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Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Where artists tippled, an ode to Cole's French dip: L.A. arts and culture this weekend
Artists are formed by the spaces they spend time in — and in the case of countless Los Angeles artists, writers and musicians, that place was the city's oldest restaurant and bar, Cole's French Dip, which is slated to close on Aug. 2. Founded in 1908 by Harry Cole in downtown's historic Pacific Electric building, then the city's primary railway transit hub, the legendary public house is credited with inventing the French dip sandwich after its chef dipped bread in au jus to soften it for a patron who had trouble chewing. (Note: Philippe the Original in Chinatown takes issue with this story, claiming full credit for the juicy culinary delight.) The possibility of an apocryphal legend aside, Cole's went on to become one of the very best bars in the area, attracting a solidly blue-collar crowd over the years, including the notoriously ribald, drunken poet Charles Bukowski. The restroom even sported a placard that read, 'Charles Bukowski pissed here,' an unflinchingly literal claim to fame frequently mentioned in self-guided tours of literary L.A. (Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood has a less off-color plaque at its bar in reference to Jim Morrison, who allegedly relieved himself on the spot without heading for the urinals.) I like to think of Bukowski with a beer and a shot of whiskey in front of him, scribbling away on a napkin at the bar in Cole's. I've done the same over the years, having discovered the bar in 1999 when I first moved to Los Angeles. Downtown was not on the up-and-up in those days, and Cole's had fallen on hard times but was still beloved. My rock band played a few shows in its back room, and I fell in love with what was at the time a true dive bar — a place where the occasional unhoused patron spent his Social Security check alongside a smattering of unknown, paint-spattered artists who stopped by from nearby studios. I remember meeting a musician there one night who invited me and a friend to his 6th Street loft and showed me literally thousands of records stacked like a maze throughout the space, so high that you couldn't see over them, so many that I wondered if he had space to sleep. Cole's was that kind of bar — a refuge for artists and misfits, a place that didn't care what your story was as long as you had a good one. The last time I went to Cole's before downtown bar magnate Cedd Moses (artist Ed Moses' son) bought it and restored it to its early 20th century glory, a rat ran over my foot as I sat at a torn, tufted banquette. I love a good dive (my husband proposed to me at the now-shuttered Brown Jug in San Francisco's Tenderloin District), but that was a bridge too far, even for me. Moses has long had a deep affinity for dive bars and, in the aughts, went about transforming and resurrecting a number of spaces in downtown L.A., including Cole's, in ways that stayed true to their historic integrity. His 213 Nightlife Group (now called Pouring With Heart), was integral to downtown's prepandemic boom. That downtown is once again suffering from the kind of trouble and malaise that beset it in the '80s and '90s should be cause for great concern. On the bright side, it's times like these when artists can again afford to move in. Maybe they can rally to save Cole's. I'm arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, warning you that there is now often a line to get into Cole's, but encouraging you to go anyway. Paying your respects to the classic institution is worth the wait. Bring a good book and a sketch pad. 'Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair'Quentin Tarantino presents rare screenings of the complete version of his four-hour martial arts epic that brought together 'Vol. 1' and 'Vol. 2,' with additional flourishes. Uma Thurman stars as the Bride in a quest for revenge against the title character (David Carradine) and his band of assassins (Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox and Michael Madsen). Added flair: It's the filmmaker's personal 35 mm print screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, so it has French Thursday-July 28. Vista Theater, 4473 Sunset Drive. Artemisia Gentileschi in NaplesCurator Davide Gasparotto discussses the Italian artist's work from the period she spent in Naples beginning in 1630. Gentileschi quickly became one of the most in-demand painters in the region, and Gasparotto illustrates the large-scale works, including the newly restored 'Hercules and Omphale,' she completed during this time.2 p.m. Saturday. J. Paul Getty Museum, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. George StraitChris Stapleton and Little Big Town join the country legend on this stadium tour in support of his latest album, 'Cowboys and Dreamers.'5:45 p.m. Saturday. SoFi Stadium, 1001 S. Stadium Drive, Inglewood. TaikoProjectThe L.A.-based taiko drumming group marks its 25th anniversary with a one-night-only concert featuring its innovative percussion work, plus guests including the Grammy-winning Latinx group Quetzal and multi-instrument soloist Sumie Kaneko, performing vocals, on the koto and the shamisen.7 p.m. Saturday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. 'Bye Bye Tiberias'Filmmaker Lina Soualem portrays four generations of Arab women, including her mother, actor Hiam Abbass, who carry the burden of history within them and deal with an evolving meaning of home. Preceded by a 1988 short, 'Measures of Distance,' in which filmmaker Mona Hatoum combines letters from her mother in war-torn Beirut with layered images and voice to question stereotypes of Arab womanhood. Both films are part of the UCLA Film and Television Archive's series '(Dis)placement: Fluctuations of Home.'7:30 p.m. Saturday. Billy Wilder Theater, UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. 'Berta, Berta'Andi Chapman directs the West Coast premiere of Angelica Chéri's love story about a Black man seeking redemption in 1920s Mississippi. DeJuan Christopher and Kacie Rogers ('Furlough's Paradise' at the Geffen) 19-Aug. 25; 8 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays; 4 p.m. Sundays. The Echo Theater Company. Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. GiselleAmerican Ballet Theatre dances this romantic tale set in the Rhineland forests where betrayal, revenge and forgiveness play out. With the Pacific Symphony.7:30 p.m. Thursday and July 25; 2 and 7:30 p.m. July 26; 1 p.m. July 27. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. The Los Angeles Philharmonic opened its 103rd season at the Hollywood Bowl earlier this month, and all was not well, writes Times classical music critic Mark Swed, noting low attendance, the cancellation of highly anticipated shows featuring Gustavo Dudamel with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and a general edginess that has taken root in the city since the intensive ICE raids began. ''A Beautiful Noise' is a jukebox musical that understands the assignment,' begins Times theater critic Charles McNulty's review of the show playing at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre through July 27. Anyone familiar with McNulty's taste knows this is high praise coming from a critic who often doesn't take a shine to the genre. This musical gets a pass because it exists simply to pay tribute to Neil Diamond's beloved catalog with 'glorious' singing of 'American pop gold.' Former American Idol winner Nick Fradiani delivers a 'thrilling vocal performance,' McNulty notes. The New Hollywood String Quartet celebrated its 25th anniversary with a four-day festival at the Huntington's Rothenberg Hall, and Swed was there to capture the scene. The festivities conjured the magic of the legendary studio musicians who first formed the quartet in the late 1930s. Classical music fans and lovers of cinematic scores didn't always see eye to eye, but it was Hollywood that 'produced the first notable American string quartet,' Swed writes. McNulty also reviewed two shows in Theatricum Botanicum's outdoor season: 'The Seagull: Malibu' and 'Strife,' both of which are reimagined in the American past. Ellen Geer directed the former, setting Chekhov's play in the beach city of Malibu during the 1970s. Geer co-directs John Galsworthy's 1909 social drama alongside Willow Geer — moving the action from the border of England and Wales to Pennsylvania in the 1890s. The plays are ambitious, if uneven, writes McNulty. The Hammer Museum is back with its annual summer concert series, which is free as always. There are two upcoming shows: Very Be Careful with Healing Gems and DJ Eléanora, July 31; and Open Mike Eagle with Jordan Patterson and Aug. 19. Ann Philbin, former director and current director emeritus of the Hammer Museum at UCLA, was named this year's Getty Prize recipient. She chose to donate its accompanying, pay-it-forward $500,000 grant to NPR and its Los Angeles member stations, KCRW and LAist. The 'Jesus Christ Superstar' casting news keeping coming. Earlier this week, it was announced that Josh Gad will play King Herod and Phillipa Soo will play Mary Magdalene in Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical, staged at the Hollywood Bowl in early August and starring Cynthia Erivo as Jesus and Adam Lambert as Judas. The Carpenter Center announced its 2025–2026 season, including an evening with Sandra Bernhard and Mandy Patinkin in concert; a cabaret series that opens with Melissa Errico performing Barbra Streisand's songbook; a dance series featuring Alonzo King LINES Ballet; a 'Wow!' series that includes the Peking Acrobats; and a Sunday afternoon concert series with a special tribute to the songs of John Lennon and Harry Nilsson. — Jessica Gelt Hot cheese bread and meat pies? Count me in!
New York Times
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
John Martin, Devoted Publisher of Literary Rebels, Dies at 94
John Martin, an adventurous independent publisher who brought out the raucous work of the poet Charles Bukowski, as well as the writing of other offbeat literary rebels like Paul Bowles, John Fante and Wyndham Lewis, died on June 23 at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. He was 94. His death was confirmed by his wife, Barbara Martin. In 1966, Mr. Martin founded Black Sparrow Press, a shoestring operation that he ran out of his home for years with the help of part-time assistants and Ms. Martin, who designed the books. The company eventually became one of the highest-profile small publishers in the United States — 'California's premier literary publisher,' The Los Angeles Times called it — and in 2002 he sold it to an imprint of HarperCollins for seven figures. In between, Mr. Martin promoted, encouraged and printed the vast, uncompromisingly demotic and self-reflexive work of Bukowski, a West Coast cult figure who drew hundreds to his readings and whose books were reportedly among the most stolen from bookstores. Using language and form that were deliberately pedestrian, Bukowski made himself his subject — his drinking, womanizing and violence. He was the poet as 'an unregenerate lowbrow contemptuous of our claims to superior being,' the critic Thomas R. Edwards wrote in The New York Review of Books. Mr. Martin founded Black Sparrow explicitly to publish the work of Bukowski, whom he idolized, he told interviewers. In 1969, Bukowski was living a semi-down-and-out existence, working the night shift at a Los Angeles post office and squeezing in writing during his waking hours. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Iconic Restaurant Where 'Mad Men' Filmed Closing After 117 Years in Business
Sadly, another one bits the dust in downtown Los Angeles. Cole's, the oldest public house in Los Angeles and established in 1908 as the inventor of the Original French Dip sandwich, is reportedly set to close its doors for good on Aug. 2. DTLA Insider was first to report the news and Los Angeles Weekly later reported the same news. Cole's was established by Harry Cole. For more than a century, the restaurant was housed in the historic Pacific Electric Building. The restaurant claims that its house chef, Jack Garlinghouse, invented the dip sandwich when he would dip the bread in Au Jus to soften it for customers with bad gums. Philippe's, another Los Angeles staple since 1908, also claims to have invented the Original French Dip sandwich. Cole's is so legendary, it sold a record of fifty-eight 32-gallon kegs (some 19,000 gallons of beer) the first day California lifted the ban on beer to mark the end of Prohibition. Civic dignitaries and gangsters alike often visited the restaurant -- often times at the same time -- for its famous sandwich and pints. Mickey Cohen, L.A.'s most famous gangster, visited so often he has a plaque dedicated to him above one of the two original urinals. The plaque reads, "Mickey Cohen pissed here." The second plaque is dedicated to the poet and novelist Charles Bukowski. The restaurant even made news in 1983, when Jimmy Barela, the lead barman since 1918, retired after 65 years. It's unclear why Cole's is closing after 117 years in business. Neither of the news outlets offered a reason, but rising rent costs in Los Angeles has contributed to other iconic institutions being forced to close its doors. The Original Pantry Cafe, just one block north of Arena, closed in March after 101 years of 24-hour diner service. Cole's also played a character in many movies and TV shows. The restaurant was prominently featured in the 1986 film Jumpin' Jack Flash starring Whoopi Goldberg. While the film is set in New York City, Cole's and Los Angeles made its mark on the spy comedy. Cole's also appears in Forrest Gump for the New Year's Eve scene with Forrest and Lieutenant Dan. Some hit TV shows that filmed inside Cole's includes the X-Files, NYPD Blue and, of course, Mad Men. Cole's appears in season 4, episode 6 of "Waldorf Stories." In that scene, Roger Sterling's (John Slattery) flashback scenes reveals how he first met Don Draper (Jon Hamm). Their boozy lunch is filmed at Cole's. Iconic Restaurant Where 'Mad Men' Filmed Closing After 117 Years in Business first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 7, 2025
