How TV's Southland Embraced L.A.'s Local Eats

Not only does TNT's "Southland" showcase parts of Los Angeles rarely seen on TV, but it ventures into some of its legendary and lesser-known eateries for some true-to-life color. Among the joints showcased on "Southland": Philippe's, Langer's, Tony's Steak House, El Siete Mares, El Tepeyac (Manuel's special burrito, of course), Cha Cha Cha, S&W Diner, Johnnie's Pastrami, Pacific Dining Car and so many more.

The L.A. Weekly's Squid Ink blog recently asked "Southland" associate producer and location manager Mike Haro to talk about "Southland's" connection with L.A. eateries:

SI: Name a favorite restaurant that's appeared on Southland.
MH: I have several favorites. For us, budget is always a concern, but we were able to film briefly at Bottega Louie. Earlier this year we had a scene where a car totally crashed into a restaurant and we used this really cool Filipino place called Bahay Kubo.

SI: Explain your process step by step: Do you drive around by yourself?
MH: Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The way the show works, I'll get the script and break it down and discuss ideas with the director and production designer. Once they sign off, I will have my scout go out, but oftentimes, because I know the city so well, I'll say, "Go here, and check around these streets." He'll go and come back with whatever he can find in those areas.

SI: When you shoot at a restaurant, is it all visual? How important is it that the Southland cops are shown eating at a place that actually serves delicious food?
MH: We want to have at least some interesting features of the restaurant. But we are also of the belief that whatever is real is real. If we're told to find a certain kind of restaurant, we will. We like to go on locations that are readymade, that we don't have to enhance. The challenge for me and my scouts is to really make sure it fits the character, without having to do anything. A lot of shows dress a location to fit the character. Sometimes that doesn't feel real. It looks art directed as opposed to looking like a real location. I think that's key to our show having that gritty, real look. In the next couple of episodes, you're going to see some locations that we never could have art directed.

Ugh, Philippe's, What Happened?

(Flickr pic by mseratt99.)

One of our favorite L.A. landmarks, downtown's Philippe the Original restaurant -- home of the French Dip -- has been temporarily shut down due to a, um, cockroach problem.

Yuck.

As the Los Angeles Times reports that "health inspectors discovered the problem about 11 a.m. Wednesday after conducting an inspection prompted by citizens’ complaints, said Angelo Bellomo, director of environmental health for the Los Angeles County Public Health Department."

More:

He said the restaurant typically receives high scores during routine inspections. County inspectors conducted such an inspection Wednesday, in addition to the probe based on the complaint, and the business scored in the low 90s, Bellomo said.

But inspectors had to close the restaurant for 48 hours to allow the vermin to be removed.

"When you have a violation like a live cockroach infestation, it doesn't matter how good the score is," Bellomo said.

Philippe's could reopen by noon on Friday, inspectors said.

Other recent, notable restaurant shut downs:

Cafe Stella (Silver Lake), Dec. 17-19
California Science Center IMAX (Downtown), Jan. 7-11 (really!)
Cindy's Restaurant (Eagle Rock), Nov. 13-15
Little New York Gourmet (West Hollywood), Dec. 12-14
Main Kitchen - Wilshire Grand (Downtown), Dec. 4-6
Taqueria Jalisco (Mid-City), Nov. 12-17
Three Drunken Goats (Montrose), Feb. 2-4
Ye Coach and Horses (Hollywood), Jan. 22-25

More here.

Sunday in Downtown L.A.: Central Library, Neutra Exhibit and Philippe's

I've hit the 13 year-mark in Los Angeles (yep, the Angelino inside me is now a teenager), and coincidentally, we spent the day in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. I couldn't think of a better way of celebrating another L.A. milestone.

Maria had been wanting to check out the Central Library's current Getty Gallery exhibit, "Richard Neutra, Architect: Sketches and Drawings," so Evan and I were happy to tag along.

As with all Getty Gallery exhibits at the Library, this one is free. The show puts together a mix of travel sketches, figure drawings, building renderings and more from Neutra, who died in 1970. Renderings seen here include his designs for the Case Study Houses, as well as the drawings for projects such as Neutra's Berlin houses.




(Flickr pic by K Victoria.)

Speaking of the Central Library, there's nothing better than marveling at the second floor rotunda, and then spending some time in the Children's section. (It helps that I've got a 4-year-old with me, of course.) Not only does the children's section boast some pretty cool, Depression-era murals, but its collection of picture books is incredible (above),

Since we were downtown, we also squeezed in a trip to Philippe's for a few French dips. Here's to a lucky 13 in Los Angeles!

100 Years of Philippe's The Original

(Flickr pic by mseratt99.)

Mark Oct. 6 in your calendar -- it's time to celebrate the centennial of one of L.A.'s oldest restaurants, Philippe the Original.

For the day, prices will be rolled back to TEN CENTS for a sandwich.

It's gonna be a madhouse. But hey, you'll be able to say you were there. Here are the details:

The historic Los Angeles restaurant will celebrate their 100th anniversary and for one day only, on Monday, October 6th, 2008 from 4-8pm, Philippe’s will offer its renowned French Dip sandwiches, available in delicious roast beef, lean ham, tasty turkey, succulent leg of lamb and juicy roast pork at the original price of 10-cents. A cup of their famous 10-cent coffee will sell for five cents.

Three generations of family members who own Philippe’s, famed Los Angeles Dodger peanut vendor Roger Owens, the USC Marching Band, Harpo the Clown, comedian Howard Dover, and the Perfect Gentlemen Accapella Group will all be in attendance to entertain and celebrate.

They are located at 1001 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Check out all of our posts on Philippe's -- including the debate over who invented the French Dip, Philippe's or P.E. Cole's -- here.

The Great French Dip Mystery

(Flickr pic by mseratt99.)

As Philippe The Original -- better known, simply, as Philippe's -- turns 100, the debate over how the French dip was invented rages on. According to the L.A. Times magazine, three theories are in the running:

here are three stories connected with how Philippe's French dipped sandwich was born. In 1951, Mathieu Philippe told a Times reporter, "One day a customer saw some gravy in the bottom of a large pan of roast meat. He asked me if I would mind dipping one side of the French roll in that gravy. I did, and right away five or six others wanted the same." He quickly ran out of gravy. "But," he said, "it put me wise." The next day he had a gallon of gravy ready, but so many people wanted dip sandwiches that he still ran out.

Grandson Philippe tells a slightly different version. "It was frugality on his part," he says. "A fireman came over, maybe it was on a Monday, when there were leftover rolls. [Mathieu] would use them up although they were stale. The fireman complained that the roll was dry, so Philippe dipped it, basically to get rid of the guy." This might be more likely--in 1951, Mathieu may have preferred to credit a customer rather than a stale roll. Needless to say, Philippe's never had much of a problem with stale rolls after L.A. fell in love with French dips.

The most familiar story is that Mathieu accidentally dropped a roll in pan drippings, and the customer who had ordered the sandwich agreed to eat it anyway. This is highly unlikely, because an accident is the lazy explanation people usually come up with when they have no idea how a dish was invented.

The sandwich wasn't originally called the "French dip," but just a dip sandwich. But as reporter Charles Perry writes, Philippe's back then was also informally referred to as "Frenchy's" -- and the name stuck.

Of course, the debate over which came first -- Cole's or Philippe's dip sandwiches -- also remains unresolved.