For our very first Hollywood tour, Kim and I decided to eat our way across the sights.
We spent a recent Saturday on Sites and Bites, a food tour of Hollywood offered by TOURific Escapes. Trish Procetto and her husband Matt Rubenstein own the company. Both had lost their jobs during the recession (he was a corporate pilot; she worked for Mattel) and have since re-invented themselves as tour guides.
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| Trish, talking about the prints at Gauman Chinese Theater |
“I want out guests to feel like they have been taken care of for four hours,” Trish said.
The tour group met in the Roosevelt Hotel, built in 1927 and financed by a group that included Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Louis B. Mayer. The hotel was the site of the very first Academy Awards in 1929. It was also the home for a couple of years of Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn supposedly still haunts the hotel.
The hotel’s pool was the site of Marilyn’s first magazine shoot. Today, the pool is popular with young hard bodies. If you want to stroke your libido – or feel bad about your body – go check out the pool.
We start out on foot, crossing Hollywood Boulevard to visit Grauman’s Chinese Theater (technically, it is now called the TCL Chinese Theater). I’ve been by this place dozens of times, but never stopped to look at all the names, handprints, and footprints in the cement in front of the theater.
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| One for the Potter fans. |
The prints include the bare feet of Shirley Temple, the droid footprints of R2D2 and 3CPO, an inscription from Humphrey Bogart that reads “Sid may you never die till I kill you,” the horseshoes of Trigger, and the glasses of Harold Lloyd.
The area is filled with people dressed as characters from movies or as movie stars, hustling bucks from tourists wanting a photo. I hear the going rate is $5 a shot. I heard one family got snookered for $20. I prefer just to watch. One of the odd sites of that day was seeing Chewbacca walking into the coffee shop across the street.
Our first food stop was Crumbs Bake Shop for cupcakes. The place is right next to Muhammad Ali’s star on the Walk of Fame, which has the distinction being the only star mounted on a wall rather than on the sidewalk. Trish said the star was mounted off the ground for religious reasons. A People magazine story quoted the champ as saying he didn’t want people who didn’t respect him trampling on his name.
Our next stop was the Dolby Theater, formerly the Kodak Theater, and the site of the Academy Awards ceremonies. We posed for shots on the staircase the stars use in entering the awards ceremony and then headed up for a view of the Hollywood sign.
From the Dolby, we took a van to our next food stop, a new Mexican place on Hollywood Boulevard, the Loteria Grill. We all sat at the bar so we could see the cooks prepare our food fresh. We had chicken and pork on tortillas with fresh guacamole.
Loteria is the creation of Jimmy Shaw, who was born in Mexico City. Shaw started the restaurant, initially as a stand at the Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles, to provide authentic regional Mexican food, rather than Cal-Mex or Tex-Mex food.
At Loteria we sampled beef and pork staco, chicken sopes, chips & guacamole and homemade lemonade.
The food was great and this is now on my radar for anytime we’re in Hollywood and looking for a bite.
Our other food stops include:
- Mozza2Go, a pizzeria on Melrose with a clientele that includes everyday Joes, soccer moms, and movie stars. We sampled the Margherita, Aglia Olio (garlic & oil) and salami pizzas.
- Greenblatt’s Deli, a combination liquor store (an extremely well stocked one at that) and deli on Sunset near the Laugh Factory. The place is cattycorner from the offices of the Directors Guild and apparently is frequented by Hollywood types making deals and writing scripts. One of our waiters that day had some minor TV credits, including getting staked in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The deli makes a fantastic pastrami sandwich. We also had coleslaw, pickle spears (crisp ones. I hate wimpy pickles), and black-cherry soda. Definitely one of the highlights of the day.
- John Kelly Chocolates. Oh. My. God. Great. John Kelly (named for its two owners, John Kelson and Kelly Green) is a chocolatier to stars and movers and shakers. While we were there, the only name they dropped was Hilary Clinton, but I’m sure their clientele are well-heeled. We sampled a variety of truffle fudge flavors, including some topped with sea salt. Quite good. You do pay premium prices for their chocolate (prices go down the more you buy), but it is well worth it.
- Mashti Malone’s, a Persian ice cream shop. They get points for having unusual flavors, including herbal snow and pomegranate.
Sights along the way included the elementary school Michael Jackson attended (it now as an auditorium bearing his name), the Viper Room (where River Phoenix O.D.), and the Capitol Records building. Much of the tour is spent along Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset, and Melrose.
If you’re looking to explore Hollywood, whether you’re a tourist or a local, this tour is a great alternative to slew of buses and vans driving around Hollywood.
The Sites and Bites tour is offered Wednesday to Saturday. It normally costs $99 a person, but they are offering it for $85 this fall. Kids under 10 are $59. For more information about this tour and others, check out their website: www.tourificescapes.com
Another great site
One of my favorite blogs to tap for date ideas is 365-la.com. The blog’s author, Jolene, decided she wasn’t going to sit around and be bored, so she went out exploring L.A. Her goal is to come with up 365 outings. She’s over 270 now.
She just recently announced that she and her family were moving to Hawaii, but vowed to continue the blog until she reached 365.
The blog can be searched by month or by neighborhood. The outings run from hikes to major attractions to offbeat curiosities. She just recently had a baby, so the newer entries are family focused and a bit brief.
There’s a gold mine of ideas here and definitely worth checking out.
Quick hits:
Opera. Goldstar has discounts available for a few of the performances of L.A. Opera’s production of Verdi's Falstaff. Haven’t seen this yet, but it is on our schedule. It’s described as an “unabashed celebration of Merrie Olde England's lusty days and bawdy nights.” Goldstar has tix ranging from $31 to $203 (normally $52 to $270).
Aerial act. Mental Head Circus will be performing Nov. 10 and Nov. 15 at the King King Club, 6555 Hollywood. It’s a mix of aerial acts, vaudeville, and cabaret. Kim and I saw this a few months back (lucky me, I had won tickets for it). We found the acts to be both amazing and sexy. The show we saw could have used a dramatist to pull the various threads together, but still it was a great night. Goldstar has discount tickets for $20 and $30 (normally $40 and $60).
Crime and literary tours. I’ll be writing soon about our latest outing, a trip on Esotouric’s Raymond Chandler tour. We’ve done two of their tours now, Chandler and The Black Dahlia. Both were great. Tour guides Richard, Kim, and Joan are well versed in the seedy side of Los Angeles. There’s a couple of Esotouric tours coming up in November, their Charles Bukowski: Haunts of a Dirty Old Man (Nov. 9) and their East Side Babylon (Nov. 16) crime tours. There are discounts available from Goldstar that brings the price down from $58 a person to $29 (not counting Goldstar’s fee).
Another plug for Muse/Ique. As of this writing, Goldstar still had discount tickets for the next entry in Muse/Ique’s Uncorked series, "Girl/Band," which will be held Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Avon Distribution Center, 2940 East Foothill Blvd. Tickets are $50 each, but Goldstar has them for $20 (with their fees, it'll be closer to $25). From what we saw of the series opener, that's a good value for your entertainment dollar.
This group also does music outreach to foster kids. We recently met Julie Rogers, the team leader for the outreach program and a violinist. She is an absolute delight.
The program for "Girl/Band" will open with a screening of the documentary "Girls in the Band," directed by Judy Chaikin. The documentary traces the history of all-girl bands from the 1930s through present day, exposing sexism and racism faced by the women who have broken through primarily male music bastions.
A performance by "fiery female jazz musicians" will cap the program.
Charles and Vaud. I continue to promote two of our favorites, Charles Phoenix and Vaud and the Villains. Both have shows on tap over the next few weeks. If you’re looking for a unique way to view the holidays, check out Charles’ annual holiday slideshow. If you want to be blown away by a great band, Vaud and the Villains will gladly punch your ticket.
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| The photo doesn't do it justice. This was awesome. |
At Loteria we sampled beef and pork staco, chicken sopes, chips & guacamole and homemade lemonade.
The food was great and this is now on my radar for anytime we’re in Hollywood and looking for a bite.
Our other food stops include:
- Mozza2Go, a pizzeria on Melrose with a clientele that includes everyday Joes, soccer moms, and movie stars. We sampled the Margherita, Aglia Olio (garlic & oil) and salami pizzas.
- Greenblatt’s Deli, a combination liquor store (an extremely well stocked one at that) and deli on Sunset near the Laugh Factory. The place is cattycorner from the offices of the Directors Guild and apparently is frequented by Hollywood types making deals and writing scripts. One of our waiters that day had some minor TV credits, including getting staked in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The deli makes a fantastic pastrami sandwich. We also had coleslaw, pickle spears (crisp ones. I hate wimpy pickles), and black-cherry soda. Definitely one of the highlights of the day.
 |
| Great pastrami. |
- John Kelly Chocolates. Oh. My. God. Great. John Kelly (named for its two owners, John Kelson and Kelly Green) is a chocolatier to stars and movers and shakers. While we were there, the only name they dropped was Hilary Clinton, but I’m sure their clientele are well-heeled. We sampled a variety of truffle fudge flavors, including some topped with sea salt. Quite good. You do pay premium prices for their chocolate (prices go down the more you buy), but it is well worth it.
- Mashti Malone’s, a Persian ice cream shop. They get points for having unusual flavors, including herbal snow and pomegranate.
Sights along the way included the elementary school Michael Jackson attended (it now as an auditorium bearing his name), the Viper Room (where River Phoenix O.D.), and the Capitol Records building. Much of the tour is spent along Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset, and Melrose.
If you’re looking to explore Hollywood, whether you’re a tourist or a local, this tour is a great alternative to slew of buses and vans driving around Hollywood.
 | |
| Bad photo. Guess I have to back and shoot again. |
The Sites and Bites tour is offered Wednesday to Saturday. It normally costs $99 a person, but they are offering it for $85 this fall. Kids under 10 are $59. For more information about this tour and others, check out their website: www.tourificescapes.com
Another great site
One of my favorite blogs to tap for date ideas is 365-la.com. The blog’s author, Jolene, decided she wasn’t going to sit around and be bored, so she went out exploring L.A. Her goal is to come with up 365 outings. She’s over 270 now.
She just recently announced that she and her family were moving to Hawaii, but vowed to continue the blog until she reached 365.
The blog can be searched by month or by neighborhood. The outings run from hikes to major attractions to offbeat curiosities. She just recently had a baby, so the newer entries are family focused and a bit brief.
There’s a gold mine of ideas here and definitely worth checking out.
Quick hits:
Opera. Goldstar has discounts available for a few of the performances of L.A. Opera’s production of Verdi's Falstaff. Haven’t seen this yet, but it is on our schedule. It’s described as an “unabashed celebration of Merrie Olde England's lusty days and bawdy nights.” Goldstar has tix ranging from $31 to $203 (normally $52 to $270).
Aerial act. Mental Head Circus will be performing Nov. 10 and Nov. 15 at the King King Club, 6555 Hollywood. It’s a mix of aerial acts, vaudeville, and cabaret. Kim and I saw this a few months back (lucky me, I had won tickets for it). We found the acts to be both amazing and sexy. The show we saw could have used a dramatist to pull the various threads together, but still it was a great night. Goldstar has discount tickets for $20 and $30 (normally $40 and $60).
Crime and literary tours. I’ll be writing soon about our latest outing, a trip on Esotouric’s Raymond Chandler tour. We’ve done two of their tours now, Chandler and The Black Dahlia. Both were great. Tour guides Richard, Kim, and Joan are well versed in the seedy side of Los Angeles. There’s a couple of Esotouric tours coming up in November, their Charles Bukowski: Haunts of a Dirty Old Man (Nov. 9) and their East Side Babylon (Nov. 16) crime tours. There are discounts available from Goldstar that brings the price down from $58 a person to $29 (not counting Goldstar’s fee).
Another plug for Muse/Ique. As of this writing, Goldstar still had discount tickets for the next entry in Muse/Ique’s Uncorked series, "Girl/Band," which will be held Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Avon Distribution Center, 2940 East Foothill Blvd. Tickets are $50 each, but Goldstar has them for $20 (with their fees, it'll be closer to $25). From what we saw of the series opener, that's a good value for your entertainment dollar.
This group also does music outreach to foster kids. We recently met Julie Rogers, the team leader for the outreach program and a violinist. She is an absolute delight.
The program for "Girl/Band" will open with a screening of the documentary "Girls in the Band," directed by Judy Chaikin. The documentary traces the history of all-girl bands from the 1930s through present day, exposing sexism and racism faced by the women who have broken through primarily male music bastions.
A performance by "fiery female jazz musicians" will cap the program.
Charles and Vaud. I continue to promote two of our favorites, Charles Phoenix and Vaud and the Villains. Both have shows on tap over the next few weeks. If you’re looking for a unique way to view the holidays, check out Charles’ annual holiday slideshow. If you want to be blown away by a great band, Vaud and the Villains will gladly punch your ticket.
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