coffee house – I know, gasp!), I dragged my mom and Doina across the street to stalk The Grill on Main.

P1010719 P1010720

P1010721 P1010722

The Grill on Main, which first opened in December of 2010 and serves American-style fare, is a super cute little eatery.  And, despite its lacking in the champagne department (which is odd being that the manager is a certified sommelier), my parents, who have dined there several times since, report that the food is quite excellent and reasonably-priced.

[ad]

ScreenShot2136 ScreenShot2137

ScreenShot2138 ScreenShot2142

In the “Game Night Gone Wild” episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Kim and Kyle head over to the The Grill on Main to grab lunch while they are on vacation in the Coachella Valley.  During their meal, Kyle, as usual, tries to boss Kim around by telling her that she needs to move into a home that is closer to hers.  Little does she know that Kim is actually planning to move in with her secret boyfriend of over a year.  Ah, the drama!

P1010727

While stalking the restaurant, I had incorrectly thought that Kim and Kyle had dined just to the left of the restaurant’s bar area and even took a picture in that spot.

ScreenShot2139 ScreenShot2140

P1010723 P1010724

But the sisters had actually dined outside, on The Grill on Main’s patio area, right in front of the fireplace.  Ugh, I can be such a blonde sometimes!  Winking smile

P1010728

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Grill on Main, from the “Game Night Gone Wild” episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, is located at 78065 Main Street in Old Town La Quinta.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

The So-Called Houdini Ruins

P1010255

One location that I have wanted to stalk for just about forever now is the so-called Harry Houdini Estate, or Houdini Ruins, located at the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Lookout Mountain Avenue in Laurel Canyon.  I first read about the site five years ago in fave stalking tome Hollywood: The Movie Lover’s Guide, but, for whatever reason, had never made the trip out there to stalk it.  Then, a couple of weeks ago, the Grim Cheaper and I found ourselves in the Laurel Canyon area and decided that, because the locale had long been rumored to be haunted by the ghost of the famous magician, the timing could not have been more perfect to finally stop by.  It was not until after I got home and did some research that I discovered that Houdini had most likely never even set foot on the property, let alone lived there, and therefore had pretty much no reason whatsoever to haunt it.

P1010256 P1010260

P1010259 P1010271

It is not exactly clear how or why the rumor about the Houdini Estate got started.  According to an October 1989 Los Angeles Times article written by Michael Szymanski, the first printed mention of it was in Kenneth Schessler’s 1972 book This is Hollywood.  When Szymanski told Schessler that his information about the Estate had largely been panned, Schessler responded, “I heard about the controversy, but I proved it by finding it in a directory of some sort.  I just can’t remember where.”  Um, OK, I believe you, then!  Winking smile What is known as fact is this: Harry Houdini did reside in the Los Angeles area for a brief period around 1919 while filming two movies for the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation/Paramount Pictures.  Where he stayed during that time, though, is anybody’s guess.  Journalist Maurice Zolotow once researched the magician for a Los Angeles Magazine article and said, “Houdini resided in Hollywood for about two years, yet I’ve never been able to discover where he lived.”  Further adding to the mystery and allure of the Laurel Canyon site is the fact that the 40-room Italianate-style mansion which once stood there burned entirely to the ground in 1959.  All that remained after the blaze were some ornate stone staircases, cement walls, and the former servant’s quarters.  The main home was never rebuilt and the ruins of the fire, which came to be known as the “Houdini Ruins” and which you can take a look at here and here, were visible from Laurel Canyon Boulevard for years to come.  As you can see in the above photographs, though, that is, unfortunately, no longer the case.

P1010257 P1010268

P1010258 P1010270

However it began, the Houdini Estate rumor spread even further after the fire and countless websites and books still to this day state that the Laurel Canyon ruins were once a part of the magician’s property, despite many claims to the contrary.  Houdini historian Manny Weltman even went so far as to say, “Houdini never set foot on those grounds, and anyone who says so is lying. If anyone comes up with proof I’ll eat my magic hat.”  When the site went up for sale in 1989, Merrill Lynch hired two different title search companies to research the title, but neither could find any link to Houdini.  Today, the location, which mainly serves as an event venue and is known as “Houdini House”, consists of a 3.9-acre plot of land with landscaped terraces, waterfalls, ponds, hiking trails, meandering pathways, and an Old-Hollywood-style home that sleeps twelve.  One of my friends actually attended a wedding at the estate and said it was an absolutely magical experience.  So, whether Houdini ever set foot on the property or not seems to be entirely irrelevant, as it has somehow managed to generate a mystique all on its own.  Oh, what I would not give to throw a Halloween party there!  Can you imagine how incredibly cool that would be?!?!  And while the Houdini House rental rates are actually quite reasonable, somehow I still don’t think the GC would ever go for it.

[ad]

ScreenShot1880 ScreenShot1881

ScreenShot1883 ScreenShot1885

ScreenShot1887 ScreenShot1888

Someone who did go for it, though, was The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Taylor Armstrong, who in the Season 1 episode titled “It’s My Party and I’ll Spend If I Want To”, famously threw her 4-year-old daughter, Kennedy, a $60,000 Mad-Hatter-themed birthday party at the Houdini Estate.  And no, that was not a typo – the party, which was for a FOUR-YEAR-OLD, actually cost $60,000!!!!!  The spectacle caused fellow Housewife Lisa Vanderpump to ask, “What ever happened to Pin the Tail on the Donkey?”  Love it!

P1010266

The bust of Houdini which was shown in the Housewives episode can just barely be viewed from Laurel Canyon Boulevard and is pictured above, albeit quite blurrily.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The so-called Houdini Ruins are located at 2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Laurel Canyon.  Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, no part of the property is visible from the street, so I cannot really recommend stalking it.  You can visit the Houdini House’s official website here.

The Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells

P1070333

One Palm-Springs-area hotel that I have long wanted to vacation at – not because it is a filming location, but because it is just simply beautiful – is the Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells.  The Grim Cheaper and I ate dinner at the resort once upon a time many years back and I have been enamored of the place ever since.  So for our recent Coachella Valley getaway two weekends ago, I begged the GC to book us a room there.  And even though the rates weren’t exactly inexpensive despite the intense summer heat, he readily agreed!  Shocking, I  know!  It was not until the very end of our stay, as we were checking out of the hotel, that I discovered, thanks to the super nice concierge on duty, that the resort was not only something of a celebrity hot-spot, but also a filming location!  They say that the more you think about something, the more you attract that thing to you and in this particular instance that was definitely the case.  It seems I always find myself stalking, even when I am not necessarily intending to.  Winking smile

P1070343 P1070331

P1070328 P1070329

P1070336 P1070338

The Miramonte Resort & Spa, which has been awarded Four Diamond status from AAA, boasts 215 spacious guest rooms sprawled throughout an 11-acre piece of property that has been designed to resemble a Tuscan villa.  The well-manicured grounds include several flower and herb gardens, outdoor fireplaces and piazzas, meandering pathways, hammocks tucked away in shaded little spaces, sparkling fountains, 24-hour room service (LOVE it!), a two-story, 12,000-square-foot spa, which was named the “#1 Resort Spa in North America & Caribbean” by Conde Nast Traveler, two 18-hole championship golf courses, two pools, including an adults-only pool, and over 30,000 square feet of event and meeting space.  And while the resort is quite large and boasts countless amenities, it somehow manages to retain an intimate, secluded, and quiet ambiance.  Both the GC and I absolutely loved the place!

P1070302 P1070303

P1070308 P1070309

Best of all, we somehow got upgraded to a 425-square-foot “Estate Room” during our stay, which featured a full marble bathroom, two queen-sized ‘Desert Dream Beds’, a sitting area, free wireless internet (which the GC was absolutely floored about), a 42-inch flat screen TV, and striking views of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

[ad]

ScreenShot606 ScreenShot608

ScreenShot607 ScreenShot609

The Miramonte’s SUPER-nice concierge, who spent about twenty minutes speaking with me about filming locations and my website, informed me that The Real Housewives of Orange County had once filmed at the hotel.  In the Season 6 episode titled “Body Shots”, Housewife Peggy Tanous and her husband, Micah, spent the weekend with their two daughters, Capri and London, in the Miramonte’s Presidential Suite.  It was while laying by the resort’s pool that baby Capri cut her finger and had to be rushed to the hospital – which was just a slight overreaction to the situation in my opinion, but I digress.

ScreenShot605 ScreenShot604

ScreenShot600 ScreenShot602

The concierge also informed me that in the Season 1 episode of Flavor of Love titled “Flav’s Trippin’”, Flavor Flav took contestants Brooke Thompson, aka “Pumkin”, and Nicole Alexander, aka “Hoopz”, to the Miramonte for a spa getaway.  Just a few of the other celebrities who have been spotted at the resort include Larry King, three-time Olympic figure skating World Champion Peggy Fleming, Bernie Mac, George Lopez, Tony Bennett, Tommy Hilfiger, Chris Tucker, and Judy Sheindlin, aka “Judge Judy”.

P1070405

On a side note – while at my parents’ new house this past weekend, I came across a few celebrity autographs that I had compiled over the years, including the one pictured above from Miss Liza Minnelli.  And even though, because I have always been far more into photographs than autographs, there are not that many of them, I thought it might be fun to post a few on my site.  So I created a new page titled “Celebrity Guest Book”.  You can check it out here.  Enjoy!

And a very big HAPPY ANNIVERSARY goes out to my parents today, who are celebrating a whopping 37 years of marriage!  Congratulations, guys!  I love you!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Miramonte Resort & Spa is located at 45000 Indian Wells Lane in Indian Wells.  You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood

P1070162

Two weekends ago, while doing some stalking in the Hollywood area, I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to the Hollywood & Highland Shopping Center to grab a quick drink at Lucky Strike Lanes, an oft-used filming location and celebrity hot-spot.  While I had first heard about the bowling alley/lounge when it originally opened eight years ago and knew of its appearance on numerous reality series, for whatever reason I did not have much interest in stalking the place.  Then, a couple of months ago, fellow stalker Lavonna happened to tell me a little bit of trivia about the alley that had me absolutely chomping at the bit to go see it.

P1070163 P1070161

Lavonna informed me that when the iconic Hollywood Star Lanes, which first opened in 1960 and was where the majority of the movie The Big Lebowski was filmed, was torn down back in 2003 to make way for a new elementary school, the owners of the soon-to-be opened Lucky Strike decided to purchase all of the wood that comprised Hollywood Star’s Lane #7.  They then proceeded to use that wood to construct the bar at their new establishment.  How incredibly cool is that?

ScreenShot456 P1070160

They also purchased the exterior neon signage from Hollywood Star Lanes to use as a wall hanging.  Love, love, love it!

P1070158 P1070159

P1070165 P1070166

As you can see above, Lucky Strike Lanes is a VERY cool little spot.  Unfortunately, I have to say that I was not all that crazy about the food.  And sadly, the GC and I did not have time to do any bowling while we were there, but fellow stalker Lavonna has plans to hit the place up when she comes to visit L.A. in November, so you know what that means – I will definitely be doing a re-stalk!  Smile

[ad]

ScreenShot449 ScreenShot454

ScreenShot453 ScreenShot452

As I mentioned above, Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood is an oft-used filming location.  In the Season 6 episode of The Hills titled “The Elephant in the Room”, Kristin Cavallari, Brodie Jenner, Frankie Delgado, Stacie Hall (aka Stacie the Bartender), and Audrina Patridge and her new boyfriend, singer Ryan Cabrera, spent the evening bowling and flirting at Lucky Strike.

ScreenShot480 ScreenShot482

ScreenShot484 ScreenShot481

Ryan Cabrera returned to the bowling alley to film the Season 1 episode of the ULTRA-stupid reality show Pretty Wild titled ”The Hearing”, in which he angers series star Tess Taylor by inviting a friend to accompany them on their date.

ScreenShot457 ScreenShot458

ScreenShot459 ScreenShot460

Vinnie Chase (aka Adrian Grenier), Eric Murphy (aka Kevin Connolly), Johnny ‘Drama’ Chase (aka Kevin Dillon), and Turtle (aka Jerry Ferrara) took their girlfriends, one of whom was Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester, to Lucky Strike for an evening of bowling in the Season 1 episode of Entourage titled “Date Night”.

ScreenShot462 ScreenShot467

ScreenShot464 ScreenShot466

In the Season 11 episode of America’s Next Top Model titled “Fierce Eyes”, J Alexander hosted a runway challenge at Lucky Strike in which the models had to practice walking down the super-slippery bowling lanes while wearing high heels.

ScreenShot485 ScreenShot487

ScreenShot488 ScreenShot486

In the Season 1 episode of No Ordinary Family titled “No Ordinary Sidekick”, Jim Powell (aka Michael Chiklis), along with his family, Stephanie (aka Dexter’s Julie Benz), Daphne (aka Kay Panabaker), and J.J. (aka Jimmy Bennett), and their friends Katie Andrews (aka The O.C.’s Autumn Reeser) and George St. Cloud (aka Romany Malco), spend the evening using their super-powers to bowl at Lucky Strike.

ScreenShot473 ScreenShot474

ScreenShot478 ScreenShot479

And while I had originally believed that the Season 1 episode of fave show 90210 titled “Lucky Strike” was filmed at the Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood, as it turns out filming actually took place at the chain’s Torrance location, inside of the Del Amo Shopping Center.

ScreenShot468 ScreenShot470

ScreenShot471 ScreenShot472

And the Season 2 episode of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County titled “Since You Been Gone” was filmed at the chain’s Block at Orange location.

IMG_1402

As I mentioned above, Lucky Strike Lanes is also a veritable celebrity magnet. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there include Drew Barrymore, Liv Tyler, John Mayer, Glee’s Cory Monteith, The Bachelorette’s Ali Fedotowsky and Roberto Martinez, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Rumor Willis, Geena Davis, Robin Williams, Paris Hilton, Nick Carter, Matthew Lillard, Fergie and Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas, Mandy Moore, Judy Greer, Vanessa Hudgens, Courteney Cox, Nicole Richie, Trevor Donovan, Jessica Simpson, and even my girl Jen Aniston.  I once spotted David Arquette walking into the bowling alley for some sort of celebrity event back in December of 2008 and while I tried to take the above photograph of him, as you can see, it did not turn out very well due to the bright lights on the red carpet. You can definitely tell it is him, though.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for telling me about this location!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Lucky Strike Lanes is located at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, inside of the Hollywood & Highland Shopping Center, in Hollywood.  You can visit the bowling alley’s official website here.

Falcon Lair – The Former Estate of Rudolph Valentino

IMG_6156

Way back in December of 2009, I got an email from a fellow stalker named Todd who wanted to know if I had any information on Falcon Lair, the former Rudolph Valentino estate which he had heard was in the process of being torn down.  Amazingly enough, before receiving Todd’s email I had never before heard of Falcon Lair, nor did I know much about its legendary owner.  Rudolph Valentino, as it turns out, was the Brad Pitt/Johnny Depp – or, if you ask me, the Matt Lanter Winking smile – of his day.  The 1920’s Italian-born silent film star, who was dubbed the “Latin Lover” by the press, was so beloved by fans that on the day of his funeral in 1926 over 100,000 mourners lined the streets of New York near Saint Malachy’s Roman Catholic Church to pay their respects to the fallen icon.  So after reading Todd’s email, I immediately dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place to see if it was still standing.  Sadly though, it was pouring rain on that particular day and I was only able to jump out of the car for a brief moment to snap the above photograph and could not poke around the property to see if the estate had been razed.  And even though the mansion had remained at the very top of my “To Stalk” list ever since, the GC and I did not make it back out there until two weekends ago.

P1070155 P1070149

Falcon Lair was originally built by Beverly-Hills-real-estate-developer George Read in 1923 and was purchased by Rudolph Valentino two years later for $175,000.  Valentino dubbed the property “Falcon Lair” in honor of The Hooded Falcon, a never-completed movie the film star tried to produce with his wife Natacha Rambova in 1924.  The isolated Benedict Canyon manse, which Valentino decorated with lavish antiques, fine art, and imported European furnishings, was to be the couple’s dream house, but sadly Natacha divorced him shortly after they moved in.  Sadder still, Valentino died from peritonitis less than a year later, on August 23, 1926, at the tender age of 31.  The estate was then sold and much of the land parceled off.  After a succession of different owners, Falcon Lair was purchased by heiress Doris Duke in 1953.  The reclusive Duke, who at birth had been dubbed “The Million Dollar Baby” thanks to her father’s extensive tobacco fortune, sadly passed away at the Lair on October 28th, 1993 at the age of 80.  Her death became a scandal when it was uncovered that Duke had not only made her butler, Bernard Lafferty, co-executor of her will, a job for which he was paid $500,000 a year, but that she had also bequested him a whopping $5 million from her estate.  Lafferty was eventually accused of playing a role in the heiress’ death, but those accusations were later proven unfounded.  In 1998, the Doris Duke Estate sold Falcon Lair for $2,294,000 and in 2003 the new owners began an extensive restoration and renovation project to bring the mansion back to its original grandeur. Sadly though, and apparently due to bureaucratic red tape, the construction was halted and the house put on the market shortly thereafter.  It was purchased yet again in 2006, at which point it was razed completely.  And with that another important piece of Los Angeles history was wiped away.

[ad]

ScreenShot433

During the time that Valentino lived there,  the 4700-square foot, two-level Falcon Lair boasted over 8 acres of land, 16 rooms, three master bedrooms, three baths, several fireplaces, a library, a detached four-car garage complete with a 120-gallon gasoline pump and upstairs four-bedroom servants’ quarters, a horse stable where Valentino kept his four Arabian horses, and extensive gardens filled with imported Italian trees.  Upon moving in, the star also had to construct a 9-foot cement wall surrounding the perimeter of the estate in order to keep out his more aggressive fans, who would often try to sneak onto the property.

P1070150 P1070151

Sadly, all that remains of the original Falcon Lair today are the front gates . . .

P1070152 P1070153

. . . and the former garage/servants’ quarters.

P1070156 P1070157

If you head away from the property by driving west on Bella Drive and then east on Cielo Drive, you can see the retaining wall that Valentino had built to keep out his trespassing fans.

Falcon Lair aerial view

And if you position Bing’s aerial map of the property facing south, you can catch a glimpse of the mansion before it was torn down, albeit not a very good one.

ScreenShot447

You can also see an aerial view of the backside of the mansion on fave website Virtual Globetrotting.

Falcon Lair stables

According to fave book Hollywood: The Movie Lover’s Guide, at some point in time the Falcon Lair stable was sold off and transformed into a private residence.  I was unaware of that fact at the time I stalked the place, though, so I unfortunately did not get any photographs of it.  An aerial view of the former stable/now house is pictured above.  You can read a more extensive history of Falcon Lair, as well as see some interior photographs of the estate, on the Rudolph Valentino Homepage website here.

ScreenShot434 ScreenShot435

ScreenShot436 ScreenShot439

ScreenShot437 ScreenShot438

Directly across the street from Falcon Lair is the absolutely AMAZING John Lautner-designed Schwimmer Residence, where the Carter family (Backstreet Boy Nick and his siblings B.J., Aaron, Leslie, and Angel) lived during the filming of their short-lived 2006 reality series House of Carters.  (I apologize for the crap-tastic screen captures, by the way.  Unfortunately, I had to get them off of YouTube, which is why they are so fuzzy.)

ScreenShot444 ScreenShot445

Sadly though, none of the Schwimmer Residence, which was built in 1982 and boasts 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, and almost 6,000 square feet of living space, is visible from the street.  Oh, what I wouldn’t give to see that house!  You can check out some great photos of the residence on fave website Zillow here and on the Plan It Locations website here.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Todd for asking me to stalk this location!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Falcon Lair, the former Rudolph Valentino estate, was located at 1436 Bella Drive in the Benedict Canyon area of Beverly Hills.  Directly across the street, at 1435 Bella Drive, is the Schwimmer Residence where the House of Carters reality series was filmed.  Rudolph Valentino’s former horse stables can be found at 10051 Cielo Drive, just down the road from Falcon Lair.  And just up the street from the stables, at 10066 Cielo Drive (formerly 10050 Cielo Drive), is Villa Bella, the mansion that was built on the site of the home where Sharon Tate was murdered.