The Musso & Frank Grill, a Hollywood Landmark

Los Angeles and especially Hollywood aren't known for preserving their historical landmarks. Some have been bulldozed and replaced by high rises or parking lots such as the Brown Derby on Vine Street or its bowler hat-shaped Beverly Hills annex. (Fortunately or unfortunately, the Cobb Salad lives in its many incarnations.) Other Los Angeles landmarks have been augmented by developers. A huge upscale outdoor shopping mall has been added to the L.A. Farmers Market, once a fun shopping and schmoozing experience for tourists and locals alike since 1934. The mall is five times the size of the original Market.

Three of my favorite Hollywood history survivors are:

1) The Chinese Theater (once known as Grauman's Chinese Theater) with its movie star footprints still displayed in cement, even though some notable footprints have been replaced by occasional tinseltown flavors-of-the-month. Like the Farmer's Market, the augmentation factor exists here. Its one fabulous Art Deco screening room has been turned into a multiplex.

2) The Egyptian Theater is now, to its credit, the home of American Cinematheque, a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to showing quality classic and independent films.

3) And then there's the Musso & Frank Grill, Hollywood's oldest restaurant. Dinner at Musso & Frank's is a journey back to the golden age of Hollywood. The décor is Tudor classic with arched doorways and mahogany paneling throughout. The red leather booths are wide and comforting. The tables are covered in white linen. And the waiters, who look like they've been here since the restaurant's 1919 beginnings, are dressed in livery. In fact, many of the wait staff jobs are handed down from generation to generation. Service here at Musso & Frank's is a source of tradition and pride.

Despite the restaurant's undeniable elegance, the clientele is a mix of Hollywood Boulevard tourists, genuine celebrities (some with regular reserved tables), and everyone else.

Open up the menu and you won't find nouvelle cuisine or the fusion food that seems to abound in upscale Los Angeles restaurants. Other than the prices, menu items at Musso & Frank's could've easily been on the original 1919 menu. Classic American comfort food is served here: steaks, lamb chops with mint, hot turkey sandwich with gravy, chicken pot pie, corned beef and cabbage, flannelcakes, and even some Diamond Jim Brady specialties like sweetbreads or kidneys and bacon. My personal favorite dish couldn't be any simpler: a quarter-head of lettuce with homemade Thousand Island dressing. And the martini from the bar is still one of the best in Los Angeles.

A historical sidenote: Musso's expanded in 1954, taking over the Stanley Rose Bookstore, a hangout for many of America's greatest writers like Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe, and Raymond Chandler, who wound up working at the movie studios despite themselves.

Musso & Frank Grill is located at 6667 Hollywood Boulvard, Los Angeles 90028

It's open from Tuesdays to Saturdays from 11 am to 11 pm.

SOURCES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musso_&_Frank's_Grill

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=1690&RefID=1642

http://www.seeing-stars.com/Dine2/Musso&Frank.shtml

http://www.latimemachines.com/new_page_6.htm

"Musso & Frank Grill", Kateri Butler, LA Weekly, URL: (http://www.laweekly.com/eat+drink/dining/musso-frank-grill/6463/)