Vitello’s Italian Restaurant from “The Deep End of the Ocean”

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A couple of weeks ago, after doing some stalking in Beverly Hills, the Grim Cheaper and I decided to head over to the Valley to grab dinner at one of our very favorite eateries in all of Los Angeles – Vitello’s Italian Restaurant in Studio City.  And even though I have blogged about the place twice before – first in June of 2008 and then again later that November –  due to the fact that it is set to undergo an extensive – and when I say extensive, I mean extensive – renovation and remodel in the near future, I figured that it was most definitely worthy of a re-post.

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Vitello’s was originally opened by Sal Vitello, a native New York baker, in 1964.  Ironically enough, at the time the place was not an Italian restaurant, but a modest subway sandwich shop which featured fresh, homemade bread.  In 1977, Sal sold his little eatery to brothers Joe and Steve Restivo, Sicilian natives who migrated to Los Angeles via Chicago.  The brothers added down-home, hearty Italian-style staples to the Vitello’s menu, quickly turning the restaurant into a Los Angeles institution.

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Thanks to its proximity to the many area movie studios, along with its fabulous fare, it was not long before Hollywood took notice of Vitello’s.  As you can see above, the restaurant’s main entrance is literally covered with autographed headshots.  Just a few of the stars who have been spotted dining at Vitello’s over the years include Frank Sinatra, Sally Kellerman, Ana Ortiz, Tony Danza, Jason Alexander (the one from Seinfeld, not Britney Spears’ ex-husband Winking smile), Life Goes On’s Chris Burke, Candice Bergen, Melissa Joan Hart, Frankie Muniz, Michael Landon, Joanna Kerns, Dom DeLuise, Rick Fox, Scott Baio, Tom Smothers, and Wilford Brimley.

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The restaurant’s most famous celebrity guest, though, has to be actor Robert Blake, who used to be a regular patron of the eatery, dining there at least three times a week. On the evening of May 4, 2001, Blake notoriously grabbed dinner there with his then-wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley, in a booth that, according to the above photograph, was located in the bar area.

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The actual bar area is pictured above. Shortly after the couple finished their meal, Bonnie was shot and killed just around the corner from the restaurant. And while Blake claimed that at the time of the shooting he had been walking back to the restaurant to retrieve a gun he had inexplicably left behind in his booth, he was arrested and charged with Bakley’s murder on April 18, 2002. He was then acquitted of those charges in March of 2005, but a few months later was found liable for Bakley’s wrongful death in a civil court.   Unlike was the case with Brentwood’s Mezzaluna Restaurant, where Nicole Brown Simpson ate her last meal and which closed shortly thereafter, Vitello’s association with the crime only seemed to further the eatery’s fame and made the place even more of a Valley hot spot.

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In 2005, Joe and Steve Restivo, seeking retirement, sold Vitello’s to Matt Epstein, a Sherman Oaks real estate agent who had been a regular patron of the restaurant since childhood.  And while Epstein kept the menu and décor largely the same for quite some time, earlier this year he brought in a new chef, Tonino Cardia, and completely revamped the menu.  And I am very sad to report that it is not nearly as good as it used to be.  Gone are the vast majority of the hearty Vitello’s staples that the GC and I had come to know and love and the few items that the new menu did retain have been completed made over.  The chicken marsala – which used to be my favorite entree – is a lackluster version of its former self and Vitello’s famous garlic bread now tastes much like the kind that can be purchased in the frozen food aisle of your local supermarket.  Such an incredible shame!

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There are also plans in the works to gut the interior of the restaurant and give it a completely new look.  Even the famous Vitello’s wall mural will be coming down, as will the vintage leather booths.  The new design will apparently feature French doors in the entryway and a huge olive tree in the middle of the dining room.  And while it all sounds lovely, I am of the mantra that “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it”.  Vitello’s has been a veritable Los Angeles institution for decades, always packed to the gills whenever we have dined there.  It is widely noted that 59% of new restaurants close within three years of their opening, so for an eatery that has remained successful for over thirty-four years, you have to wonder why the owners would change a thing!  It is such a shame!  And while the super-nice manager came over to speak with us after we had expressed our disappointment with the new fare and even offered to comp our meal (which we turned down – we were not looking for a free meal, but just wanted to voice our opinion that the former cuisine was one hundred times better than the current), I am sad to say that I do not think we will ever be dining at Vitello’s again – the food was that bad!

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Besides being a celebrity hangout, our super-nice waitress also informed us that Vitello’s has been used as a filming location!  Ironically enough, it stood in for two different locations in the 1999 movie The Deep End of the Ocean.  The interior very briefly appeared as the supposed Madison, Wisconsin-area Italian restaurant where Pat Cappadora (aka Treat Williams) worked towards the beginning of the flick.

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And the exterior later popped us as Cappadora’s, the supposed Chicago-area restaurant that Pat founded with his father, Angelo (aka Tony Musante), in the middle of the movie.

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And while the interior was (I think) just a set, with its orange-toned walls, painted murals, and brickwork, it very closely resembles the real life interior of Vitello’s.  Our waitress also informed us that the restaurant will be featured in an upcoming episode of Whitney, the yet-to-be released television series which stars Chelsea-Lately-regular Whitney Cummings.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Vitello’s Restaurant, from The Deep End of the Ocean, is located at 4349 Tujunga Avenue in Studio City.  You can visit Vitello’s official website here.

The Other “Catch Me If You Can” House

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A few years ago during an acting class, my very favorite acting teacher, Annie, happened to mention that the Catch Me If You Can house was located just around the corner from where she then lived in Studio City.  She said she had been walking her dogs one afternoon back in 2002 and had stumbled upon a scene from the movie being filmed at a large, Colonial-style house that producers had dressed in Christmas decor and covered with fake snow.  Well, her story had me thoroughly confused as I knew that the large, Colonial-style house where Frank Abagnale Jr.’s (aka Leonardo DiCaprio’s) mother, Paula (aka Nathalie Baye), lived in the flick, which was dressed in Christmas décor and covered with fake snow for a scene, was located on East California Boulevard in Pasadena.  Annie insisted, though, that the house was located in Studio City and that she had watched much of the filming take place.  I didn’t think much of it at the time and figured it was just a case of producers scrapping one location for another mid-shoot, as has been known to happen sometimes during the course of a production.  It wasn’t until I was scanning through Catch Me If You Can back in March to make screen captures for my post on the Barclay Hotel that I realized that, as incredible as it may sound, there were actually TWO large, Colonial-style homes that had been dressed in Christmas decor and covered with fake snow in the flick!  As it turns out, the house Annie had told me about appeared briefly in the very beginning of the movie as the supposed New Rochelle, New York-area residence where Frank Jr. lived with his parents before they lost all of their money. 

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Once I realized that the house that Annie had told our class about had, in fact, appeared in the movie, I immediately got to work in tracking it down.  I knew where Annie’s former residence was located, so it was just a matter of searching around her neighborhood for the property.  Thanks to the home’s distinct corner location, it was not very hard to find.  And I dragged the GC right on out there to stalk the place this past weekend.  The Catch Me If You Can house is quite charming in person and is situated on an absolutely HUGE corner lot which measures .38 of an acre.  And while the landscaping in front of it has changed quite a bit since filming took place, it is still very recognizable from the movie.

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The residence appeared in two scenes in the movie.  It first popped up in the scene in which Frank Abagnale Sr. (aka Christopher Walken) and his wife Paula dance in their living room after attending an awards ceremony at the local Rotary Club.

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And it later appears in the scene in which the family is shown moving out of the house after having fallen upon hard times.

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And, as you can see in these photographs of the home, the real life interior, including the living room area  . . .

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. . .and one of the bedrooms, was used in the filming.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Frank’s parents’ house from the beginning of Catch Me If You Can is located at 12075 Valleyheart Drive in Studio City.

Kung Pao China Bistro from “The Office”

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Last Thursday night’s episode of The Office which was titled “The Search” was hands-down one of my all-time favorite episodes of the series ever!  I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it!  So, when fellow stalker Owen sent me an email the following day which listed all of the locations featured in it, I just about died of excitement!  As it turns out, Owen loved the episode just about as much as I did and spent a few hours tracking down each and every locale where filming had taken place.  The one I was most excited about stalking was Mr. Choo’s Chinese Food restaurant, which in reality is Kung Pao China Bistro located in Studio City.  So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on over there after stalking the nearby Aroma Coffee & Tea Company which I blogged about yesterday.  Well, amazingly enough, when we pulled up to the restaurant, the GC informed me that he had not only eaten there before, but that he had eaten there regularly while living in the Sherman Oaks area a little over a decade ago!  As it turns out, Kung Pao China Bistro was one of his mom’s very favorite Los Angeles restaurants and every time she came to visit she would insist on dining there.  Well, believe you me, as soon as I heard that I gave him quite a lashing being that he had watched “The Search” episode of The Office with me!  How he did not recognize a place that he used to visit regularly is absolutely beyond me!  I mean, have I not taught him anything???  Winking smile 

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In “The Search”, Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell) and Jim Halpert (aka John Krasinski) goes on a sales call in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  While stopping at a local gas station (which in reality is the Civic Center Gas Station and Mini Mart located at 6171 Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys), so that Michael can use the restroom, Jim gets an emergency phone call and winds up leaving Michael stranded, without a wallet or a cell phone.  Instead of panicking, Michael decides to take the opportunity to go on a “walkabout” and one of his stops is Mr. Choo’s Chinese Food where he eats a large meal even though he has no money to pay for it.  Well, Mr. Choo is none too happy with Michael’s “dine and dash” plan and decides to punish him in the best way he knows how.

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In the meantime, Erin Hannon (aka Ellie Kemper), Holly Flax (aka Amy Ryan), and Dwight Schrute (aka Rainn Wilson) go on a “manhunt/rescue mission” to track Michael down and bring him safely back to the Dunder Mifflin office. 

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They end up wandering into Mr. Choo’s, only to they discover that Michael has been placed on the restaurant’s “Thief Wall”.

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And in a genius bit of writing, after Dwight, Erin, and Holly leave Mr. Choo’s, the camera closes in on a photograph of fellow Dunder Mifflin-ite Creed Bratton (aka Creed Bratton) on the “Thief Wall”, a moment which had me literally LOL-ing.  Smile

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The owners of Kung Pao China Bistro literally could NOT have been nicer and allowed me to take all the photographs of the place that I wanted, even though I was not actually dining there.  They also answered all of my silly little questions about the filming and told me that everyone involved was extremely nice. 

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The owner also let me know that the reason her property was ultimately chosen for the episode was because of the large parking lot situated directly adjacent to the restaurant.  The location manager was apparently very excited that there was a parking area where all of the production trucks could be held that was in such close proximity to where filming would be taking place.

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I could not remember exactly where the “Thief Wall” was located in the episode (which is why I really need to start carrying screen captures with me when I go on these stalking ventures!), so I unfortunately did not get a good photograph of the right spot.  It is just to the right of the restaurant’s front door, though.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen for finding this location!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Kung Pao China Bistro, aka Mr. Choo’s Chinese Food restaurant from the “The Search” episode of The Office, is located at 11838 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City.  The Civic Center Gas Station and Mini Mart which was also featured in the episode is located at 6171 Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys

Aroma Coffee & Tea Company in Studio City

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As I mentioned in Monday’s post, despite my drama-filled day on Friday, this past weekend actually turned out to be pretty darn nice.  It all started with a Saturday morning stalking trip out to Studio City’s Aroma Coffee & Tea Company, which I had read about the previous week while doing some online research on the similarly-named Aroma Bakery & Café on Sunset Boulevard.  As it turns out, Aroma Coffee & Tea Company is a big-time celebrity hotspot and since I love all things having to do with coffee and celebrities, I was absolutely DYING to stalk the place!  So, bright and early Saturday morning I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there.  And let me tell you,  I pretty much fell in love with the place immediately upon walking through its front doors.  The full-service café is actually a former residence which owner Mark Gunsky transformed into a restaurant just about fifteen years ago.  And I have to say that the result of his work is quite possibly the most charming little café I have ever visited.

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The quaint little Aroma Coffee & Tea Company is tucked away on Studio City’s bustling Tujunga Avenue and one could easily walk right by it without even realizing it was there. 

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But that has apparently not been a problem because, as you can see in the above photographs, the place was absolutely JAM-PACKED when we showed up to stalk it.  We could hardly get in the door!  It is not very hard to see why the shop has become so popular over the years, though.

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There literally wasn’t one thing about the café that I didn’t absolutely LOVE – from the adorable little French bistro tables situated on the front sidewalk;

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to the charming living room area complete with working fireplace and built-in bookshelves;

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to the front porch;

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to the quaint backyard;

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to Portrait of a Bookstore, the teeny tiny little bookstore/gift shop tucked into the back of the Aroma space, which Yelp recently named “pound for pound, the coolest bookstore in L.A., if not the entire world”.  Every aspect of Aroma Coffee & Tea Company was warm and welcoming and I absolutely cannot wait to go back there for a re-stalk!  Oh and the coffee was FABULOUS, too!  It was just as good as Starbucks and while some people might consider that a jab, in my eyes there is no higher compliment when it comes to coffee! 

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Just a few of the stars who have been spotted at Aroma Coffee & Tea Company in recent months include Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Hudgens, Rachel Bilson, Zac Efron, AnnaLynne McCord, Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Vanessa Minnillo, Heather Morris (aka Glee’s Brittany Pierce), and William Shatner.  In fact, the place is such a celebrity hotspot that back in November of 2007 TMZ conducted a video feed of the premises which it streamed live on its site!  LOL

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Aroma Coffee & Tea Company is located at 4360 Tujunga Avenue in Studio City.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

Mike and Carol Brady’s Homes from the Pilot Episode of “The Brady Bunch”

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Earlier this week while perusing through fellow stalker Chas’ website, ItsFilmedThere, I came across his Brady Bunch page which details numerous filming locations from the beloved 1970s series and, let me tell you, I almost fell off my chair!  Especially when I saw that he not only had listed the location of the house where Mike Brady (aka Robert Reed) lived in the pilot episode of the series, which was titled “The Honeymoon”, but also the address of the home where Mike and Carol (aka Florence Henderson) tied the knot in that very same episode!  How I had never noticed those locations on his site before is beyond me, especially since I am absolutely obsessed with the series!  I immediately texted Chas to find out how he managed to track the two locations down and as it turns out he had, in typical Chas fashion, contacted the show’s creator Sherwood Schwartz!  Chas always somehow manages to go straight to the source, so to speak, when seeking out locations.  I recently enlisted his help in finding Chez Quis restaurant where Ferris Bueller (aka Matthew Broderick) pretended to be Abe Froman in fave movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and what did Chas do?  You guessed it – he somehow managed to track down actor Jonathan Schmock who played the restaurant’s snooty maître d’ in the scene.  As it turns out, Chez Quis restaurant was actually the now-defunct L’Orangerie restaurant in West Hollywood, but that’s a whole other story for a whole other post that I promise to write very soon.  Anyway, Chas got a message delivered to Sherwood Schwartz asking him for information about the Brady houses and who should call him back but writer/producer Lloyd Schwartz – aka Sherwood’s son!  So incredibly cool!  So, once I had the addresses I immediately ran out to stalk both of the locations.  YAY!  Thank you, Chas!  Smile

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The mid-century modern-style house pictured above is where architect Mike Brady lived with his three sons, Greg (aka Barry Williams), Peter (aka Christopher Knight), and Bobby (aka Mike Lookinland), in the “Honeymoon” episode of the series.  For whatever reason, when the second episode, titled “Dear Libby”, aired, Mike and the rest of the Brady clan were shown living in a different house – the Studio City abode that was featured on every episode of the series thereafter.

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Amazingly enough, the “Honeymoon” episode house still looks almost EXACTLY the same today as it did when the episode was filmed over 42 years ago!

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Even the three plants on the front porch are still strikingly similar to how they appeared in the episode!  Love it, love it, love it!

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Located just about three miles west of Mike’s house is the residence belonging to Carol Brady’s parents, which is the spot where Mike and Carol tied the knot in the pilot episode.

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Sadly though, while the house still looks very much the same as it did onscreen, there is now a large wall which surrounds the property and substantially obstructs the view of it from the road.  UGH! 

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Mike and Carol’s wedding took place in the home’s backyard, which is, of course, also not visible from the street.

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But you can catch a glimpse of it in the above aerial view.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Chas, from ItsFilmedThere, for finding these locations!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Mike Brady’s house from the pilot episode of The Brady Bunch is located at 12049 Iredell Street in Studio City.  Carol Brady’s parents’ house, where the Brady wedding took place, is located at 4101 Longridge Avenue in Sherman Oaks.

Drew Barrymore’s Childhood Home

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A few weeks ago, Drew Barrymore aficionado Ashley, from The Drewseum website, asked me and fellow stalker Owen for some help in tracking down the home where the young E.T. star lived from 1984 through 1988.  Over the years, Ashley had accumulated a few clues as to the property’s location, mostly from Drew’s autobiography Little Girl Lost, which was published in 1990.  In the book, co-author Todd Gold describes the house as “a lovely two-bedroom ranch-style home in Sherman Oaks, a comfortable upper-class neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley”.  With that vague bit of information, Ashley tried to track down the residence’s location, but didn’t have much success.  Then a few weeks ago, while looking at the Drew Barrymore Brasil fansite, she happened upon the above photograph of Drew from a 1987 photo shoot in which the then 12-year old actress was photographed while standing in front of her home.   And, lo and behold, an address number (4002) was visible!  YAY!  I just have to say here that I would absolutely die if I ever came across a photograph of my girl Jen A. standing in front of her childhood home.  What I wouldn’t give to be able to stalk that residence!  Anyway, armed with an address number, a city, and a picture of the front of the house, Owen set about tracking down the residence using aerial maps and Google Street View.  And, amazingly enough, about ten minutes later he had an address for us.  As it turns out, Drew’s former dwelling is not actually located in Sherman Oaks as author Todd Gold had described, but in the neighboring suburb of Studio City.  In Todd’s defense though, the house is located right on the border of Sherman Oaks and Studio City and, for whatever reason, city boundary lines quite often get blurred in that area. 

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Once Owen told me the address, I immediately dragged the Grim Cheaper – and both of my parents, for that matter – out to stalk the property.  And I am VERY happy to report that it still looks much the same today, over 23 years later!, as it did in the photograph from Drew’s photo shoot.

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Sadly, though, quite a bit of foliage has grown since the days when Drew called the place home, so I wasn’t able to take a picture that exactly matched Drew’s childhood photograph.  The one pictured above was my best effort.

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As you can see in the above photographs, though, several aspects of the house match up to Drew’s childhood picture, including the white door located next to the garage, the brick front stairwell, and the popped-out picture window located next to the front door. I was so hoping that the 4002 address post would still be standing at the front of the house, but alas that was not to be.

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You can also see in the above aerial views that both the shape of the home’s pool and the shape of its deck area match the pictures taken during Drew’s 1987 photo shoot perfectly.

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Drew’s former home is surprisingly normal-looking, especially considering that the E.T. phenomenon was living there during the height of her childhood fame. Of the home, Todd Gold says, “Compared to the West Hollywood bungalow they left behind, the move marked a significant leap up the economic ladder.  Not that the Barrymores were rich.  Not even close.  But they were comfortable, and for the first time they were no longer encumbered by the constant worry of making ends meet each month”.  The home, which was built in 1951, boasts two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and 1,763 square feet of living space.  Drew’s mom, Jaid, sold the house in the summer of 1988 in order to move into a smaller condominium which was easier to maintain being that Drew was spending the majority of her time on location filming movies.

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The above photographs were also taken at the star’s former home at what I’m guessing was around the year 1985.

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On a side note – I just finished reading Little Girl Lost, Drew’s autobiography which she wrote in the winter of 1988 at the tender age of 14.  For those who have yet to read the memoir, I highly recommend it!  Drew’s story is absolutely heartbreaking at times, but it is also incredibly empowering and uplifting.  I have always liked the actress, but I have such a massive amount of respect for her now after reading her story.  It is absolutely mindboggling to me that she hit rock bottom at such a young age and then was able to somehow pull herself together after experiencing such a tumultuous childhood.  She truly is an amazing person.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen for finding this location and to fellow stalker Ashley, from the Drewseum website, for challenging him to do so!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Drew Barrymore’s childhood home is located at 4002 Ethel Avenue in Studio City.

The Bistro Garden

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A couple of weeks ago, while searching online for different filming locations from The Office, I came across some information about an area restaurant which not only appeared in The Office, but in countless other productions over the years, as well – the Bistro Garden in Studio City.  So, I, of course, dragged the Grim Cheaper right out to stalk it that very weekend!  And I think it is safe to say that we both pretty much fell in love with the place immediately upon arriving!  The Bistro Garden was first opened by Carolyn Niklas Pappas, the daughter of famed restaurateur Kurt Niklas (who founded the enormously popular celebrity hotspots Bistro and the original Bistro Garden in Beverly Hills) and her husband Gregory Pappas in 1990.  Two decades later, the place is still one of the Valley’s most popular restaurants – and definitely its most romantic!  According to this 2009 Los Angeles Times article, restaurant reviewer Max Jacobson said of the Bistro Garden that it “may have been the most beautiful restaurant he had ever dined in”.  And he wasn’t exaggerating – the place is exquisite. 

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The Bistro Garden, which according to its website was modeled after a “European Wintergarden”, features a central indoor courtyard with a huge, peaked skylight roof, large French doors, and a perimeter of potted trees covered in twinkle lights, all of which give off the feeling of being outside in some sort of magical garden oasis.  And I swear they must pump some sort of rose fragrance through the air conditioning vents, because the place smells like fresh cut flowers – it’s AMAZING! 

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The restaurant’s wood-paneled mahogany bar area, where the Grim Cheaper and I ate, definitely evokes a feeling of Old Hollywood, especially with the Michael Buble and Frank Sinatra music that plays in the background.  Love it!  🙂  The staff also could NOT have been friendlier and answered all of my silly little questions about the filming that has taken place there over the years.  Oh, and the food was absolutely incredible, too!  And even though the restaurant is a bit pricey, the Grim Cheaper thoroughly enjoyed himself and said he can’t wait to go back!  That in and of itself is a testament to how good the place is.

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In the Season 6 episode of The Office titled “Double Date”, the Bistro Garden stood in for Paparazzo’s (LOL!), the Italian restaurant where Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell) hosted a birthday luncheon for Pam’s (aka Jenna Fischer’s) mom, Helene (aka Linda Purl).  It is there that Michael decides that Helene, at age 58, is far too old for him and promptly breaks up with her . . . in the middle of her birthday lunch. 

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Steve Carell also filmed a scene from 2005’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin at the Bistro Garden – the scene in which his character Andy attends a Date-A-Palooza speed-dating event.

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Randomly enough, The Office’s Mindy Kaling also made an appearance in that scene.

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In 2010’s Valentine’s Day, the Bistro Garden was the spot where Julia Fitzpatrick (aka Jennifer Garner) confronted her boyfriend, Dr. Harrison Copeland (aka Patrick Dempsey), after finding out that he was married.

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In 1997’s Liar Liar, the Bistro Garden was the spot where Jerry (aka Cary Elwes) proposed to Audrey (aka Maura Tierney).

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Bistro Garden has popped up twice in Desperate Housewives.  In the Season 2 episode titled “Remember (1)”, the restaurant’s bar area was where Gabrielle Solis (aka Eva Longoria Parker) discovered (wrongly) via a newscast that her husband Carlos (aka Ricardo Chavira) had died in a car accident. 

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The restaurant was also where Zach Young (aka Cody Kasch) unveiled himself to be Gabrielle’s secret admirer in the Season 3 episode of Desperate Housewives titled “Not While I’m Around”.

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The Bistro Garden also showed up twice on fave show Beverly Hills, 90210 – first in the Season 8 episode titled “Toil and Trouble” as the spot where Cooper Hargrove (aka Christopher Orr) gifted Valerie Malone (aka Tiffani Amber-Thiessen) with a diamond necklace.

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And second in the Season 10 episode titled “Laying Pipe”.  But in actuality only the exterior of the Bistro Garden was featured in the “Laying Pipe” episode.  

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As you can see in the above screen captures, the interior filming took place elsewhere.  The restaurant was also featured in an episode of Melrose Place, but because I didn’t really watch that show, I am unsure of exactly which episode.

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Bistro Garden is also something of a celebrity hotspot, as well.  Just a few of the celebs who have been spotted dining there recently include Taylor Lautner, Taylor Swift, and Steve Carell.

On a side note – I will not be publishing a new blog post for tomorrow, or for the next two Fridays.  Because of my upcoming wedding, I wrote all of my August blog posts in advance and unfortunately was only able to get enough done to publish four each week.  But I will be back on Monday with a whole new post.  🙂 

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Bistro Garden is located at 12950 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

Jim and Pam’s Wedding Church from “The Office”

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Another wedding-themed location that I stalked recently was the San Fernando Valley-area church where Jim Halpert (aka John Krasinski) married Pam Beesly (aka Jenna Fischer) in the Season Six episode of my new favorite show The Office titled “Niagara”.  I found out about this location quite a while ago, thanks to both fellow stalker Owen, who had told me about it in an email, and fellow stalker Snidely Whiplash, who posted a comment about it on my site.  And literally, as soon as I finished watching the “Niagara” episode a few weeks back, I dragged my fiancé right out to stalk the place.  Unfortunately, I must have been having a blonde moment at the time, though, because we stalked the church on a Saturday evening when it was, sadly, locked up and closed.  SUCH A BUMMER!  The experience taught me a very valuable lesson, though – if you are going to stalk a church, do so on a Sunday morning when it is almost guaranteed that the property will be open to the public.  😉

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In real life, the supposed Niagara Falls, New York-area church where Pam and Jim tied the knot, which was referred to as Spruce Avenue Presbyterian Church in the episode, is known as the Congregational Church of the Chimes and it can actually be found right here in Southern California, in the San Fernando Valley suburb of Sherman Oaks.  Jim and Pam’s wedding did not take place in the church’s main building, though, but in the smaller Walter H. Staves Chapel, which is pictured above.

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And while I didn’t get to see the inside of the chapel, my fiancé and I were able to wander around the church grounds quite a bit and, thanks to some very friendly parishioners who pointed me in the right direction, I got to stalk the fountain where Jim and Pam posed for the photograph that appeared on their official wedding website.  YAY!

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We also got to stalk the patch of grass where Jim kicked around a soccer ball before the wedding, so the day wasn’t a total loss.  🙂 

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My good friends, fellow stalkers Lavonna and Melissa, who were Office aficionados long before I was, stalked the church when they were in town this past April and had much better luck than I did.  As fate would have it, they happened to pull up to the property just as the church’s wedding coordinator, a super nice woman named Lila, was locking the chapel up.  They told her that they were major Office fans and asked if she might let them take a quick peek at the interior and she happily obliged!  Thankfully, Lavonna and Melissa were kind enough to loan me the photographs they took that day to use in this post.  Thank you, ladies!

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Not only did the two of them get to stalk the inside of the chapel, though, but Melissa also got to re-create the “Forever” dance routine that the Office staff performed during the ceremony!  Sigh!  I had SO wanted to do that very same thing while I was there!  Ah well, looks like I’ll just have to re-stalk this place again sometime soon . . . on a Sunday, of course.  “:)

You can watch Jim and Pam’s wedding scene from the “Niagara” episode by clicking above.  And I am not ashamed to admit that I absolutely CANNOT watch that scene without crying – even though I’ve probably seen it a dozen times by now!  It literally gets me EVERY SINGLE TIME!  Especially when Jim says, “And Plan A was marrying her a long, long time ago.  Pretty much the day I met her.”  Sigh!

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalkers Owen and Snidely Whiplash for finding this location and to Lavonna and Melissa for allowing me to post their photos of it on my blog!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Jim and Pam's Wedding Church Map

Stalk It: Congregational Church of the Chimes, aka Jim and Pam’s wedding church from The Office, is located at 14115 Magnolia Boulevard in Sherman Oaks.  You can visit the church’s official website here.  Jim and Pam got married in the Walter H. Staves Chapel, which is located on the southwest portion of the church grounds and is denoted with the blue arrow on the above map.  The fountain where the couple posed for their wedding photograph is located inside of the Katharine Gibson Chapel of the Garden and is denoted with a gold star on the above map.  The patch of grass where Jim played soccer before the ceremony is located in the center of the property and is denoted with a pink “X” on the above map.

Jim and Pam’s Wedding Hotel from “The Office”

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Now that I have watched all six seasons of The Office, I can honestly say that my favorite episode hands down has to be the Season 6 episode titled “Niagara” in which Jim Halpert (aka John Krasinski) and Pam Beasley (aka Jenna Fischer) finally get married.  I loved the episode for two very different reasons – one, because Jim and Pam’s relationship is so incredibly sweet, and two, because it so perfectly captures what it is like to plan a wedding.  Whoever wrote “Niagara” must have gone through the ordeal that is planning a wedding just prior to penning it, because, let me tell you, they got things absolutely, one hundred percent SPOT ON!  And right now I can TOTALLY relate.  Yes, planning a wedding is fun and exciting and heartwarming, but, at the same time, dealing with people is just not my forte.  I honestly want to call up some of our guests and/or vendors and scream, “NO, I will not provide you with shade during the ceremony, NO, I will not pick you up from the airport on the morning of my wedding, and NO, it’s not OK that you RSVP-ed yes, but are now backing out even though I have already given my caterer the final head count!” – all of which were recently said to or asked of me and my fiancé!  Sigh!  The scene in which Pam says to Jim, “Everyone’s driving me crazy.  This is supposed to be our wedding day!  Why did we invite all these people?” especially resonated with me when I watched the episode and I can’t tell you the number of times since then that I’ve seriously considered jumping on a ship to tie the knot sans guests just like Pam and Jim eventually did.  😉  Anyway, while watching “Niagara”, I immediately recognized the hotel where Jim and Pam’s guests stayed during their wedding as the historic Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City.  So, I dragged my fiancé right out to stalk it when we were in the area two weekends ago.

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The Sportmen’s Lodge Hotel has been around since the early 1880s, but at the time it was named Hollywood Trout Farms thanks to the fact that it was surrounded by a series of man-made lakes and piers from which guests could fish for trout which would then subsequently be cooked and served to them for dinner by the staff at the main restaurant.  In 1962, a new, larger hotel was built on the property, which had since been re-named the Sportsmen’s Lodge.  It is that structure that still stands today. 

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And while the trout lakes have long since been removed, the hotel now boasts an Olympic-sized swimming pool, numerous ponds and waterfalls, and eight picturesque acres of land.  Due to its proximity to the Hollywood studios, the Lodge has long been popular with movie stars, including Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, Doris Day, David Lee Roth, Billy Bob Thornton, Trisha Yearwood, Spencer Tracy, Lauren Bacall, Tallulah Bankhead, Lena Horne, Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, and Bette Davis, all of whom have been spotted there at one time or another.  In 2007, the hotel was purchased by real estate developer Richard Weintraub who set about extensively renovating the property.  And, unfortunately, along with that renovation came quite a bit of change.  🙁

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In The Office’s aptly named “Niagara” episode, Pam and Jim head to Niagara Falls to tie the knot.  And while the interior scenes were filmed at the Sportsmen’s Lodge, as I mentioned above, the exterior shots were filmed at an actual Niagara Falls lodging named the Red Coach Inn.  And, as you can see in the above screen capture and photograph, the two hotels look nothing alike.

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The Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel actually has two lobbies, and it is the back lobby, which is located off of Coldwater Canyon Avenue, that was used in the episode.  Unfortunately, as you can see in the above screen captures and photographs, that lobby looks MUCH different today than it did when The Office was filmed.  During the recent remodel, all of the back lobby’s wood was covered over with white paint, making the space appear much less lodge-like. 

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Gone, too, is the hotel’s former stone-covered fireplace, which has been revamped to look like an ordinary, everyday fireplace.  Such a shame!  The hotel, which used to have a very kitschy feel to it, now appears traditional and run-of-the-mill.  I am actually quite surprised that Weintraub had the place remodeled in such a way, as I am sure that it is no longer quite as appealing to producers and location managers. 

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And I have to say here that I absolutely LOVE the scene in which Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell) shows up to the hotel’s front desk and informs the clerk that he doesn’t have a reservation because Jim and Pam have “blocked” rooms for their guests.  LOL LOL LOL  Man, I can SO see that happening in real life!  I don’t know what it is about a wedding that renders seemingly normal, intelligent people into helpless, self-absorbed morons, but, let me tell you, it happens!

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Several of the Lodge’s hotel rooms were also featured in the “Niagara” episode, including Room 642, where Pam’s grandmother, Meemaw, stayed;

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Room 644, where Pam stayed;

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Room 641, where Dwight stayed;

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and Suite 639, aka the “Honeymoon Suite”, where Andy stayed.

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All of the rooms featured in the episode can be found in the same hallway, which is located on the hotel’s second floor, directly above the main lobby.

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I could NOT for the life of me find the ice/vending machine closet where Michael spent the night in “Niagara”, though.  Oddly enough, according to the housekeeper that I spoke with, the hotel only has one ice machine area and it is located next to the pool.  I checked it out, though, and it looks nothing like the room pictured above, which leads me to believe that producers either created a fake room in one of the hotel’s storage closets for the filming or that the ice machine room where filming took place was removed during the recent remodel.

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The very same back lobby which appeared in The Office was also the site of the graduation dance in the Britney Spears’ movie Crossroads.  I obtained this information from a crew member while I was working as an extra in the movie and I actually thought it was a bit odd being that a vast majority of the flick was lensed at the now-defunct Ambassador Hotel.  It seems like it would have been a whole lot easier to just shoot the dance sequence in one of the former hotel’s many ballrooms since the cast and crew were already filming on location there, but, then again, what do I know?  😉

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And, of course, I just HAD to pose on the Sportmen’s Lodge’s stairwell since Britney had once been there.  🙂

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The actual dance scene in Crossroads was filmed in the Lodge’s Starlight ballroom.  And, as you can see in the above screen captures and photograph, the room’s light fixtures and the banister surrounding the dance floor still look the same today as they did in 2002 when Crossroads was filmed.  YAY!

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The hotel was also where Lynette Scavo (aka Felicity Huffman) stayed after leaving her husband Tom (aka Doug Savant) in the Season 2 episode of Desperate Housewives titled “Remember (1)”.

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And if you look at the room where Lynette stayed in that episode, you will notice that it is a perfect match to the room Lucy Wagner (aka Britney Spears) and Henry (aka Justin Long) rented after the dance in Crossroads, which is extremely odd as I would have guessed – once again – that that scene would have been filmed at the above-mentioned Ambassador, as was the case with all of the other hotel room scenes in the movie.  So odd!

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The front entrance of the hotel also appeared in Crossroads.

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The wedding from the end of I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry was filmed at the Lodge, in the hotel’s  lagoon area, and, according to a staff member I spoke with, the movies Leverage, Made, and Day the World Ended, and episodes of the television series Reno 911, Columbo, and Falcon Crest were also all filmed at the Sportsmen’s Lodge,

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Sportmen’s Lodge, aka Jim and Pam’s wedding hotel from The Office, is located at 12825 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City.  You can visit the hotel’s official website here.  In the “Niagara” episode, Pam stayed in Room 644, Dwight in Room 641, Pam’s Meemaw in Room 642, and Andy in Suite 639.  All of the rooms that were featured in the episode are located in the same second floor hallway of the hotel, directly above the main lobby.  The back lobby, which appeared in the both The Office and Crossroads, can be reached via Coldwater Canyon Avenue.