Anthony Bourdain – IAMNOTASTALKER

Out of all of the Salton Sea townships that I stalked while my best friend, Robin, was visiting in March, Bombay Beach was, without a doubt, my favorite. Situated about twenty miles south of the North Shore Beach and Yacht Club (which I blogged about here), the tiny census-designated place is made up of about two hundred homes and trailers, a great number of which are abandoned.

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At 223 feet below sea level, Bombay Beach has the distinction of being the lowest city in America. It is also, according to this July 2013 article, the most-filmed location in the entire Imperial County.

Originally set to be a Riviera-like resort destination on the shores of the Salton Sea, Bombay Beach suffered the same fate as its neighboring townships. As the sea’s toxicity and salinity increased in the late 1960s, the fish and bird population died off. It was not long before animal carcasses covered the once-sandy beaches and the smell of their decaying bodies permeated the air. Many residents vacated the region. Then, when the storms of 1976 and 1977 hit and caused massive flooding, even more people fled. Oddly though, some stayed behind and still call Bombay Beach home to this day.

The tiny, 0.9-square-mile township currently boasts about three hundred residents.

The abandoned properties remain, though.

It is this juxtaposition that makes the place so eerie.

Also adding to the creepiness factor is the fact that many of those who fled walked away not only from their properties, but all of their belongings, as well. Forgotten sofas, toys and even cars can be seen strewn about the landscape.

In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s the Friends couch visible through the window below. Winking smile

Situated in the midst of this apocalyptic–like setting is a church . . .

. . . two mini-marts (I only got a photograph of one) . . .

. . . and a “fireside lounge” named Blues After Dark, which is currently for sale. There’s also a restaurant, the Ski Inn, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

The entire area was just begging to be photographed.

Yep, the graffiti pictured below reads, “Abandon all hope ye who enter.”

Prior to visiting Bombay Beach, I had never even heard of the place, so I was absolutely shocked to discover how often it has been utilized for filming. I guess its immortalization onscreen should not have come as a surprise, though, considering its vastly unique and desolate landscape.

In the 1990 made-for-television movie The Great Los Angeles Earthquake, Bombay Beach was said to be the site of numerous foreshocks, but it does not appear that any actual filming took place there.

In 2008, chef Anthony Bourdain visited Bombay Beach to film the Season 4 episode of his Travel Channel reality series Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations titled “U.S. Southwest.”

During his sojourn, Bourdain partook of a patty melt at Bombay Beach’s sole restaurant, the Ski Inn.

The episode makes for a fascinating watch and is available for purchase via Amazon Instant Video.

A 2011 documentary was also made about the township. Appropriately titled Bombay Beach, the film was directed by Israeli filmmaker Alma Har’el and followed the lives of three Bombay Beach residents. It won “Best Documentary Feature” at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit award.

You can watch the Bombay Beach trailer by clicking below.

In 2013, Jeremy Wade shot a promo for the fifth season of his Animal Planet series, River Monsters, at Bombay Beach.

You can watch that promo by clicking below.

Bombay Beach was used extensively in the 2013 music video for Austrian singer Christina Sturmer’s song “Millionen Lichter” (translation – “A Million Lights”). The video was shot on the shoreline . . .

. . . throughout the town itself . . .

. . . and in front of several Bombay Beach houses.

The motel that appeared in “Millionen Lichter” cannot be found in Bombay Beach, however, but about 170 miles away. It is the Four Aces movie set in Palmdale, which has appeared in countless productions over the years and which I have stalked, but have yet to blog about.

You can watch the “Millionen Lichter” video by clicking below. It’s actually a really catchy song, although I don’t understand a word of it.

I was absolutely shocked to discover while doing research for this post that the Season 6 episode of The Mentalist titled “The Desert Rose” was filmed on location at Bombay Beach. “The Desert Rose” was one of my favorite episodes of the show ever, so how I did not recognize the place when we visited is beyond me.

In “The Desert Rose,” Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) and Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) are sent to the Salton Sea to investigate the murder of a real estate developer named Brooke Yardley (Alex Daniels), whose body was found on the shores of Bombay Beach. The spot where the body was found is located near Avenue D & 5th Street.

While in town, Lisbon and Jane pop into the Borrego Gap Diner, which is actually the Ski Inn, Anthony Bourdain’s former stomping grounds.

Sadly, because I did not realize its significance at the time, I only got one partial photograph of the eatery.

The inside of the Ski Inn (which you can check out some pictures of here) does bear a striking resemblance to the diner shown on The Mentalist, but I do not believe any interior filming actually took place on the premises. As you can see in this photograph, not only are there structural differences between the two, but the flooring shown in the episode does not match the restaurant’s actual flooring.

While we were driving around Bombay Beach, Robin mentioned how much it reminded him of Sandy Shores from Grand Theft Auto V. I had no clue what he was talking about at the time, but was floored to discover while reading a Wikipedia article later that day that Bombay Beach had served as the inspiration for the town in the game! I should mention here that Robin is not into filming locations AT ALL, so this was a first – and I couldn’t have been more excited about it. I swear I’ll make a stalker out of him yet! Winking smile I ended up buying the Grim Cheaper a PlayStation 3 and Grand Theft Auto V for his birthday shortly after Robin’s visit and, in our excitement to see Bombay Beach onscreen, we stole a boat in the opening scene of the game and drove it right up to Sandy Shores. Now we are kind of stuck there, unsure of what to do. Sure enough, though, the place does look exactly like Bombay Beach.

Of the Sandy Shores design, Grand Theft Auto V art director Aaron Garbut said in a 2014 interview with the Edge, “We did know the [biographies] for the three characters right at the start, so we knew we wanted to create an area for Trevor out in the sticks. Towards the beginning of preproduction, I met up with [Rockstar president] Sam [Houser] in LA, and we spent a week together driving about, just exploring and talking. During that trip, we drove out into the desert and eventually ended up visiting Salton Sea [in California]. We went to an amazing spot called Bombay Beach and expected a real-life Trevor to burst out on us at any second. When the full reference trip was organized, we sent a team out to Salton Sea for a few days.” LOVE it!

On an abandoned sites side-note – I just learned about an abandoned water park located on the grounds of none other than the Walt Disney World Resort! Known as River Country, the park was shuttered in 2001 and has sat rotting ever since. Man, would I love to see it in person! You can check out some great photographs of the property in its current state here.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Bombay Beach is located on the eastern side of the Salton Sea, about twenty miles north of Niland and twenty miles south of the North Shore Yacht Club. The Ski Inn, aka the Borrego Gap Diner from The Mentalist, is located at 9596 Avenue A.

This year for Christmas, I decided to gift the Grim Cheaper with tickets to a cooking class. The GC is an absolutely FABULOUS cook, while I, on the other hand, can hardly crack an egg, as I mentioned in my January 2010 post about the home where Julia Child grew up. So I thought that taking a class together would be a fabulous opportunity for him to pick up some new tricks and for me to (possibly) learn some basics. After doing extensive research online, I came across Cherie Mercer Twohy’s Chez Cherie cooking school in La Canada Flintridge and became a bit enamored of the place. Most of Cherie’s classes are taught demonstration-style, rather than hands-on, and students are not only encouraged to bring a bottle of wine to enjoy during the lesson, but afterwards, the entire group gathers together to dine on the feast that Cherie has just created. More than simply courses, Cherie’s lessons sounded like full-on experiences, so I immediately signed us up for her Cold Weather Cooking Class, which we attended on the evening on January 10th. And, let me tell you, we had an absolute blast!

The moment we walked through Chez Cherie’s front door we were greeted by Cherie’s husband, who, taking note of the champagne bottle in the GC’s hand, immediately handed over two champagne glasses. It was then that I realized this was my kind of place. Winking smile We were then led to the adorable kitchen area, where chairs were set up classroom-style for the 30 students in attendance. (At the time, I did not realize that the school was a filming location, so I, unfortunately, did not take any photographs before or during the lesson.)

When we entered the kitchen, my eye, of course, immediately went to the various celebrity photographs displayed on the wall and I just about fell over when I saw that Cherie had taken not one, but TWO pictures with the grande dame of cooking herself, Julia Child! How incredibly cool is that?? (That is also Jacques Pepin posing with Julia and Cherie in the photograph on the right.)

Cherie also had pictures with Paula Deen and her husband, Michael Groover;

Season 6 Top Chef finalist Kevin Gillespie;

and No Reservations’ Anthony Bourdain. Love it!

On our menu for the evening were the following dishes: Pomegranate-Braised Short Ribs, Parsnip Mashed Potatoes, Spanish Flavors Meatloaf with Romesco Glaze, Pork and Pumpkin Chili, and Sticky Caramel Pudding – the recipes for which were authored by Cherie herself. And I have to say that, even though I am not a fan of pork or red meat, I loved ALL of the offerings – even the short ribs! The class, which lasted about two hours, was thoroughly entertaining, as well, and because it was demonstration-style, I was able to really pay attention and felt like I learned quite a bit – as much as any non-domestic goddess like myself could be expected to learn, anyway. Winking smile The GC even picked up a few tricks of the trade to add to his extensive repertoire. All in all, we had a fabulous evening and I am fairly certain that we will be attending classes at Chez Cherie on a regular basis from now on. I am dying to enroll in the hands-on Romantic Dinner for Two lesson being offered on Valentine’s Day, but I am not sure that the GC will fork over the $170 tuition cost. (Pictured above is Chez Cherie’s absolutely ADORABLE dining area where we ate our meal.)

Cherie Mercer Twohy actually began her culinary career later in life. After her three children were of school-age, she decided to enroll in the California School of Culinary Arts where she received her Professional Culinary Arts diploma. Shortly thereafter, she went to work as an instructor at HomeChef Pasadena. When the cooking school suddenly and unexpectedly went out of business, Cherie took matters into her own hands by leasing a demonstration kitchen (on her own dime) to finish out a 12-week cooking series, which her beloved students had paid for in advance. She founded Chez Cherie in 2000 on the belief that cooking should be fun and relaxed, and the place has been going strong ever since. Cherie is also a Level 1 Sommelier, the author of the wildly popular I Love Trader Joe’s cookbook series, and a member of the Certified Culinary Professional – a highly prestigious designation assigned to only 300 chefs worldwide. After we finished eating, I, of course, just had to approach Cherie to ask if any television shows or movies had been filmed at the school and I was floored to learn that I Love New York had shot an episode there. (I would just like to make it very clear here that I am not in any way a fan of I Love New York, but was excited to learn the information as it meant that I could blog about Chez Cherie.)

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In the Season 1 episode of I Love New York titled “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, New York (Tiffany Pollard) takes contestant Chance (Kamal Givens) on a date at Chez Cherie cooking school. Cherie told us that her husband had handled all of the details of booking the shoot and that, prior to the filming, she had no idea what she was in store for. Needless to say, she was, ahem, surprised – especially when Chance and New York started furiously making out in the dining area. Before scanning through “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” to make screen captures for this post, I had never before watched an episode of I Love New York and, now that I have, I can honestly say that it was one of the most awful shows I have ever seen! The fact that there was a second season of it is mind-boggling! While watching, I was reminded of the scene in Billy Madison in which Billy (Adam Sandler) discusses the children’s book The Puppy Who Lost His Way at an academic contest, after which the Principal (James Downey) says, “Mr. Madison, what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.” (You can watch that clip by clicking above.) I can honestly say that I am definitely now dumber for having watched an episode of I Love New York. But I digress.

Quite a few areas of Chez Cherie cooking school appeared in I Love New York, including the entrance;

the kitchen;

and the dining room.

Cherie was even featured quite prominently in the episode.

Martin Yan, aka “Yan Can Cook”, also filmed a video demonstration of the Master Grade Knife Sharpener at Chez Cherie. I was especially excited to hear this as Martin had founded his Yan Can International Cooking School in Foster City, California – the small suburb of San Francisco where I grew up.

Martin Yan–Master Grade Knife Sharpener at Chez Cherie

You can watch Martin’s Master Grade Knife Sharpener demonstration by clicking above.

Chef Ben Ford, who just so happens to be Harrison Ford’s son, also once taught a blind man how to cut a lobster while at Chez Cherie for some sort of cooking show, but I was, unfortunately, unable to find any information about it online.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Chez Cherie cooking school, from the “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” episode of I Love New York, is located at 1401 Foothill Boulevard in La Canada Flintridge. You can visit the school’s official website here. La Crescenta Motel, aka the Bide-A-Way Motel from Win A Date with Tad Hamilton, is located just up the road at 2413 Foothill Boulevard in La Crescenta.

Tag: Anthony Bourdain

Bombay Beach

Chez Cherie Cooking School from “I Love New York”