April 30 2017
Today I caught up with LD for what turned out to be a very interesting lunch.
After a few near misses, we finally parked on Broadway, admiring the incredible art deco palaces that were built in the wee hours of the cinema industry. A time when red carpet events were seen as a big affair, and the movie palaces provided a much needed respite from the drudgery of life. The masses had a chance to not only see their favorite stars on the silver screen but were treated to opulence every step of the way, from the magnificent post baroque / rococo interiors in the foyer through to the galleries that paved the way to the cinema itself. The chairs may have been spartan, but the surroundings were rich, lush, opulent: nothing like the homes the masses would return to once the words ‘The End’ came up, and the velvet curtains closed.
We’d hoped to catch a daytime tour of one of the more opulent cinema houses but unfortunately had the timing all wrong … too bad!!
After taking a closer look at these broadway palaces, LD suggests we go to a rather unique place for lunch.
Clifton’s is a very old cafe which was built for the post cinema crowd. It’s really like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
It looks like a series of grottos. There are small grottoes with different platforms, quite small, for performing jazz bands. The design is minimalistic in intention, to force a minimal band line up, rather than the large scale bands that were to dominate the 1940s.
There’s a small prayer grotto as well, which you access through some very windy stairs.
There’s a large restaurant and buffet which is part serviced, part serve yourself.
What’s really cool about this place are all the stuffed animals placed sporadically in dioramas. There’s a coyote chasing an antelope, mid flight.
Here’s a coyote with a bird stuffed in its mouth, about to return to its den in a serve yourself deli buffet all of its own.
Then there’s the classic act of altruism that this place was famous for. Their motto was ‘Pay What You Wish… Eat Free Unless Delighted’. This was clearly a sign of the times, an oasis in the suffering that was American life during the Great Depression.
Clearly, that’s not their policy anymore. However the good news is that when the owner died, there was a clause that if it was to be reopened, it was to be presented in its original splendor.
So, I don’t really mind paying for the food, because I’m delighted. Yes, by the food, but ultimately that a place like this exists, and hasn’t fallen prey to the wrecking ball.
Yet.
#california #cliftons #losangeles #broadway #opulence #luxury #altruism #taxidermy #jazz #minimal #gawdy
Today I caught up with LD for what turned out to be a very interesting lunch.
After a few near misses, we finally parked on Broadway, admiring the incredible art deco palaces that were built in the wee hours of the cinema industry. A time when red carpet events were seen as a big affair, and the movie palaces provided a much needed respite from the drudgery of life. The masses had a chance to not only see their favorite stars on the silver screen but were treated to opulence every step of the way, from the magnificent post baroque / rococo interiors in the foyer through to the galleries that paved the way to the cinema itself. The chairs may have been spartan, but the surroundings were rich, lush, opulent: nothing like the homes the masses would return to once the words ‘The End’ came up, and the velvet curtains closed.
We’d hoped to catch a daytime tour of one of the more opulent cinema houses but unfortunately had the timing all wrong … too bad!!
After taking a closer look at these broadway palaces, LD suggests we go to a rather unique place for lunch.
Clifton’s is a very old cafe which was built for the post cinema crowd. It’s really like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
It looks like a series of grottos. There are small grottoes with different platforms, quite small, for performing jazz bands. The design is minimalistic in intention, to force a minimal band line up, rather than the large scale bands that were to dominate the 1940s.
There’s a small prayer grotto as well, which you access through some very windy stairs.
There’s a large restaurant and buffet which is part serviced, part serve yourself.
What’s really cool about this place are all the stuffed animals placed sporadically in dioramas. There’s a coyote chasing an antelope, mid flight.
Here’s a coyote with a bird stuffed in its mouth, about to return to its den in a serve yourself deli buffet all of its own.
Then there’s the classic act of altruism that this place was famous for. Their motto was ‘Pay What You Wish… Eat Free Unless Delighted’. This was clearly a sign of the times, an oasis in the suffering that was American life during the Great Depression.
Clearly, that’s not their policy anymore. However the good news is that when the owner died, there was a clause that if it was to be reopened, it was to be presented in its original splendor.
So, I don’t really mind paying for the food, because I’m delighted. Yes, by the food, but ultimately that a place like this exists, and hasn’t fallen prey to the wrecking ball.
Yet.
#california #cliftons #losangeles #broadway #opulence #luxury #altruism #taxidermy #jazz #minimal #gawdy
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