New Book L.A.’s Legendary Restaurants Explores the Golden Age of Hollywood Through its Food

Generations before Entertainment Tonight and TMZ, fans of the big and little screen longed to capture the Hollywood glamour of their favorite stars, most notably where they liked to eat and play. Hollywood lore has it that Elizabeth Taylor had chili from Chasen’s flown to the set of Cleopatra in Rome; Howard Hughes and Errol Flynn were regulars at The Coconut Grove at The Ambassador Hotel, and Shirley Temple enjoyed ice cream at the Pig ‘n Whistle.

 

From Trader Vic’s to Perino’s, there are stories to tell and food to talk about. Best-selling cookbook author and chef, George Geary, takes readers on a journey to where the rich and famous ate in the golden age of Hollywood in his new book, L.A.’S LEGENDARY RESTAURANTS (Santa Monica Press/October 2016), an illustrated history Los Angeles’ landmark eateries. The book features over 100 celebrity favorite recipes, from classic eateries such as the Musso & Frank Grill and The Brown Derby in the 1920s, to the see-and-be-seen crowds at Chasen’s, Romanoff’s, and Ciro’s in the mid-twentieth century, to the dawn of California, chef-inspired restaurants Ma Maison andSpago. L.A.’S LEGENDARY RESTAURANTS is a celebration of where Hollywood royalty ate, drank, and played.

Geary gives us an insider’s tour of Hollywood through its restaurants, sprinkling in fun facts and trivia such as Bob Hope’s favorite place to enjoy a hot fudge sundae after hosting the Academy Awards, or where a table was sawed off to accommodate a pregnant Lana Turner, to the soda fountain where composer Harold Arlen wrote “Over the Rainbow” for The Wizard of Oz.  And what book on L.A.’s restaurants would be complete without tales of ice cream sundaes at C.C. Brown’s, cafeteria-style meals at Clifton’s Cafeteria, late-night breakfasts at Ben Frank’s, or mai tais at Don the Beachcomber?

Some of the restaurants Geary has featured include: Van de Kamp’s Holland Dutch Bakery, Formosa Café, Tick Tock Tea Room, Miceli’s, Coconut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel, Cyrano, Chez Jay, Hamptons, L’Orangerie, Tam O’Shanter Inn, Bullock’s Wilshire Tea Room, Zebra Room at the Town House of Lafayette Park, Don the Beachcomber, Cock ‘n Bull, Hollywood Palladium, Scandia, La Scala, Trader Vic’s at the Beverly Hilton, Dan Tana’s, Le Dome, and many more.  L.A.’S LEGENDARY RESTAURANTS provides an interesting history of each restaurant profiled, from their original address and phone number to who designed it and a few of their famous recipes.  Here are just a few of the over 100 iconic recipes included in the book:

There are also some classic cocktail recipes such as:

Most of the locations chronicled in L.A.’S LEGENDARY RESTAURANTS no longer exist, but George Geary has brought their memories and tastes back to life with updated recipes that remind us why customers kept coming back to their favorite haunts time and again.

George Geary is an award-winning chef, best-selling author, and renowned educator.  A former pastry chef for the Walt Disney Company, Geary is a Certified Culinary Professional and was recently named Culinary Educator of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP).  He is perhaps best known for creating all the cheesecakes used on The Golden Girls television series and other top-rated television shows.  George has worked as a casting judge and critic for ABC’s The Taste with Anthony Bourdain, The American Baking Competition with Jeff Foxworthy, Hell’s Kitchen, Supermarket Superstar, and many other popular cooking shows.  He also teaches popular cooking classes aboard Holland America Line’s cruise ships as well as cooking schools across the country.  George is the author of nine cookbooks including The Cheesecake Bible, The Complete Baking Cookbook, and 125 Best Cheesecake Recipes. George is a regular on San Diego Living on the CW Network.  He lives in Los Angeles, CA.