Latest news with #Cole'sFrenchDip
Los Angeles Times
4 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!
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Los Angeles businesses need help to bounce back from raids and tariffs, advocacy group says
Businesses in downtown Los Angeles need the support and patronage of locals in these tough times, Central City Association President and Chief Executive Nella McOsker says. Places that hadn't yet come back from the cratering caused by COVID-19 are now dealing with rising costs from tariffs and employees worried they could get caught up in the crackdown on undocumented workers, she said in an interview. The images of the violent downtown protests last month were another punch in the gut for the association's members, she said. Some businesses have decided they just can't take it anymore. There has been growing list of recent restaurant closures in L.A., including the 117-year-old Cole's French Dip downtown, soul food bistro My 2 Cents on West Pico Boulevard and natural wine bar Melody in Virgil Village. The most recent beloved venue set to close downtown: the Michelin-starred Shibumi. Set up in 1924, the Central City Association is one of the top advocacy organizations in the Los Angeles region, representing the interests of more than 300 businesses, trade associations and nonprofits from a broad range of industries. McOsker, who has been leading the chamber since 2019, spoke with The Times about how the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and tariffs are affecting local businesses. Q: Businesses have been through a lot lately. How are they coping with the challenges? A: There's been a series of really compounding challenges. It's hard to not start the story with the coronavirus pandemic. But in some ways, I think the challenge starts with COVID-19, and then a series of crises or a series of challenging scenarios compounds such that right now is largely an unsustainable state of affairs in downtown L.A. In some ways, it's representative of a wider experience for Los Angeles business. You think about three types of people that come into downtown: visitors, employees and residents. In the residential sector, there's huge growth, actually. Downtown Los Angeles is one of the few downtowns across the country that saw growth pre- to post-pandemic. And there's a potential for downtown to continue to become more of a neighborhood than just an office market. But the office market is challenged in the ways that every office market is across the country from work-from-home trends. So, we're already in a sensitive business environment, sensitive to perception, given the challenges of public safety and homelessness already, and sustaining yet another really tough blow. The message is, please come to downtown to support businesses here. Please use your patronage as a way to support local communities, support small businesses. We see far too many businesses shuttering because this is the last and final straw. Q: Has normalcy returned to downtown? A: The impact is still going on. It will help tremendously when there are reduced ICE operations that will help at least all of us who care about downtown to be in a position when we can change perception and really call for people to come back to downtown, and then focus on the things that downtown needs investment around any way in infrastructure, in safety, in abating homelessness. Q: What businesses have been most affected? A: Hospitality, retail, food and beverage, entertainment. You see it, of course, in other sectors. I would say there's challenges in construction and manufacturing, but you're seeing the most present and real, the math no longer works because we can't stay open if no one's coming through and supporting the businesses in downtown. Q: How hard were businesses hit? A: It depends on the neighborhood. I heard 30% drops in the Fashion District, and I bet you that's even more so now. Little Tokyo had sustained some of the most damage after those first days of unrest and again, targeted criminal activity. How devastating that was because it's a neighborhood built on families, immigrant families. Some of them have owned and operated the same business for several generations and shouldn't be the target, especially by other Angelenos, to protest against these actions by the federal administration. Q: Are your members dependent on migrant labor? A: Yes, absolutely. You could say this across almost all sectors of Los Angeles. We are a community of immigrants. The impact of aggressive immigration enforcement actions has a chilling effect on business in a number of different ways. One is pausing projects. Some of this has to do with the layered impact of something like tariffs. It has a chilling effect in that the potential patronage of businesses no longer wants to spend money or go out or make that visit to an area that has been a site of these tactics. And then it creates uncertainty. What every business in any place across the globe would say is that certainty is the best environment for planning ahead, for knowing how to keep doors open. And when you don't have certainty, it's simply impossible to manage your business day to day, pay your employees, get out those deliveries, do all of the daily operations that are necessary to make those thin margins often just work. Q: What impacts do your members see from the fluctuating tariffs? A: Some of the businesses are closing down. One of them is Cole's French Dip. Terrible. This is more than 100 years old. The owner operator has several different properties within the downtown ecosystem. He's one of these investors, early investors and champions of downtown locations. And many of his beloved spaces are under turmoil, in part, again, because of these compounding challenges over the last five years. Q: How are your members doing about higher tariffs? A: They're doing with the best they can, by calling on residents or local Angelenos to come support them, by calling on the local government and state government to provide relief. What we're banding together to do right now is a very localized and locally controlled recovery plan. What would it look like for us to really call on Angelenos to come support these businesses? Maybe they don't live in the downtown ecosystem. And that massive residential population are among the heroes who are coming out of their homes under curfew and to support their shop on the corner. Q: Are your members doing anything to support, accommodate or protect workers that might be targeted by the immigration enforcement efforts? A: Yes. There are efforts to educate. There are efforts to create safe spaces within buildings or within physical properties. There are messages and communications of support for those that are known on various staffs and teams who may be undocumented or who are concerned about actions, regardless of status. There is a feeling, and I really saw a shift when we saw that aggressive action taken towards Sen. (Alex) Padilla. The mayor organized a press conference, and you saw a huge swath of L.A. sectors, nonprofit, business, faith organizations come together to articulate the fact that this has gone too far and this is enough. We are reliant on each other's health, wellness and protection to make it through this uncertain period. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Central City Assn. says businesses need help to bounce back from raids and tariffs
Businesses in downtown Los Angeles need the support and patronage of locals in these tough times, Central City Assn. President and Chief Executive Nella McOsker says. Places that hadn't yet come back from the cratering caused by COVID-19 are now dealing with rising costs from tariffs and employees worried they could get caught up in the crackdown on undocumented workers, she said in an interview. The images of the violent downtown protests last month were another punch in the gut for the association's members, she said. Some businesses have decided they just can't take it anymore. There has been growing list of recent restaurant closures in L.A., including the 117-year-old Cole's French Dip downtown, soul food bistro My 2 Cents on West Pico Boulevard and natural wine bar Melody in Virgil Village. The most recent beloved venue set to close downtown: the Michelin-starred Shibumi. Set up in 1924, the Central City Assn. is one of the top advocacy organizations in the Los Angeles region, representing the interests of more than 300 businesses, trade associations and nonprofits from a broad range of industries. McOsker, who has been leading the chamber since 2019, spoke with The Times about how the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and tariffs are affecting local businesses. Businesses have been through a lot lately. How are they coping with the challenges? There's been a series of really compounding challenges. It's hard to not start the story with the coronavirus pandemic. But in some ways, I think the challenge starts with COVID-19, and then a series of crises or a series of challenging scenarios compounds such that right now is largely an unsustainable state of affairs in downtown L.A. In some ways, it's representative of a wider experience for Los Angeles business. You think about three types of people that come into downtown: visitors, employees and residents. In the residential sector, there's huge growth, actually. Downtown Los Angeles is one of the few downtowns across the country that saw growth pre- to post-pandemic. And there's a potential for downtown to continue to become more of a neighborhood than just an office market. But the office market is challenged in the ways that every office market is across the country from work-from-home trends. So, we're already in a sensitive business environment, sensitive to perception, given the challenges of public safety and homelessness already, and sustaining yet another really tough blow. The message is, please come to downtown to support businesses here. Please use your patronage as a way to support local communities, support small businesses. We see far too many businesses shuttering because this is the last and final straw. Has normalcy returned to downtown? The impact is still going on. It will help tremendously when there are reduced ICE operations that will help at least all of us who care about downtown to be in a position when we can change perception and really call for people to come back to downtown, and then focus on the things that downtown needs investment around any way in infrastructure, in safety, in abating homelessness. What businesses have been most affected? Hospitality, retail, food and beverage, entertainment. You see it, of course, in other sectors. I would say there's challenges in construction and manufacturing, but you're seeing the most present and real, the math no longer works because we can't stay open if no one's coming through and supporting the businesses in downtown. How hard were businesses hit? It depends on the neighborhood. I heard 30% drops in the Fashion District, and I bet you that's even more so now. Little Tokyo had sustained some of the most damage after those first days of unrest and again, targeted criminal activity. How devastating that was because it's a neighborhood built on families, immigrant families. Some of them have owned and operated the same business for several generations and shouldn't be the target, especially by other Angelenos, to protest against these actions by the federal administration. Are your members dependent on migrant labor? Yes, absolutely. You could say this across almost all sectors of Los Angeles. We are a community of immigrants. The impact of aggressive immigration enforcement actions has a chilling effect on business in a number of different ways. One is pausing projects. Some of this has to do with the layered impact of something like tariffs. It has a chilling effect in that the potential patronage of businesses no longer wants to spend money or go out or make that visit to an area that has been a site of these tactics. And then it creates uncertainty. What every business in any place across the globe would say is that certainty is the best environment for planning ahead, for knowing how to keep doors open. And when you don't have certainty, it's simply impossible to manage your business day to day, pay your employees, get out those deliveries, do all of the daily operations that are necessary to make those thin margins often just work. What impacts do your members see from the fluctuating tariffs? Some of the businesses are closing down. One of them is Cole's French Dip. Terrible. This is more than 100 years old. The owner operator has several different properties within the downtown ecosystem. He's one of these investors, early investors and champions of downtown locations. And many of his beloved spaces are under turmoil, in part, again, because of these compounding challenges over the last five years. How are your members doing about higher tariffs? They're doing with the best they can, by calling on residents or local Angelenos to come support them, by calling on the local government and state government to provide relief. What we're banding together to do right now is a very localized and locally controlled recovery plan. What would it look like for us to really call on Angelenos to come support these businesses? Maybe they don't live in the downtown ecosystem. And that massive residential population are among the heroes who are coming out of their homes under curfew and to support their shop on the corner. Are your members doing anything to support, accommodate or protect workers that might be targeted by the immigration enforcement efforts? Yes. There are efforts to educate. There are efforts to create safe spaces within buildings or within physical properties. There are messages and communications of support for those that are known on various staffs and teams who may be undocumented or who are concerned about actions, regardless of status. There is a feeling, and I really saw a shift when we saw that aggressive action taken towards Sen. [Alex] Padilla. The mayor organized a press conference, and you saw a huge swath of L.A. sectors, nonprofit, business, faith organizations come together to articulate the fact that this has gone too far and this is enough. We are reliant on each other's health, wellness and protection to make it through this uncertain period.
New York Post
10-07-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Crime, soaring rent to shutter LA's oldest restaurant — which claims to have invented the French dip sandwich — after 117 years
Los Angeles' oldest restaurant is dipping out. Cole's French Dip — a 117-year-old mainstay of downtown LA that claims to have originated the French dip sandwich — will shutter due to vandalism, sky-high rent and 'general crime,' among other challenges. 'The litany of reasons for closing are not unique to Cole's alone; they are affecting most independent restaurants in Los Angeles,' the eatery said in a press release announcing the closure, set for Aug 3. Founded in 1908, Cole's is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the city. 6 The storefront for Cole's French Dip in downtown LA, which is closing after 117 years in business. Steve Cukrov – 6 A French dip sandwich at Cole's. Cole's French Dip/Instagram Advertisement 6 Cole's French Dip will shutter next month due to vandalism, sky-high rent and 'general crime,' it said. Cole's French Dip/Instagram But unchecked crime and vandalism, rising rents and an impotent city government have withered LA's thriving downtown — and now even the mighty Cole's will die on the vine. Cole's staff had to scrub feces off the property every other day, Brian Lenzo, a senior vice president for parent company Pouring With Heart, told the LA Times. The restaurant also listed the pandemic, recent writer and actor strikes, 'mounting bureaucracy and legal exposure' among the industry's blights. 6 The pandemic, recent writer and actor strikes, 'mounting bureaucracy and legal exposure' were among the factors that led to the restaurant's shuttering. Cole's French Dip/Instagram Advertisement 'Many Historical Independent Restaurants are struggling under the weight of these issues and have already closed, while those remaining are fighting to survive,' the restaurant said. The honor of having originated the French dip — red meat in a baguette dipped in broth — is also claimed by rival eatery Philippe's, but there's no denying the century of influence Cole's has had on LA's culinary scene. With its dusky, mahogany interior and stamped-tin ceilings, Cole's was at once a high-end bistro, local saloon and late-night cocktail lounge. 6 With its dusky, mahogany interior and stamped-tin ceilings, Cole's was at once a high-end bistro, local saloon and late-night cocktail lounge. Cole's French Dip/Instagram 6 Cole's staff has had to scrub feces off the property every other day, its parent company said. Steve Cukrov – But its back-room cocktail lounge — called Varnish — closed last year, and Lenzo told the LA Times that 'the writing was on the wall' for the restaurant to follow. Yet not all hope is lost: A farewell message on its website gives contact information for anyone interested in purchasing the restaurant. So, maybe someone will give this local legend another dip.
Miami Herald
08-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Oldest LA restaurant permanently closing after 117 years
It is uncommon for a restaurant to stay in business for over a century, so when one is open for that long, it becomes a local legend and everyone's go-to hangout spot. Every city and town has a much-loved local restaurant that has stood the test of time, a place where many have created lasting memories and fostered meaningful connections. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Although it's sad when a place that brought us so much joy closes forever, this unfortunate event has become increasingly common in the restaurant sector. Related: After bankruptcy, closed clothing chain hints at comeback Running a restaurant is no piece of cake, especially in today's uncertain economy and amid a consumer slowdown that has been so disruptive, even major restaurant chains have been forced to close locations or file for bankruptcy. Now, a local LA favorite has reached the end of its long-lived run after 117 years in business. Image Source: Shutterstock Cole's French Dip was established in 1908 by Harry Cole inside the historic Pacific Electric Building, making it the oldest public house in Los Angeles. The restaurant has become one of the most iconic eateries in the city because it claims to have invented the French dip sandwich after the house chef, Jack Garlinghouse, dipped bread in meat broth (the "jus" accompanying a sandwich served "au jus") to make it easier for customers with sensitive gums to chew. However, rival LA restaurant Philippe the Original has also claimed the title for years. More Food News: Wendy's quietly brings back unexpected menu item after 8-year hiatusStarbucks unveils huge store updates amid turnaround planMcDonald's brings back experimental menu item 13 years later In 2008, Pouring With Heart, previously called 213 Nightlife, acquired Cole's to continue the restaurant's legacy. It spent $1.6 million on renovations and brought in chef Neal Fraser to improve the original French dip recipe. Cole's is so iconic to LA culture that it has appeared in various classic films and shows, including "Forrest Gump," "The Lincoln Lawyer," and "Mad Men." After 117 years of serving French dip sandwiches to Los Angeles locals, Cole's French Dip announced that it will permanently close its doors on August 3. Unfortunately, being a local favorite didn't make the beloved restaurant immune to the aftermath of uncontrollable events, including the Covid pandemic, the SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023, and steadily rising operational costs. Compounded by an uncertain economy, these challenges created a financial burden that ultimately proved unsustainable for Cole's, leaving it unable to pay rent. Related: Starbucks' huge new rival opens first US stores Although shocking to the entire community, this was a devastating event waiting to follow after Cedd Moses, the leading partner of Pouring With Heart, closed Varnish, a speakeasy inside Cole's, the year prior, after 15 years in business. "We have cherished our time serving the Downtown community, and will continue to craft great drinks and our renowned French dip sandwiches until we shutter. We care deeply about our family of staff and are immensely grateful for our amazing guests who have supported Cole's over the years," said Moses in a statement to Eater. Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
