{"id":15725,"date":"2016-03-09T09:02:17","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T15:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/burgersdogspizza.com\/?p=15725"},"modified":"2016-03-09T09:02:17","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T15:02:17","slug":"musso-and-frank-review-hollywood-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/?p=15725","title":{"rendered":"Musso and Frank Review, Hollywood, CA"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Musso<\/a>I have written about the joys of going to an establishment where they remember you \u2013 your likes, your dislikes; or are willing to prepare something \u201coff the menu\u201d to your liking.\u00a0\u00a0But I find a certain comfort, as well, in being a regular at a place where just the opposite is true \u2013 they savor and protect your anonymity, and everyone is treated the same.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Such has been my experience with my favorite restaurant in Los Angeles \u2013 the venerable \u201cMusso and Frank\u201d Grill, in Hollywood, which purports to be Hollywood\u2019s oldest restaurant (1919) and\u00a0certainly can count itself as the sole survivor of the former plethora of \u201cold Hollywood\u201d celeb hangouts like The Derby, Ciro\u2019s and Chasens.\u00a0\u00a0In a city where nothing remains the same, and a historical site draws real estate speculators instead of preservationists, Musso and Frank is always there, always the same.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve been dining at M&F for 30 years, and I\u2019m still a stranger and family at the same time, each and every time I visit.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

M&F\u2019s has always been a Hollywood favorite \u2013 from as far back as the days of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Chandler, Dorothy Parker, Dashiell Hammett \u2013 and continues this day with frequent visits from the likes of Woody Allen, Al Pacino, a virtual who\u2019s who list in Hollywood.\u00a0\u00a0The dark wood paneled walls, crowded booths,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>and geriatric waiters have all survived the decades \u2013 as has the menu.\u00a0\u00a0Where else can you find Welsh Rarebit, Jellied Consomm\u00e9, or stuffed celery on a menu \u2013 with not sign of penne, pesto or anything remotely classified as noveau or fusion in sight?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll start your dining experience as all customers do, with your linen-tablecloth adorned table being graced with a pitcher of water, ample real butter, and a plate of their \u2018signature\u2019 rye bread \u2013 tho the regular can be heard to ask for a \u201cbasket of butts\u201d signifying to the waiter that 1) they have been here before, and 2) they prefer the ends of the loaf to the thick sliced slabs from the middle of the loaf.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The menu is lengthy.\u00a0\u00a0Entrees are separated into \u201cready to eat\u201d and \u201ccooked to order” categories.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s noted that some entrees may take up to 40 minutes to prepare.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But you won\u2019t care \u2013 you\u2019ll just slam back another martini or perhaps a mint julep (William Faulkner used to get behind the bar and mix his own), while you are waiting; or perhaps you\u2019ll doodle the outline of your next screenplay on a scrap of paper while you munch on a butt.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

M&F is an assured \u201ccelebrity-spotting site\u201d for tourists (I say tourists, because a native Los Angelean would never \u2018bother\u2019 a celebrity in public).\u00a0\u00a0The last time I dined there, I had Fred Willard and a lady friend on one side of me, Rip Torn and a friend\/colleague on another.\u00a0Willard was very gracious; Torn was very drunk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And me?\u00a0\u00a0I emulated Willard and Torn both, and got graciously drunk\u2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

M&F is open from 11-11 Tuesdays thru Saturdays at the corner of Hollywood and Cherokee.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a \u201cregular\u201d or a \u201cregular wannabe,\u201d you\u2019ll enter thru the back door\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Musso<\/a><\/p>\n

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Musso and Frank Review<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  I have written about the joys of going to an establishment where they remember you \u2013 your likes, your dislikes; or are willing to prepare something \u201coff the menu\u201d to your liking.\u00a0\u00a0But I find a certain comfort, as well, in being a regular at a place where just the opposite is true \u2013 they… Continue reading Musso and Frank Review, Hollywood, CA<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,27,30],"tags":[2134],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15725"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}