HERMANO SEGUNDO LOST IN LA LA LAND: DAY FOUR

My friend, Sybil, is the most tolerant of women. When she began to make her Excel spreadsheet of “things to do when Simon is in town” (did I mention she is a scary, geeky sort too?) I was allowed generous input and she did not bat an eyelid when I told her I wanted to spend a day doing the tourist thing.

So, early on day four of my sojourn to La La Land, we set off from her home in Culver City along the clogged freeways to Hollywood where we ( and by “we” I mean “I”) spent a happy few hours walking along the rather tawdry Hollywood Boulevard looking at the stars embedded in the paving stones and the hand and footprints outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. The crowds were gathered around some of the more famous modern names. Tom Hanks was popular, so was Stallone. But, for me, it was the quiet forgotten corners of the forecourt which held the real magic, Cary Grant, Abbott & Costello, Rex Harrison, Myrna Loy and, of course, Humphrey Bogart.

We had intended to have a mid-day Martini at Musso & Frank’s but got our timing horribly wrong and arrived on a day it was closed, so headed across the street to the equally famous Pig & Whistle to share a plate of passable calamari and a tuna melt sandwich, while we watched a few old school types in another booth talk about how good the old days were.

Next up on Sybil’s list, a drive to Burbank and a two-hour wait in line to attend a taping of The Jay Leno Show, a truly American experience. When we were finally seated, the great man himself appeared to whoops and hollers as people from Nebraska clawed at each other to get to t-shirts thrown to the crowds. A fun experience although, I am not sure Sybil appreciated my contented purring during the interview with the luscious Selma Blair.

Finally, across The Valley for supper at another much hyped restaurant in Glendale, Palate. Specialising in small plates, five of us worked our way through the menu, beginning with the horrendously named “porkfolio” a plate of charcuterie, which should have its name changed to “blahfolio” for presenting as bad a selection as you would get on a take away platter from Morrisons. Much better were two mason jars filled with well made potted pork and chicken, which we smeared onto wafer thin and crispy crostini.

Of the main courses we shared, duck with pomegranates was probably the most successful, although Sybil sucked up a plate of Pork Belly with Ham Hock Hash in rapid time too. Less successful was a risotto with Brussel sprouts and black truffle which managed to lack any flavour despite the fungal goodness.

A cheese course merely reinforced that America is where good cheese goes to die, but a chocolate pudding, rich and creamy, showed that they know how to ace desserts.

All in all as good a meal of its type as I have had in the city so far and in excellent company. A bill for $44 didn’t cause too many tears either.

Off to Santa Cruz tomorrow for a few days. Back to L.A on Friday.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering about the answer to the quiz in yesterday’s post. The stairs, situated in Silver Lake are from The Music Box (well done JimT) the hysterical short by Messrs Laurel & Hardy. If you have never seen it, shame on you.

HERMANO SEGUNDO LOST IN LA LA LAND: DAY THREE

OK, before we go onto food, another in our series of irregular pop culture quizzes.

Who can tell me why the stairs in picture No1 are amongst the most important in movie history? Well, they are to me and brought back happy memories of childhood and even caused this hard hearted SOB to shed a little tear of Saturday afternoons remembered.

Now we have escaped the clutches of bad imitations of French food and delved into some of the city's ethnic offerings, LA began ot come into its own. I joined Sybil and a motley assortment of her friends for a quick lunch at Din Tai Fung, one of the best and most popular Shanghai dumpling houses. There was a huge line when we arrived, but fortunately Amanda, one of Sybil's chums had staked a claim near the front allowing our party of seven to snaffle a huge table for the next hour.

I left the ordering to others for once and just sat back to take advantage of my guest status as bowl after bowl of steaming soup dumplings were passed to me first. Very impressive they were too with the pre-requisite sag as you lifted them and the soup threatened to leak out in a hot torrent of stocky goodness. The trick is to bite the top off, douse with a little vinegar and then drink the contents before eating the meaty or seafood filling. I must have got through about twenty until I looked up and realised the others were looking at me with a mix of admiration and disgust.

Add to that some impressive fried rice, green beans spiked with garlic and some rice cakes and the bill of $16 seemed like a bit of a steal. It also meant that Sybil's suggestion of a two hour hike up to The Hollywood sign and back seemed less of a good idea than it had in the morning. Still, I am pleased to say we made it, as the picture proves.

L.A is beginning to grow on me.

Now, about those stairs............. anyone?