Arroyo Feb16

FINE FI NE LIVING IN THE GREA GREATER EATER TER ER PASADENA PA PASA SADEN SAD ENA AREA

February 2016

HERB ALPERT RENAISSANCE MAN OF JAZZ

THE COFFEE GALLERY Folk-Rock is Alive and Well in Altadena

FIRST GLASS Raise It at One of These 5 Pasadena-area Drinking Establishments

GIN MAKES A COMEBACK The Flashy New Generation Of Juniper-Flavored Spirits

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4 | ARROYO | 02.16

arroyo

VOLUME 12 | NUMBER 2 | FEBRUARY 2016

35

PHOTOS: (Top) Courtesy of Bar 1886 at The Raymond; (bottom left) courtesy of The Flintridge Proper; (bottom right) © LeAnn Mueller

31

43

NIGHTLIFE 11 THE ALPERT EFFECT Legendary jazz trumpeter Herb Alpert and vocalist wife Lani Hall bring their buoyant sound to Arcadia.

—By BETTIJANE LEVINE

31 THE GIN GAME Your grandparents’ stuffy gin has been replaced by a new generation infused with a garden of botanicals.

—By MICHAEL CERVIN

35 FIRST GLASS Start off your evening at one of these fine Pasadena drinking establishments.

—By BRADLEY TUCK

38 WHERE THE OLD FOLKIES (AND YOUNG NEWBIES) ROAM The Coffee House Gallery Backstage is a hidden gem showcasing top folk-rock talent in an intimate space.

—By MARTIN BOOE

DEPARTMENTS 8

FESTIVITIES Santa Anita Park season opens, KCET celebrates Doc Martin, Rainn Wilson at the Geffen

9

LEON BING A baker’s dozen of years has passed since our columnist met her much younger partner.

41

KITCHEN CONFESSIONS Le Cordon Bleu North America is closing all its schools — including the one in Pasadena.

43

THE LIST Rex Reed reminisces, rare books at the Convention Center, court life in Ming China and more

ABOUT THE COVER: Photo of Herb Alpert by Dewey Nicks 02.16 ARROYO | 5

EDITOR’S NOTE

Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. For Arroyo’s first Nightlife issue, Bradley Tuck brings you a guide to some of the best places in the Pasadena area for the first drink of the evening. It’s a different experience from cacophonous late-night bar-hopping, the quiet time before both bartender and patron must suffer “the annoying clatter of an immoderate tippler’s nonstop booze-fueled banter,” as Bradley observes. I’ll drink to that.

Then take a seat and a look at Michael Cervin’s story about the comeback of gin, once your grandparents’ drink of choice. No longer are spirits aficionados limited to the dry London gin that filled their glasses. Gin’s popularity may have been supplanted by vodka in recent years, but it’s coming back in very different forms, infused not just with traditional juniper but with a variety of botanicals. Intrigued? Then head to La Cañada Flintridge, where The Flintridge Proper boasts the country’s biggest gin menu with more than 200 varieties.

Of course, a great evening doesn’t require alcohol. At the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena, you can sip, well, coffee while listening to great folk-rock acts — from icons to newbies — in the intimate back room.

You may not have considered quiet Altadena as a destination for terrific music, but then you probably haven’t met Bob Stane, practically a legend in the music booking business. Contributor Martin Booe, who moonlights as a songwriter and musician, brings back a report from the folkie front.

Speaking of legends, mark your calendars for the evening of February 20, when jazz trumpeter/philanthropist/club owner/Broadway producer/visual artist Herb Alpert comes to the Arcadia Performing Arts Center with his vocalist wife, Lani Hall. Indeed, the 80-year-old Alpert has kept himself very busy in the 50 years since you or your parents bought a 78 of “A Taste of Honey.” Bettijane Levine talks to Alpert about his current 60-stop tour and his remarkable legacy in the arts.

—Irene Lacher

EDITOR IN CHIEF Irene Lacher ART DIRECTOR Carla Cortez ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Stephanie Torres PRODUCTION DESIGNERS Rochelle Bassarear, Richard Garcia EDITOR-AT-LARGE Bettijane Levine COPY EDITOR John Seeley CONTRIBUTORS Leslie Bilderback, Leon Bing, Martin Booe, Michael Cervin, Scarlet Cheng, Carole Dixon, Lisa Dupuy, Lynne Heffley, Kathleen Kelleher, Rebecca Kuzins, Brenda Rees, John Sollenberger, Nancy Spiller ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Dina Stegon ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Lisa Chase, Brenda Clarke, Leslie Lamm ADVERTORIAL CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Bruce Haring HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Andrea Baker PAYROLL Linda Lam CONTROLLER Kacie Cobian ACCOUNTING Sharon Huie, Teni Keshishian OFFICE ASSISTANT Ann Turrietta PUBLISHER Jon Guynn 6 | ARROYO | 02.16

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FINE LIVING IN THE GREATER PASADENA AREA

SOUTHLAND PUBLISHING V.P. OF OPERATIONS David Comden PRESIDENT Bruce Bolkin CONTACT US ADVERTISING dinas@pasadenaweekly.com EDITORIAL editor@arroyomonthly.com PHONE (626) 584-1500 FAX (626) 795-0149 MAILING ADDRESS 50 S. De Lacey Ave., Ste. 200, Pasadena, CA 91105 ArroyoMonthly.com

©2016 Southland Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

02.16 | ARROYO | 7

FESTIVITIES

Nic Cha Kim, Val Zavala, Derek Shore and Conor Knighton of the KCET news team

Michael Riley, Marion Ross and Ian McNeice

Chris O’Connor

Soul Driver owner Jeffrey Bloom 8 | ARROYO | 02.16

Nearly 45,000 horse-racing fans converged on Santa Anita Park in Arcadia Dec. 26 for Winter Meet Opening Day. While thousands filled the stands and formed long snack-bar lines, horse owners and friends gathered in The Director’s Room, a private dining room above the Turf Terrace, for a buffet lunch and terrific view of the finish line…Rainn Wilson (The Office), star of the Geffen Playhouse production of Will Eno’s one-man Off-Broadway hit, Thom Paine (Based on Nothing), celebrated opening night at an after-party at Palomino in Westwood, where he was surrounded by fellow actors and friends like Pasadena’s Jane Kaczmarek ( Malcolm in the Middle ), who told fellow revelers the show was “one of the best things I’ve ever seen in my life”… KCET celebrated the seventh season of its most successful series — British TV’s Doc Martin, which premiered on L.A.’s public-television channel in January — at a reception for some 200 supporters at the Hancock Park home of British Consul General Chris O’Connor. He was joined by series regular Ian McNeice, who plays a pub keeper, KCET President/ CEO Michael Riley and Happy Days actress Marion Ross. The evening’s Anglophilic raffle prizes included afternoon tea at the Pasadena’s Rose Tree Cottage contributed by Edmund Fry.

Rainn Wilson (right) with fellow The Office cast members Brian Baumgartner and Angela Kinsey

Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother) and Jane Kaczmarek

K.B. Sareen, owner of 4-year-old colt Om

PHOTOS: Irene Lacher (Santa Anita Park); Jordan Strauss (Geffen Playhouse); Ed Krieger (KCET )

BAFTA’s Sandro Monetti and Pasadena’s Edmund Fry and Margaret Sedenquist with McNeice

LEON BING

LUCKY NUMBER …AND COUNTING

13

A baker’s dozen of years has passed since our columnist met her much younger partner.

F

Not so crazy, as it turned out. It’s been 13 years since Gareth and I met and we are still together. At the beginning of our relationship, we had dinner together every night — he’s a terrific cook; I am not — and spent the weekends driving to various, sometimes strange areas as far away as the Salton Sea. There Gareth could take some of his evocative black-and-white street photographs (represented by the Cohen Gallery in Beverly Hills and at photo L.A.). We often piled pillows on the floor (in his apartment or mine, which had a wood-burning fireplace) and sat close together while we listened to Bach partitas played by Glenn Gould, a Mozart clarinet concerto we both favored and Paul Simon albums. We didn’t feel the need to talk. The physical closeness, the music and the initial kisses that drew us toward fuller passion were enough. One of the Simon songs is called “Something So Right,” and that’s how it felt despite all the reasons it might have seemed wrong. In truth, there was only one reason: the generational difference in our ages. That difference didn’t — and has never — troubled Gareth and me. (I wish I could say the same for his mother, whose behavior toward me makes me think of Mrs. Danvers, the icy housekeeper in Rebecca.)

My daughter, Lisa, has never mentioned it, same with our friends. They all seem to think we’re a perfect couple. I don’t know about perfect, but we’re both willing to put in the work it takes to make a good life together.

PHOTO: Richard Cunningham

our years ago I wrote a piece for this magazine about my relationship with a much younger man. The title was “The Mister and Me” because that is how I often refer to him. We met in Pasadena on Grand Avenue in February 2003 when I was out with my dogs, Diz and Bobbie — both blond, fluff y mutts of indeterminate breed — while Gareth Seigel was enjoying a late-afternoon walk. I didn’t notice him until he was close enough behind me to comment on the beauty of the day; a stranger’s passing remark. I said, “Uh huh,” uninterested in conversation.

I was thinking about the freight train of a deadline bearing down on me for a piece I was writing for GQ. Then I turned around. He looked to be in his early 20s and he was — and remains — great-looking: a couple inches over 6 feet, posture to burn, thick dark hair and a dazzling smile. Ten minutes later we were still talking, the dogs sprawled peacefully between us. The only thing I remember about that first conversation was the emotion in Gareth’s voice and the slight misting of his eyes when he told me about the special-ed students he’d been the substitute teacher for that day.

I made a fast decision.

“Hey, would you like to go with me to a free screening of Gangs of New York this evening?”

“Yes, I’d like that,” he said.

And I wondered if I’d just done a crazy thing.

–continued on page 10 02.16 | ARROYO | 9

LEON BING –continued from page 9

Four years ago, I gave up my small, drenched-in-charm cottage on California Boulevard and moved into Gareth’s much larger apartment a few blocks away. It was still nearly empty after his divorce from a woman he’d met when they were both students at Northwestern University (I should add that Gareth is the first man I’ve met who has never bad-mouthed the ex), and my things fit in beautifully. My late mother’s collection of antique Chinese porcelains, her exquisite Japanese screen, my grandfather’s Steinway and a large painting by Ed Ruscha all melded together with the sofa Gareth bought when his ex-wife moved out, his late grandparents’ dining room set, a beautiful French Deco cabinet he spotted at an antique warehouse and a scattering of his framed photographs.

My darling Diz died about a year before the move, so it was only Bobbie who came with me. He also fit easily into his new surroundings, which was a relief for both Gareth (whom I call Boo; I am Boo to him, as well) and me. Our internist, the great Josh Weng, had Bobbie certified as a service dog when it became clear that he sensed I was getting a migraine before the attack began and would plant himself in front of the door to keep me from going out.

The three of us settled in together with surprising ease. Of course, living in a big space helps. We both have our own bedroom — Bobbie shared mine — and that’s a fine thing: intimacy and privacy in one package. Like others in long-term relationships, we have fallen into certain patterns: early dinners, long pleasurable drives, the nicknames mentioned earlier (plus other endearments), Bill Maher every Friday, 60 Minutes, cable news shows, certain fi lms on cable channels. The TV is in my bedroom, so when we read together (not aloud — that would just be too twee), we’re in Gareth’s bed. Have I mentioned how great he is when we go out to catch a movie on the big screen? He doesn’t express opinions during the fi lm, he still holds my hand in some scenes and he is as particular as I about getting seated before the fi lm begins. Do we have arguments? You bet. But they’re not bitter and doors are never slammed. We might raise our voices slightly, but we’ve never even brushed up against a deal-breaker.

There are so many things I love and admire about the Mister: his diligence in teaching special-ed classes, his fairness about everything, his many talents which include a justfinished novel, his quiet and absolute sexiness, the way he calls me in the middle of each day to tell me that he loves me.

Perhaps the most outstanding demonstration of Gareth’s personality is the way he took care of me in the face of his own grief when our beloved Bobbie died last September. Bobbie was 17 years old, and he slept next to me every night. When I woke up on what was to be the last day of his life, I found his paw on my forearm and his eyes looking into mine, and I knew. He was telling me it was time. I took him out for a brief, very slow walk, gave him his breakfast and then settled on the floor next to him, stroking his fur and feeling how thin he’d become in spite of the two full meals he ate every day. I couldn’t hold back the tears that dropped onto him, and we stayed like that, close together for what I’m sure we both knew would be the last time.

When Gareth came home we carried Bobbie to the car and I held him during the drive to the hospital, where we placed him on a thick cashmere sweater I’d brought along for him. Our dear Bobbie was not a kisser, but that day he gave my face a long pink swipe of tongue just before the wonderful Dr. Joanne Lu sent him to his final sleep. His ashes are in a pretty box on my nightstand along with a silver-framed portrait that Gareth took of him. His beautiful, furry face is the last thing I see before sleep closes in. Gareth was nearly as bereft as I, and I loved him so much for shouldering the pain along with me. Then my daughter, Lisa, did a remarkable thing: She gave us her Henry James, a bandy-legged badass of a poodle/schnauzer mix. He’s the soothing balm on an agonizing pain: funny, sweet, playful and a Daddy’s boy from the jump. But he sleeps with me, on a pillow smack up against my head, and if he snores a bit, so what? My Mister and I are three again, and the love between us keeps growing.

I think I’m a pretty lucky woman. |||| 10 | ARROYO | 02.16

THE ALPERT EFFECT

AN EVENING WITH HERB ALPERT AND HIS MUSIC ISN’T A RECOGNIZED MOOD-ELEVATING TECHNIQUE, BUT PERHAPS IT SHOULD BE. THE LEGENDARY TRUMPETER’S TOURS IN RECENT YEARS HAVE INSPIRED CRITICS TO COMMENT ON A PHENOMENON THAT MIGHT BE CALLED THE ALPERT EFFECT.

Legendary jazz trumpeter Herb Alpert and wife Lani Hall bring their buoyant sound to Arcadia.

IT’S AN EMOTIONAL UPLIFT THAT HAS TRANSFUSED SOLD-OUT

BY BETTIJANE LEVINE

THE NEW YORK TIMES REPORTED WHEN ALPERT RECENTLY

AUDIENCES FROM JAPAN (WHERE HE PLAYED TWO MONTHS AGO) TO NEW JERSEY; IT’S A KIND OF EUPHORIA THAT, AS

PLAYED NEW YORK’S CAFE CARLYLE, “WAFTS A SENSE OF EASYGOING OPTIMISM AND JOY” THROUGHOUT THE ROOM. ALPERT AND HIS VOCALIST WIFE, LANI HALL, WILL BRING THEIR TRANSPORTING RHYTHMS AND FRESH INTERPRETATIONS OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK TO THE ARCADIA PERFORMING

PHOTO: Louis Oberlander

ARTS CENTER ON FEBRUARY 20.

Alpert sounds exhilarated just talking about the start of the current tour and says their performances are organic, and therefore different every time. “We interact with the audience and each other,” he said in a phone chat from his vacation home in Hawaii. He seems to have a sharp sense of what audiences will respond to. In one of his many diverse forays into the arts world, for example, Alpert has racked up producing credits for hit Broadway shows, including Tony Kushner’s Tony-winning Angels in America, Jelly’s Last Jam, Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass, August Wilson’s Seven Guitars and The Boy from Oz. Indeed, at age 80, this man could have started slowing down decades ago, but instead, he seems to be revving up. Last year, Alpert and Hall played 40 concerts.

Th is year they’ll play 60. Why bother touring? Doesn’t it wear you out? He laughed.

“You’re making assumptions,” he said. “Actually, I get energy from it. After a concert I feel better for the experience. I’ve been playing trumpet since I was eight. I enjoy creating. We’ve been playing with the same group of extraordinarily talented musicians for the past 10 years, and the response [to our concerts] has been phenomenal. It’s fun. And my wife is a world-class singer. She was the voice of Brasil ‘66 when they started.”

We asked Alpert about their unusually therapeutic effect on audiences. “I think it’s because our music takes people someplace different, on a kind of trip,” he said.

“Since the start of my career, when my fi rst big hit, ‘The Lonely Bull,’ took off like a rocket, I’ve gotten that kind of response. I remember getting a letter from a woman –continued –c onti tinued d on pag page e 12 1 02.16 | ARROYO | 11

12 | ARROYO | 02.16

in Germany who thanked me for taking her on a vicarious trip to Tijuana.” That was in the 1960s, when young Alpert’s Tijuana Brass recordings were so popular that, at one point, they outsold the Beatles by two to one; he also had the since-unmatched distinction of simultaneously having four albums in the top 10 and five in the top 20.

And he’s the only artist ever to reach No. 1 on Billboard ’s Hot 100 as both vocalist and instrumentalist.

Alpert’s distinctive trumpet tone and Latin-and-jazz–inflected stylings are now considered as classic and identifiable as Frank Sinatra’s vocals. Jazz great Miles Davis once told Alpert he could recognize his playing after just three notes. The humble trumpeter replied, “You hear just one note and you know it’s Miles.” Alpert has sold more than 72 million albums and won nine Grammys (the latest as recently as 2014, for Steppin’ Out). He’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has been named one of the Grammy Museum’s Icons of the Music Industry. In 2013, Alpert received the National Medal of Arts from President Obama.

The musician also co-founded one of the most successful independent record labels in history. He’s the “A” of A&M records, which he started in his Fairfax District garage in 1962 with his friend Jerry Moss (the “M”). Together they released Alpert’s own chart-topping Tijuana Brass hits like “A Taste of Honey,” along with those of other artists they signed who weren’t yet the superstars they would soon become. On A&M’s roster were Carol King, Stan Getz, Quincy Jones, Joe Cocker, Cat Stevens, Sting, The Police, Sergio Mendes (for whom Lani Hall was lead singer), Peter Frampton, The Carpenters and dozens of others.

Alpert and Moss sold A&M in 1987 for $500 million, plus a reported additional $200 million negotiated later. But Alpert has never stopped playing, composing, recording or performing. His just-released album, Come Fly With Me, contains new compositions; and at this writing five of his albums were in the Top 20 at HDtracks. com, the high-definition digital music store.

Alpert has been likened to a kind of Renaissance Man, because of his many different interests and talents. In the philanthropy world, he’s something of a living legend. Through the Herb Alpert Foundation, he and his wife have reportedly donated about $200 million to music and arts education programs across the country. (More on that later.) He’s also an accomplished artist and sculptor, whose work is exhibited in major galleries and museums (his huge bronze totems are currently on view at the Field Museum in Chicago and his abstract expressionist art is in MOCA’s permanent collection). Some of his 18-foot-tall totem sculptures dot the landscape of his six-acre homestead overlooking the Pacific in Malibu, and his colorful abstract expressionist

PHOTOS: (top left) Gerry Wersh; (bottom left) Dewey Nicks; (top) Louis Oberlander; (right) Courtesy of Vibrato

–continued from page 11

paintings dot the walls of the elegant Vibrato Grill & Jazz Restaurant he built at the top of Beverly Glen. The place is acoustically designed so musicians and audiences get the best sound from the jazz greats who frequent the club.

Alpert, who has been married to Hall for 41 years, seems determined to give back to America much of what it has given him. There are grade schools, university music schools and arts programs across the country that survive solely or in large part because of funding from the Alperts’ foundation. In 2007, the foundation’s $30 million gift to UCLA led to the establishment of the Herb Alpert School of Music, the University of California system’s first independent music school, formally established in January by UC regents. After a $23 million gift to California Institute of the Arts, the music school there was also named in his honor. For the past 21 years, the foundation has given five $75,000 awards annually to risk-taking midcareer artists in music, dance and the visual arts to help them reach their potential.

And when Alpert heard that the venerable Harlem School of the Arts might close due to financial trouble, his foundation swooped in and saved it with $5 million in 2012, in what Crain’s New York Business reported as a “Miracle on 141st Street.” Other beneficiaries include P.S. Arts in Venice, California, and Boston; the California State Summer School for the Arts; the Thelonius Monk and the Brubeck Institutes for Jazz; and educational broadcasting and public television, to name just a few.

Alpert is passionate about it all. “I was fortunate. When I was eight years old I had this music appreciation class in my grammar school and I was able to pick up this trumpet that was sitting on a table along with lots of other instruments for kids to choose from. That trumpet got me started, and because of it, I’ve had this unusual and blessed life. I think there are lots of kids out there with talent who don’t have that opportunity, because the first thing they carve out of the public school system, and even some private schools, is the arts programs. I think the arts should be a core subject in all schools. Give kids an opportunity to explore their own uniqueness and their own talents. An arts education spills over to benefit the academics. It’s a win-win situation.”

And for those attending his concert in Arcadia, he says, “We’ll do all the greats, but in a way they haven’t quite been done before. It will take them someplace they haven’t been.” A happy place, say the critics, and that in itself is a gift. ||||

Alpert’s Vibrato Grill & Jazz Restaurant was praised for its “impeccable acoustics” by TimeOut.com.

Herb Alpert and Lani Hall perform at 8 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Arcadia Performing Arts Center. Tickets, ranging from $29 to $99, are available at arcadiapaf.org. The Arcadia Performing Arts Center is located at 188 Campus Dr., Arcadia. Call (626) 821-1781 or visit the website.

02.16 | ARROYO | 13

14 | ARROYO | 02.16

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™

~HOME SALES INDEX~

+6.31% ALHAMBRA ALHAMBRA (NEW) Homes Sold Homes Sold Median Price Price Median Median Sq. Ft. Ft. Median Sq. ALTADENA Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. ARCADIA Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. EAGLE ROCK Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. GLENDALE Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. LA CAÑADA Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. PASADENA Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. SAN MARINO Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. SIERRA MADRE Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. SOUTH PASADENA Homes Sold Median Price Median Sq. Ft. TOTAL Homes Sold Avg Price/Sq. Ft.

DEC. ‘14 ‘14 DEC. N/A n/a N/A n/a N/A n/a DEC. ‘14 28 $605,000 1582 DEC. ‘14 34 $1,012,500 1862 DEC. ‘14 7 $600,000 1410 DEC.‘14 119 $610,000 1541 DEC. ‘14 23 $1,358,000 2590 DEC. ‘14 125 $640,000 1444 DEC. ‘14 14 $2,035,000 2419 DEC. ‘14 12 $1,094,000 2005 DEC. ‘14 22 $798,000 1471 DEC. ‘14 384 $523

DEC.‘15 DEC.‘15 45 38 508500 $498,750 1284 1320 DEC.‘15 44 $715,000 1693 DEC. ‘15 28 $950,000 2201 DEC. ‘15 24 $702,500 1362 DEC. ‘15 117 $635,000 1427 DEC. ‘15 24 $1,501,000 2462 DEC. ‘15 152 $639,000 1385 DEC. ‘15 12 $2,069,500 2684 DEC. ‘15 17 $920,000 1831 DEC. ‘15 23 $985,000 1792 DEC. ‘15 441 $556

HOMES SOLD

2015

441

AVG. PRICE/SQ. FT.

2014

dec.

HOMES SOLD

+14.84%

dec.

384

HOME SALES

HOME SALES ABOVE RECENT HOME CLOSINGS IN THE PASADENA WEEKLY FOOTPRINT ADDRESS

ALHAMBRA 218 Sevilla Court 309 La France Avenue 3240 West Main Street ALTADENA 2345 Midlothian Drive 1337 East Altadena Drive 2556 Ganesha Avenue 2438 Highland Avenue 1760 Alta Wood Drive 363 Marathon Road 2259 Santa Rosa Avenue 2455 Highland Avenue 1400 East Palm Street 3683 Giddings Ranch Road 464 West Loma Alta Drive 1716 East Calaveras Street 1866 East Calaveras Street 1949 Maiden Lane ARCADIA 1410 Santa Margarita Drive 1415 Oaklawn Road 990 Hampton Road 56 East Floral Avenue 1407 Oaklawn Place 1810 Wilson Avenue 1300 Rodeo Road 74 Woodland Lane 1830 Highland Oaks Drive 1506 Highland Oaks Drive 1715 South Santa Anita Avenue 2001 Elkins Place 1708 Watson Drive 303 Leland Way 53 Bonita Street #A 16 East Floral Avenue 2507 Lee Avenue 2705 Mayflower Avenue 56 Eldorado Street #B 141 Eldorado Street #A 2844 Fairgreen Avenue EAGLE ROCK 4960 College View Avenue 2432 Medlow Avenue 5213 Townsend Avenue GLENDALE 1637 Don Carlos Avenue 1104 East California Avenue 1244 East Acacia Avenue 1315 Daily Circle 3028 East Chevy Chase Drive 1616 Vista Drive 3448 Emerald Isle Drive 2055 West Mountain Street 2302 Florencita Avenue 2445 Flintridge Drive 2225 Mira Vista Avenue 1031 Alcalde Way 814 Harrington Road 909 Calle La Primavera 3620 Angelus Avenue 1368 Raymond Avenue 2200 Flintridge Drive 1900 Maginn Drive 3130 Peters Circle 716 Fischer Street 3609 Sierra Vista Avenue 2340 Pennerton Drive

CLOSE DATE

PRICE

BDRMS.

SQ. FT.

source: CalREsource YR. BUILT PREV. PRICE

12/29/15 12/03/15 12/29/15

$1,029,000 $1,000,000 $900,000

0 4 0

0 3017 1160

1929 1960

12/21/15 12/30/15 12/08/15 12/29/15 12/30/15 12/01/15 12/24/15 12/07/15 12/10/15 12/24/15 12/11/15 12/22/15 12/18/15 12/17/15

$2,000,000 $1,435,000 $1,406,000 $1,100,000 $1,095,000 $1,080,000 $1,050,000 $1,025,000 $1,025,000 $999,000 $998,000 $930,000 $920,000 $903,000

4 3 4 3 3 3 6 2 4 4 5 3 2 3

4242 2963 2140 2409 2524 2160 3946 2168 2026 2550 3059 1702 2163 2000

1931 1920 1930 1928 1950 1910 1914 1929 1957 1998 1966 1953 1951 1909

12/09/15 12/04/15 12/21/15 12/02/15 12/21/15 12/16/15 12/03/15 12/30/15 12/16/15 12/04/15 12/18/15 12/22/15 12/16/15 12/23/15 12/31/15 12/16/15 12/29/15 12/31/15 12/01/15 12/18/15 12/01/15

$5,410,000 $5,350,000 $3,200,000 $2,750,000 $2,570,000 $2,380,000 $2,375,000 $2,060,000 $1,750,000 $1,525,000 $1,455,000 $1,375,000 $1,050,000 $970,000 $930,000 $890,000 $885,000 $880,000 $870,000 $842,000 $840,000

4 5 6 3 4 4 4 2 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 2 0 3 3

3037 6381 5260 1646 3833 3959 3233 2796 2881 2124 3007 2237 2021 2201 2226 2086 1972 2932 0 1896 1856

1954 2014 1941 1937 1951 1950 1940 1939 1955 1951 1987 1960 1951 1962 2002 1953 1958 1953

12/08/15 12/10/15 12/07/15

$1,045,000 $950,000 $900,000

2 3 3

12/15/15 12/04/15 12/01/15 12/10/15 12/16/15 12/18/15 12/04/15 12/31/15 12/31/15 12/02/15 12/24/15 12/22/15 12/21/15 12/22/15 12/23/15 12/02/15 12/04/15 12/16/15 12/14/15 12/30/15 12/29/15 12/08/15

$1,800,000 $1,535,000 $1,465,000 $1,375,000 $1,350,000 $1,270,000 $1,260,000 $1,210,000 $1,200,000 $1,158,000 $1,150,000 $1,150,000 $1,137,500 $1,110,000 $1,095,000 $1,040,000 $1,025,000 $1,000,000 $975,000 $965,000 $950,000 $900,000

5 8 8 4 4 4 4 4 2 3 2 4 3 3 3 2 4 4 3 6 2 3

PREV. SOLD

$345,000

03/30/2001

$785,000 $860,000 $850,000 $460,000 $901,000 $695,000

07/03/2003 02/23/2015 06/10/2009 01/23/2001 03/21/2006 02/04/2004

$362,500 $315,000 $675,000 $124,500 $785,000

08/27/1998 03/20/2002 05/28/2015 05/14/1982 05/19/2004

$2,100,000 $5,250,000 $1,750,000 $1,150,000 $672,000 $2,338,000

03/17/2014 12/24/2014 04/30/1999 12/24/2014 07/17/1998 09/30/2013

$545,000 $645,000 $910,000 $355,000 $760,000 $705,000

12/15/2000 06/28/1999 04/12/2007 03/27/1992 06/28/2013 06/25/2009

2007 1948

$835,000 $720,000 $659,000

12/01/2015 05/04/2009 06/24/2015

1833 1928 1580

1939 1985 1925

$322,500 $798,000 $755,000

07/14/1989 02/25/2008 09/19/2012

3922 5958 4910 2466 3698 2806 3172 2670 3479 2992 1463 2196 2419 2268 1720 1301 2829 2591 1797 3231 2036 2650

1928 1932 1929 1973 1999 1940 1970 1941 1946 1979 1922 1942 1959 1992 1931 1925 1978 1961 1969 1963 1926 1980

$1,614,000 $650,000 $1,050,000 $700,000 $1,275,000 $957,500 $432,000 $1,030,000

10/26/2006 12/31/2002 06/02/2006 09/02/2010 09/21/2004 08/30/2013 02/10/1997 09/30/2008

$2,970,000 $633,000 $840,000 $645,000 $359,000 $869,000 $600,000 $174,500

01/22/2004 03/27/2015 10/02/2009 05/16/2003 03/16/1993 07/31/2015 04/08/2014 09/15/1978

$832,000

12/22/2006

$357,000 $550,000

05/28/1999 12/29/2009

–continued on page 16

The Arroyo Home Sales Index is calculated from residential home sales in Pasadena and the surrounding communities of South Pasadena, San Marino, La Canada Flintridge, Eagle Rock, Glendale (including Montrose), Altadena, Sierra Madre and Arcadia. Individual home sales data provided by CalREsource. Arroyo Home Sales Index © Arroyo 2016. Complete home sales listings appear each week in Pasadena Weekly.

02.16 ARROYO | 15

ADDRESS

CLOSE DATE

LA CAĂ‘ADA 566 Meadow Grove Street 12/15/15 12/03/15 314 Oriole Road 949 Inverness Drive 12/02/15 1516 Sugar Loaf Drive 12/04/15 5128 Hillard Avenue 12/18/15 817 Wiladonda Drive 12/01/15 484 Berkshire Avenue 12/18/15 5077 Princess Anne Road 12/07/15 275 Starlane Drive 12/14/15 4837 Carmel Road 12/04/15 5233 Haskell Street 12/09/15 4827 Carmel Road 12/22/15 1004 White Deer Drive 12/02/15 2206 Richey Drive 12/01/15 5541 Rock Castle Drive 12/15/15 1357 Sugar Loaf Drive 12/16/15 4537 Belita Lane 12/08/15 1304 Journeys End Drive 12/03/15 634 Houseman Street 12/31/15 628 De Nova Street 12/18/15 4334 Oak Drive 12/08/15 PASADENA 1681 San Pasqual Street 12/04/15 445 Prospect Square 12/10/15 491 South Oakland Avenue 12/15/15 345 East Colorado Boulevard #303 12/30/15 333 Manford Way 12/29/15 260 Patrician Way 12/01/15 740 South Hudson Avenue 12/14/15 501 Bradford Street 12/16/15 290 California Terrace 12/01/15 1106 Linda Glen Drive 12/08/15 3690 New Haven Road 12/08/15 3460 Grayburn Road 12/21/15 411 Gordon Terrace #1 12/07/15 621 Linda Vista Avenue 12/18/15 1671 Rose Villa Street 12/01/15 865 Wright Avenue 12/02/15 2253 Kinclair Drive 12/31/15 2536 Canyon View 12/08/15 3745 Ranch Top Road 12/01/15 370 South Craig Avenue 12/10/15 1215 Wabash Street 12/01/15 40 Arroyo Drive #103 12/08/15 1575 Ontario Avenue 12/30/15 3625 Hampton Road 12/17/15 495 Juniper Drive 12/23/15 65 Annandale Road 12/02/15 1610 Poppy Peak Drive 12/31/15 3836 East Foothill Boulevard 12/30/15 1475 Washburn Road 12/30/15 420 Tamarac Drive 12/22/15 1515 North Grand Oaks Avenue 12/31/15 1865 North Hill Avenue 12/04/15 275 Patrician Way 12/02/15 3805 Edgeview Drive 12/11/15 310 Avenue #64 12/30/15 776 South Orange Grove Boulevard #112/29/15 1188 North Hill Avenue 12/03/15 260 Glenullen Drive 12/01/15 1780 Old Grove Road 12/01/15 SAN MARINO 1464 Virginia Road 12/28/15 12/11/15 585 Winthrop Road 1310 Lorain Road 12/07/15 2790 Gainsborough Drive 12/01/15 1935 Marino Terrace 12/18/15 2750 Canterbury Road 12/02/15 2325 Melville Drive 12/14/15 2325 Melville Drive 12/14/15 2385 Monterey Road 12/29/15 840 Sierra Madre Boulevard 12/29/15 616 La Mirada Avenue 12/01/15 526 La Mirada Avenue 12/17/15 SIERRA MADRE 446 Manzanita Avenue 12/15/15 12/01/15 1925 Vista Avenue 509 West Grandview Avenue 12/08/15 561 Ramona Avenue 12/21/15 160 East Grandview Avenue 12/29/15 522 North Michillinda Avenue 12/29/15 343 North Lima Street 12/29/15 410 Adams Street 12/15/15 443 West Highland Avenue 12/04/15 SOUTH PASADENA 1315 Indiana Avenue 12/14/15 12/01/15 420 El Coronado Street 440 Orange Grove Avenue 12/18/15 1634 Raymond Hill Road 12/28/15 617 Indiana Terrace 12/31/15 1226 Via Del Rey 12/09/15 626 Milan Avenue 12/31/15 1144 Huntington Drive 12/18/15 2018 Oxley Street 12/11/15 1217 Diamond Avenue 12/14/15 1217 Diamond Avenue 12/14/15 1138 Oxley Street 12/02/15 2011 Alpha Street #I 12/09/15 1109 Mound Avenue #8 12/31/15 16 | ARROYO | 02.16

PRICE

BDRMS.

SQ. FT.

YR. BUILT PREV. PRICE

$5,600,000 $3,695,000 $2,665,000 $2,350,000 $2,345,000 $1,935,000 $1,810,000 $1,735,000 $1,700,000 $1,591,000 $1,550,000 $1,512,000 $1,490,000 $1,465,000 $1,395,000 $1,260,000 $1,162,500 $990,000 $920,000 $915,000 $910,000

5 5 5 5 4 4 3 4 4 2 3 4 4 3 5 3 4 3 3 3 5

6632 4301 5061 4271 3229 2960 2742 3031 2535 1417 2243 2897 2388 3072 3587 1842 1901 1666 2107 1512 1585

1924 1949 1954 1957 1955 1953 1953 1948 1967 1948 1966 1947 1967 1955 1964 1955 1945 1957 1948 1947 1947

$4,300,000 $3,675,000 $3,200,000 $2,700,000 $2,325,000 $2,000,000 $1,830,000 $1,700,000 $1,684,000 $1,650,000 $1,598,000 $1,580,000 $1,425,000 $1,420,000 $1,395,000 $1,332,500 $1,330,000 $1,328,000 $1,323,000 $1,305,000 $1,300,000 $1,282,500 $1,240,000 $1,212,000 $1,135,000 $1,125,000 $1,100,000 $1,100,000 $1,069,000 $1,049,000 $1,031,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $989,500 $978,000 $965,000 $949,000 $900,000

5 4 6 3 4 3 6 2 4 2 4 3 3 3 3 8 3 4 3 3 4 4 3 2 3 3 3 4 3 3 4 4 2 3 2 2 5 3 3

4542 4603 3876 4070 3435 3112 3088 1772 2687 2125 2909 2254 2379 2733 2335 3969 3089 3120 2056 2802 2544 2960 1590 1376 1505 1978 2791 5800 1554 2346 1655 1927 2907 1892 2217 2203 2708 1676 2736

$4,300,000 $2,980,000 $2,888,000 $2,250,000 $2,230,000 $2,139,000 $2,000,000 $2,000,000 $1,825,000 $1,620,000 $1,306,000 $1,285,000

5 7 4 3 4 3 4 4 4 2 2 2

$1,361,000 $1,260,000 $1,198,000 $1,198,000 $1,192,000 $1,100,000 $1,095,000 $1,020,000 $920,000 $1,850,000 $1,820,000 $1,755,000 $1,700,000 $1,680,000 $1,490,000 $1,390,000 $1,287,000 $1,258,000 $995,000 $995,000 $985,000 $945,000 $945,000

PREV. SOLD

$1,912,500 $1,500,000 $1,838,000 $580,000 $585,000 $1,295,000 $880,000 $625,000 $681,000

08/28/2012 08/01/2001 06/18/2013 06/10/1996 05/21/1999 10/01/2014 06/23/2000 09/23/1992 05/09/2012

$1,360,000

01/23/2015

$275,000 $950,000 $1,350,000 $420,000

04/07/1986 07/11/2014 11/09/2004 08/01/2000

$960,000

05/30/2014

1999 1924 1949 2007 1960 1967 1920 1948 1941 1971 1950 1936 1981 1961 1920 1929 1975 1979 1960 1925 1951 2007 1950 1950 1956 1931 1979 1951 1958 1959 1952 1931 1951 1956 1940 1982 1912 1951 1964

$4,200,000 $752,500 $4,150,000

04/04/2013 01/17/1996 09/26/2014

$2,112,500 $1,800,000 $210,000

09/05/2014 03/08/2013 09/11/1979

$1,225,000 $168,700 $530,000 $740,000 $1,000,000 $728,000 $1,313,000 $1,237,500 $1,235,000 $598,000 $895,000

07/21/2009 08/13/1979 06/20/2001 10/01/2012 11/01/2011 08/01/2003 06/09/2006 12/03/2013 01/28/2005 04/09/1999 06/19/2015

$900,000

03/01/2011

$509,000 $800,000 $1,000,000 $950,000

05/23/2012 04/11/2007 08/17/2006 03/04/2010

$665,000 $745,000 $575,000

10/31/2013 11/01/2010 09/16/2014

$900,000

11/16/2012

$760,000

06/03/2010

$312,000

02/18/1998

4013 3348 3596 2381 2835 2115 2800 2800 2568 2190 1505 1471

1928 1930 1949 1938 1956 1948 1938 1938 1924 1941 1924 1930

$2,670,000

09/05/2007

$430,000 $90,000 $1,005,000 $1,500,000 $230,000 $230,000 $1,600,000 $560,000 $886,000 $370,000

04/05/1995 04/05/1976 08/23/2002 04/01/2013 10/22/1979 10/22/1979 07/27/2010 10/13/1988 03/28/2008 02/01/2000

3 3 3 3 4 3 3 4 3

1967 2372 1831 2612 3476 2008 2552 2014 1668

1946 1954 1939 1951 1990 1961 1992 1964 1888

$816,000 $1,100,000 $255,000 $355,000 $1,178,000

10/25/2013 01/15/2014 06/12/1985 10/25/1991 07/11/2014

$720,000 $885,000 $440,000

08/08/2003 05/23/2012 08/30/1999

4 4 4 8 4 3 3 5 5 5 5 3 4 3

3599 2757 3215 3756 3308 2061 2031 3830 1689 2604 2604 1712 1792 1987

2012 1966 1928 1946 2009 1964 1912 1940 1908 1906 1906 1923 1942 1993

$1,850,000

08/14/2013

$900,000

01/30/2004

$210,000 $495,000

11/02/2005 06/14/2001

$754,000 $632,000

12/05/2006 06/18/2012

02.16 | ARROYO | 17

ARROYO

HOME & DESIGN

PHOTO: Alexander Vertikoff, courtesy of HartmanBaldwin Design/Build

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT

CALIFORNIA LIVING MARRIES INDOOR/OUTDOOR SPACES Seamless flow between interior and exterior is the definition of area lifestyles.

BY BRUCE HARING YOUR OUTDOOR LIVING SPACE IS REALLY AN EXTENSION OF YOUR HOME. MANY ARCHITECTS, PARTICULARLY THOSE IN THE PASADENA AREA, HAVE COME TO EMBRACE THAT NOTION, INCORPORATING A BLEND OF INDOOR AND OUTDOOR TRANSITIONS INTO HOME DESIGN THAT CREATES A SEAMLESS PASSAGE BETWEEN THE TWO AREAS. This underlines the magic of the Southern California lifestyle, where generally mild weather allows year-round enjoyment of the outdoors.

Architectural techniques for blending the indoors and outdoors vary. Some prefer floor-to-ceiling windows that can provide seamless passage, making small interior rooms seem larger. With others, the architecture of the interior of the home is mirrored in the outdoor living areas, with fireplaces and furniture that are used year-round under covered settings.

The indoor-outdoor design is also gaining momentum thanks to the emphasis on greener living and easier access to the great outdoors.

There’s a desire by many to escape, however briefly, our technologydriven world and experience a bit of nature.

Out are such formerly standard home features as the two-story foyer, formal living rooms, grand dining rooms and other front-of-thehouse rooms. These are now giving way to a greater focus on living in the rear of the home, with blended indoor/outdoor spaces highlighted by inviting porches, lanais and garden areas that impart a sense of comfort and style.

Continuous flooring with radiant capabilities make the transition seamless, while a roof overhang and sliding doors can make the area accessible in all weather.

FOUR RELATIONSHIPS Tom Marble is a Los Angeles architect who heads his own firm, Marbletecture, and has taught the subject at the University of Southern California, among other locations. He says there are four relationships between indoor and outdoor spaces: light; air; the visual; and the physical.

“In our master bedroom, we have all four,” Marble says. “With two –continued on page 21

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PHOTO: Taiyo Watanabe, courtesy of Marbletecture

—ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT—

–continued from page 18

walls made up of full-height windows and doors, we awaken from the light of the morning sun coming through the windows and doors on the east side of the room; we look through the windows on the west side to get a bearing on how the day will shape up, weather-wise; we then crack open the door to the courtyard to let out our cat; and then later, when we go to bed, we leave open the windows on either side to keep the air flowing, even on cold nights. “ Marble believes all houses are capable of strengthening the connection between indoors and outdoors. Some homes require a tweak to achieve that balance, while others need something more substantial done.

“The public rooms are the ones most commonly associated with indoor-outdoor living – the family room, the living room, the dining room – but I think it is important to have a direct relationship to the outside even in rooms like the kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms,” Marble says. “The only concern would be for safety and for water intrusion.”

In the Pasadena area, Marble sees “A pretty consistent trend toward the courtyard model – a hardscaped area off several rooms that feels like an outdoor room integrated into the design and flow of the public spaces.” He describes the look as a more formal outdoor space that acts as a transition to the soft-edges of a garden or pool area.

HISTORY OF THE TREND The origin of the blend of indoor and outdoor areas is debated in architecture circles. Some attribute it to the first European settlers, who brought over the concept of the “great room” in the home, with many using this huge space for living, sleeping and dining.

Others believe it began here in the United States in the 1800s in the western half of the United States. Unrestricted by past practice and history while enjoying a different climate in many more areas than the east, western architects began experimenting with bold new concepts, including a blend of indoors and outdoors.

But some others claim indoor/outdoor blending didn’t really take hold until the 1970s, as the original California settlers from the east did not particularly enjoy the California heat and preferred their more traditional indoor living spaces. Still others claim the inspiration for indoor/ outdoor growth can be attributed to grand hotels, with infinity pools, pull-down or sliding windows, and inviting patios inspiring guests to recreate the experience in their own homes.

–continued on page 22 02.16 | ARROYO | 21

PHOTO: Tom Queally, courtesy of Cynthia Bennett and Associates

—ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT—

–continued from page 21

KITCHEN IS KEY Cynthia Bennett runs Cynthia Bennett and Associates, an architectural firm in South Pasadena that began in 1981 and has been featured in numerous publications. The firm built the first house in Pasadena that was Energy Star certified.

Bennett sees indoor/outdoor living highlighted by a kitchen open to a family room, with French doors further opening to a patio or garden. She also advocates island seating with bar stools that allow those dining to swivel and view indoors and outdoors at their whim.

Pasadena area people seeking the indoor/outdoor experience usually request a family area with easy access to a garden area, Bennett says. However, “Not all homes have the kitchen located near the garden. This makes the indoor/outdoor more difficult.”

–continued on page 27

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C

M

Y

M

MY

Y

MY

K

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26 | ARROYO | 02.16

PHOTO: Alexander Vertikoff, courtesy of HartmanBaldwin Design/Build

—ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT—

–continued from page 22

She also cautions that those seeking to create the indoor/outdoor experience “make sure you have enough space for seating, dining, television-watching and bar seating, and enough space in between to walk around freely.”

WORK AND PLAY Karla Rodriguez-Herrera, the marketing director of the HartmanBaldwin Design/Build architectural firm of Pasadena & Claremont, claims any room in the house can be redesigned to incorporate the outdoors.

“We’ve redesigned beautiful spa-like master bedrooms and baths that open up to courtyards,” she says. “Most commonly, it’s the kitchen and family rooms that are often redesigned to better incorporate an outdoor entertaining area.”

Some rooms may require more invasive redesign than others, but –continued on page 29

02.16 | ARROYO | 27

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—ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT—

–continued from page 27

notes that “A good designer can always find a creative and sophisticated way of integrating the indoor/outdoor feature. “For some homes, it may be floor-to-ceiling windows,” she says. “For others, a better approach may be a bank of bi-folding patio doors, allowing the homeowner to completely open up their home to the outdoors.”

Rodriguez-Herrera says many Pasadena area clients request a home office that opens to a garden with a water feature. That allows working parents to keep an eye on younger children while still accomplishing their work. “More and more, we are seeing these workspaces being integrated either near or inside the kitchen,” she adds.

WHAT TO ANTICIPATE Those contemplating the transition to indoor/outdoor change need to plan ahead. Furniture that adapts in style, comfort and durability is a consideration, as it will need to be adaptable to the added openness.

And adding more appliances, such as outdoor stoves and refrigerators, may also be a part of the transition.

Anyone seeking to maximize their home’s indoor and outdoor connection should look at homes and web sites to obtain suggestions on what is out there. But ultimately, an architect who is well-versed in designing such homes will be needed to help marry your vision with the peculiarities of your location.

“Although you may not get exactly what you thought you wanted when you saw it on Pinterest or in Elle Décor, you will find that you will likely get much more,” says Marble. “A design solution pairing your particular needs with the peculiarities of the site to create something far greater than you ever imagined.” ||||

02.16 | ARROYO | 29

30 | ARROYO | 02.16

THE

GIN GAME Your grandparents’ stuffy gin has been replaced by a new generation infused with a garden of botanicals.

BY M MIC MICHAEL ICHA HAEL EL CER C CERVIN ERVI VIN N

THE GIN-BASED COCKTAIL TOM COLLINS GOT ITS NAME FROM THE GREAT TOM COLLINS HOAX OF 1874, A CHILDISH PRANK PULLED BY NORTHEASTERNERS WHO TOLD FRIENDS THAT SOMEONE NAMED TOM COLLINS WAS TALKING TRASH ABOUT THEM, AND HE COULD BE FOUND IN A LOCAL BAR. THE VICTIMS, INCENSED BY THE IDEA THAT TOM COLLINS WOULD SPEAK ILL OF THEM, WOULD THEN GO LOOKING FOR TOM IN AS MANY BARS AS IT TOOK TO FIND HIM…AND HILARITY ENSUED, BECAUSE HE COULDN’T BE FOUND. IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG FOR AN ENTERPRISING BARTENDER TO NAME A DRINK AFTER THE NONEXISTENT MR. COLLINS. (THE ORIGINAL RECIPE PROBABLY CONSISTED OF “GIN, LEMON JUICE, CHILLED SODA WATER AND MARASCHINO LIQUEUR,” ACCORDING TO DRINKS HISTORIAN DAVID WONDRICH.) AND GIN FINALLY GOT SOME RESPECT. SORT OF. –continued –cont –c ontin ont inued d on on page 32 02.16 | ARROYO | 31

Gin is having a resurgence in popularity due to the craft cocktail trend and AMCTV’s Mad Men, which celebrated a drinking culture and resurrected classic cocktails.

Gin is also known as the preferred base for the shaken-not-stirred martinis of James Bond. But gin barely registers in the national liquor picture. Last summer, the website Business Insider researched the most popular spirit in each state and, as you might expect, some whisky brand — such as Jack Daniels, Fireball or Crown Royal — won the day in 42. Gin didn’t triumph in a single state. So why is gin relevant and, frankly, how is it that the largest gin list for a bar in North America is not in Manhattan or Chicago, but La Caňada Flintridge?

“We are a classic cocktail bar,” says The Flintridge Proper’s owner, Brady Caverly.

“Due to the fact that aged spirits were largely unavailable during Prohibition, many of the best golden-age cocktails that survived are gin-based, like the Tom Collins, Bee’s Knees, French 75, Negroni, the martini,” says Caverly, who offers more than 200 gins from around the globe, including vintage spirits from the 1980s, ’70s and as far back as 1964.

“Gin is appropriately enjoying a renaissance in the mixology movement because of its prominent role in the classics, but also because no other spirit offers the diversity of flavor profi les,” Caverly observes. Gin has a historic context, with roots in the Middle Ages, when the spirit was used as herbal medicine. The word “gin” springs from an earlier drink, jenever, the juniper-flavored liquor of the Netherlands and Belgium.

Gin, a lighter version with a much lower malt wine content, was fi rst distilled by the Dutch in the 1600s and spread in popularity to Great Britain when the Dutch nobleman William of Orange assumed the English and Scottish thrones with his wife, Mary.

More recently, gin is the base of the signature cocktail of Hollywood’s legendary Cocoanut Grove nightclub of the 1930s, and the still-popular dirty martini at the Musso & Frank Grill, Hollywood’s oldest restaurant. But over the years, vodka, a more benign and ultimately easier mixer, has pushed gin out of the limelight, becoming the spirit of choice for Screwdrivers, Bloody Marys and more. And that is exactly the point — gin seems stuck in a bygone era, namely your grandfather’s.

Gin is like the middle child of a complex and boisterous family. Whiskeys like bourbon are the first-born kids — domineering, aggressive, popular; tequila and vodka are the youngest, goofy kids, the irresponsible ones, the partiers. And there gin sits, the quiet middle spirit which always seems to be resurging but never quite breaks out of its shell.

“When most people think of gin, they think of London dry, the gin our fathers drank, with very strong juniper and citrus notes,” says Caverly. “But the majority of the small batch and artisanal gins that make up our nation’s largest collection are in the New World–style, where the juniper is dialed back to be replaced by a dizzying array of botanicals, citrus, spices and other natural ingredients — from the rose notes of Nolet’s, to the cucumber notes of Hendrick’s, there is literally a gin for every flavor.”

Arne Hillesland, master distiller and “ginerator” for Distillery No. 209 based in San Francisco, agrees. “The only gins available for generations were heavy juniper bombs that took some getting used to, or created abject hatred among those who overindulged,” he says. Distillers like Hillesland are reinventing gin itself, since no other spirit has the potential range of flavors and styles. “Gin, since it is flavored with botanicals and other natural ingredients, can have an almost infinite variety of flavors for all different uses in cocktails as well as neat in a glass,” Caverly says.

Arne Hillesland knows this firsthand. “By law in the U.S. and many other countries, gin must be a spirit predominantly flavored with juniper,” he says, but adds that for at least four centuries, gin has been made with much more than just juniper.

“Other botanicals have played major parts, giving gin depth of flavor and mixability.

This increases the approachability for the consumer ready to move on from vodka or other spirits with low flavor content. But if a distiller backs away too much from juniper, they end up with just another flavored vodka.”

32 | ARROYO | 02.16

PHOTOS: Courtesy of The Flintridge Proper

–continued from page 31

And the average consumer may not really understand clear spirits enough to know the difference. “It’s all about education,” says Hillesland. “The Screwdriver, the Gimlet, the Greyhound, the Bloody Mary and others are such great cocktails when made in their original gin format instead of vodka.”

And, as Hillesland notes, gin’s manufacturing process allows for a more diverse expression of the final spirit. “All the other major spirits stop the distillation process when gin is just getting fun. Rum, whisky, tequila, brandy, vodka [typically] make one to four passes through the still and then it’s on to bottling or aging. Making gin requires starting with a pure spirit, then defining all the botanicals and their amounts, how they are processed to determine the unique flavor profi le created in your final distillation,” Hillesland says.

So for both the gin lover and the newbie, The Flintridge Proper is a de rigueur destination, a pub where you may be surprised by what’s inside your glass. “We offer fl ights of gin where guests enjoy the spirit neat as you would a fine scotch, and I expect to see more folks drinking gin straight in the future,” says Caverly. Time will tell if gin becomes the distilled-spirit-of-the-moment, and if its popularity can then be distilled into long-term success. But with the enthusiasm of people like Caverly and Hillesland, the gin movement certainly has a leg up.

But the question still lingers: why gin in La Cañada? “I’m a cocktail geek,” Caverly acknowledges freely. “I want to recreate the neighborhood pub, where intimacy was at the core of the human experience.” And gin, one of the most original spirits, best represents the congenial aspect of the old-school pubs. “Just as America’s tastes in food are maturing towards the more genuine, flavorful, handcrafted products, I believe that when consumers are educated more about gin they will realize it’s a fantastic and versatile spirit,” Hillesland enthuses. “Vodka is like Wonder Bread, whereas gin is the whole-wheat loaf with rosemary, Kalamata olives and Asiago cheese. Gin’s got it all.” ||||

PROPER GIN SOCIETY TASTING GUIDE (Based on procedures suggested at ginclub.co) 1. NOSING — IN THE GLASS Using room-temperature gin, put your nose in the tasting glass.Take a slow, gentle sniff.

This first round is undiluted, so it’s going to have a strong alcohol punch which will tend to overwhelm the other flavors at first. Give it a couple of sniffs to allow your nose and palate to acclimatize.

• Take note of your initial impressions — Sharp? Spicy? Sweet? Fresh?

• What initial flavors do you detect? Juniper/Pine? Citrus? Floral? Make a note.

2. NOSING — IN YOUR HANDS To get a sense of the aromas, you’ll now minimize the alcohol punch by sniffing it on your hand.

• Place your hand on top of the tasting glass, turn it upside down so it wets your palm.

• Right the glass and remove your hand.

• Wipe your palms together (don’t rub) to allow a bit of the alcohol to evaporate.Then bring them, cupped together, to your nose.

• Take a deep whiff. Notice the differences from your first impressions.

3. FIRST TASTING — NEAT Now taste the gin, undiluted and at room temperature.

• Take a small sip of the gin. Hold it on your tongue — take note of the flavors and texture.

• Move it around in your mouth. What new flavors do you detect?

• Swallow and take note of the finish. Do new flavors appear on the palate?

Aviation (1911 – Hotel Wallick, New York City) Nearly extinct for 70 years until its key ingredient — the rare violet liquor that provides its beautiful, frosty dawn-sky hue — was reintroduced and this fresh, bracingly bright cocktail was reborn.

INGREDIENTS 1.75 ounces of gin ½ ounce Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur ½ ounce lime juice ¼ ounce Crème de Violette

4. SECOND TASTING — WITH WATER Adding a bit of water will take the sharp alcohol edge off of your gin and often reveal additional layers of flavor.

• Add a couple of drops of water and follow the tasting procedure from step three.Take note of the changes.

• Add a few more drops. Again take note of the changes.

• Continue diluting the gin a few drops at a time until you stop noticing changes in the flavors.

5. RECORD YOUR NOTES — AND EXPERIMENT You’ll find that due to the vast variety of flavor profiles in various gins, the gin you use can make a dramatic impact on the flavor of your favorite gin cocktails. We encourage you to explore matching specific gins to specific cocktails…

Certain gins tend to lend themselves to different garnishes, either complimenting or highlighting different aromatics of the spirit.The Craft Gin Club provides a great guide at craftginclub.co.uk/the-gin-distillers-garnish-guide/.

Courtesy of The Flintridge Proper 02.16 | ARROYO | 33

34 | ARROYO | 02.16

FIRST GLASS Start off your evening at one of these fine Pasadena-area drinking establishments.

BY BRADLEY TUCK

IN RAYMOND CHANDLER’S 1953 NOVEL, THE LONG GOODBYE, GUMSHOE PHILIP MARLOWE IS REGALED BY HIS

Bar 1886’s literary winter cocktail menu stars Maggie the Cat inspired by Tennessee Williams’ beautiful, restless character.

BUDDY TERRY LENNOX ABOUT THE WONDERS OF BARS: “I LIKE BARS JUST AFTER THEY OPEN FOR THE E.VENING. WHEN THE AIR INSIDE IS STILL COOL AND CLEAN AND EVERYTHING IS SHINY AND THE BARKEEP IS GIVING HIMSELF THAT LAST LOOK IN THE MIRROR TO SEE IF HIS TIE IS STRAIGHT AND HIS HAIR IS SMOOTH. I LIKE THE NEAT BOTTLES ON THE BAR BACK AND THE LOVELY SHINING GLASSES AND THE ANTICIPATION. I LIKE TO WATCH THE MAN MIX THE FIRST ONE OF THE EVENING AND PUT IT DOWN ON A CRISP MAT AND PUT THE LITTLE FOLDED NAPKIN BESIDE IT. I LIKE TO TASTE IT SLOWLY. THE FIRST QUIET DRINK OF THE EVENING IN A QUIET BAR —

PHOTO: Courtesy of Bar 1886

THAT’S WONDERFUL.” I’m inclined to agree with Lennox. As much as some people go out in groups to celebrate or commiserate with alcohol, there’s much pleasure to be had in the first hours of the evening, when a bar is just opening. There’s the likelihood that, at 5 or 6 p.m., barely into the shift, your bartender’s nerves haven’t already been jangled by the annoying clatter of an immoderate tippler’s nonstop booze-fueled banter.

Not all bars are perfect for an early-evening sip. Some bars are best late at night, when the crowds soften the glare of too much neon signage, and the babble of the drinkers drowns out the thrum of a bad musical selection. Here are a few choice watering holes that are perfect for a post-work drink, alone or with a friend. Sometimes that friend is what’s in the glass.

BAR 1886 AT THE RAYMOND 1250 S. Fair Oaks Ave. (626) 441-3136 theraymond.com It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since this perfect, warm jewel box of a cocktail bar opened at The Raymond Restaurant. When mixologist Marcos Tello’s Liquid Assets consulting firm launched the cocktail program there, it was a revelation for Pasadena and a shot in the arm for The Raymond, luring cocktail lovers from beyond the city’s borders. This was truly a destination bar, partly because of its rather out-of-the-way location, but also because a drink there — just the one, mind — was worth the drive.

Since that opening, ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft have boomed and completely changed the drinking landscape. It’s now safe to savor a couple of meticulously prepared drinks over the course of an early-evening hour and then summon a driver to whisk you home. Making such indulgence more compelling is a new winter cocktail menu, a celebration of the five years of 1886’s crafty pours, and the hundreds of recipes concocted in that time.

Says head bartender Peter Lloyd Jones, “After five years, we are proud to say we have created over 300 published cocktails. Not to mention the countless recipes that remain off-list, as well as our ‘dealer’s choice’ cocktails [customized by bartenders for trusting patrons] that have turned into regularly requested libations. Because there is so much rich history within these walls, and so much written about the historic Raymond Hotel, we wanted to do a literary-based menu. Each cocktail tells a story and relates to literature in some way.”

So how about a Maggie the Cat, a powerful cocktail that combines gin, housemade Curaçao, Becherovka bitters, Amaro Nonino liqueur, grapefruit, orange and lemon juices and, for good measure, a cherry? This is the perfect post-work drink, best sipped slowly, in silence, with the phone facedown on the bar. Which is what you would be after three or four of these. Time to call an Uber, while the world is still upright.

–continued on page 36 02.16 | ARROYO | 35

THE BLIND DONKEY 53 E. Union St. Pasadena (626) 792-1833 theblinddonkey.com If ever a bar were designed for the kind of drinking experience described by Chandler’s Terry Lennox, it’s The Blind Donkey. At 5 on a winter evening it’s so dimly lit as to seem, from the street, closed. But push open the door, let your eyes adjust to the coal-mine quality of the light, and sidle up to the bar. Imagine you’re wearing a trench coat. The bartender, who’s far more casually dressed than he might have been in Chandler’s day, will hand you a drink menu and let you know that it’s happy hour until 7 every weeknight. Of course, the reason you’re here is for their famous selection of whiskeys — “American, Irish, Scotch and Everywhere Else,” as the menu puts it.

You might get a Hudson New York Corn Whiskey, a clear, unaged whiskey that they also use in their Inherent Weiss cocktail, a fragrant, slightly spicy concoction that mixes the whiskey with St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur, maraschino liqueur and Noilly Prat dry vermouth. Or you might decide that the end of the day merits something more robust and call to the barkeep for a 21-year-old Bruichladdich Dark Art Single Malt. We’ve all had those days.

Vetical’s Wild Vitamin C cocktail with Tito’s Handmade Vodka, strawberries, basil and lime –continued from page 35

Tucked at the top of a picturesque and rather steep flight of stairs on Raymond Avenue, Vertical Wine Bistro might seem an odd choice for an early-evening drink, at least of the Chandleresque kind. There’s nothing darkly noirish about it, but actually, it’s perfect. You see, you’re not going to come here to warm a whiskey in your hands while you contemplate the demise of your awful boss. No, you’re going to come here with a friend, after work, on a Thursday or Friday, and you’re going to cozy up to the raw bar.

This is where you’re going to celebrate that promotion with Susan from accounting and two dozen cold, fresh, briny oysters, maybe some fresh uni and — oh, go on then — possibly even a lobster! You’re going to squeeze a lemon over those bivalves (making sure not to get any in Susan’s eyes, of course!), and you’ll pore over the extensive wine list and pick out a crisp, bracing white by the glass to wash it all down.

Then, while Susan contemplates heading home to her cat, you’re going to have one for the road — a perfect Vertical Gimlet, made with Hendrick’s Gin, St. Germain liqueur, cucumber and lime. Then it’s time to head out into the night, for a walk down Colorado Boulevard, with pavements damp from El Niño rain, and the rustling of evening-shoppers’ bags, to Intelligentsia, for an espresso before home. Susan doesn’t like espresso and only drinks hazelnut-flavored coffee. You resolve to introduce her to Evan in sales, but remember he’s cat-allergic. Oh, Susan.

Whisky aficionados gather at The Blind Donkey.

36 | ARROYO | 02.16

PHOTOS: Marianna Jamadi (Vertical Wine Bistro ); Courtesy of The Blind Donkey

VERTICAL WINE BISTRO 70 N. Raymond Ave. Pasadena (626) 795-3999 verticalwinebistro.com

IPIC PASADENA One Colorado 42 Miller Alley Pasadena (626) 639-2260 Ipictheaters.com If your day has left you really wanting to escape the world, then this might be your best bet. iPic Theater in Old Pasadena combines a fi lm-going experience with a bar and waiter service. So, pick an early movie showing and grab a leisurely cocktail in the lounge before the movie starts. Make your way to your seat, snuggle into the comfy pillows and blanket they provide, and start munching the popcorn that’s also included in the ticket price. Order another cocktail, or even some snacks from the food menu, and bask in the fl ickering light of the movie screen, making your Oscar predictions for this year. For the comfort of the other patrons, please don’t crunch your ice cubes. Thank you. iPic’s drink menu includes a Prickly Pear–Honey Margarita.

You can watch the sun set over Eagle Rock from Little Beast’s cozy porch.

PHOTOS: Courtesy of Little Beast and iPic Pasadena

LITTLE BEAST RESTAURANT 1496 Colorado Blvd.

Eagle Rock (323) 341-5899 littlebeastrestaurant.com

iPic’s upstairs lounge has comfy leather sofas perfect for toasting your movie-going experience.

If your early-evening tipple needs to lift your spirits, there are few places as charming as the teeny bar at Little Beast Restaurant in Eagle Rock. It’s situated just off the main dining room carved out of a lovely restored Craftsman bungalow. If you catch a seat at exactly the right time, you can nurse a glass of wine while watching the sun set over the hills above Eagle Rock. As the evening darkens, those same hills will be silhouetted against that SoCal-signature, inky-dark indigo sky. If you go with a friend, you can do no better than order Chef Sean Lowenthal’s Bird and a Bottle. It’s a gorgeous Coq au Vin for two, braised with roasted mushrooms, pearl onion, pancetta, baby carrots, potatoes and pan juices. Oh, and it comes with a bottle of white or red French wine, all for $60. And there’ll probably be leftovers. If you’re alone, get the half bird for $24, and order a glass or two from their very nice wine list. There will probably still be leftovers, but at least you won’t have to fight for them!

02.16 | ARROYO | 37

The Coffee Gallery’s “cruel overseer” Bob Stane

WHERE THE OLD FOLKIES (AND YOUNG NEWBIES) ROAM The Coffee House Gallery Backstage is a hidden gem showcasing top folk-rock talent in an intimate space.

IT’S A CHILLY THURSDAY NIGHT, RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE POST–NEW YEAR’S SLUMP, BUT THE COZY PERFORMANCE SPACE IS FILLED TO CAPACITY. MUSICIANS BEGIN STREAMING ONTO THE STAGE, WHICH RUNS NEARLY THE LENGTH OF THE OBLONG ROOM, LEAVING A SHALLOW BUT WIDE SPACE FOR SEATING. NO SEAT IS MORE THAN EIGHT FEET FROM THE STAGE. THERE’S A HOMEY FEELING IN THE ROOM AND, SEEING PEOPLE CHATTING TOGETHER, YOU GET THE DISTINCT FEELING THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW EACH OTHER. “So I’ll bet you’ll be going to all the concerts here now,” a woman remarks to an acquaintance upon hearing of her friend’s retirement.

“I do anyway!” her friend responds.

Way up high on North Lake Avenue in Altadena, The Coffee Gallery Backstage is

38 | ARROYO | 02.16

in an unlikely spot for a performance venue, but then the venue is an anomaly in many ways. There’s no marquee announcing performances, and if it weren’t for the flyers listing upcoming shows, you could hang out in the funky coffeehouse area for quite a while without even noticing the small auditorium hidden like a speakeasy in the rear of the building. Most nights, the Coffee Gallery Backstage comes alive with music, comedy or both, from tried-and-true performers and up-and-comers.

What stands out more than anything, though, is the extent to which the Coffee Gallery serves as a music community hub of its own. It’s a throwback to the halcyon days of the Greenwich Village folk club of the 1950s, when the venue itself was as much of an attraction as the headliner. The Coffee Gallery is like that; its “cruel overseer,” as owner Bob Stane jokingly calls himself, is a veteran curator with a following of his own. People trust him to book quality entertainment, and a booking there is endorsement enough to draw a crowd.

On this recent night, the stage is filled with a small army of folk-rock’s original royalty — emblematic of the kind of talent the venue features. Everyone has assembled for a tribute to the late songwriter P.F. Sloan, one of the most prolific songwriters of the ’60s, who penned songs in styles that ranged from the edgy, cool rock of “Secret Agent Man” to the bitter protest of “Eve of Destruction.” Present are Moby Grape guitarist Peter Lewis, former Byrds member John York, Textones founder Carla Olson and Spanky MacFarlane, former leader of the 1960s folk-rock group Spanky and Our Gang (“Sunday Will Never Be the Same”), all backed by a crack house band.

PHOTO: Donna Barnes-Roberts

BY MARTIN BOOE

PHOTOS: Martin Booe

Moby Grape guitarist Peter Lewis tips his hat to songwriter P.F Sloan, who passed in November.

Folk music in all its permutations is The Coffee Gallery’s staple, along with a dose of classical. Its oeuvre encompasses Celtic music, Western, Hawaiian, flamenco and gypsy jazz, with an emphasis on acoustic instruments. Folk music, Stane says, has been a perennial over the years with cyclical fluctuations, but he does fret a bit about the graying of its audience. For that reason, he makes a point of booking young up-andcomers, scouting performers from the Berklee School of Music and taking newbies under his wing, such as the teenaged Licata Brothers of Arcadia, whose repertoire draws from early- to mid–20th-century music. They joined the cadre of grizzled luminaries celebrating P.F. Sloan, turning in a ripping performance of “Secret Agent Man,” which drew rousing applause from an audience that clearly roots for the home team.

Stane is one of those last-of-the-rugged-individualist types who’s been a fi xture in the San Gabriel Valley for decades. He grew up in Boran, a California outpost on the western edge of the Mojave Desert, and his rather Kerouac-y youth included stints working as a surveyor for the Santa Fe Railroad and setting off dynamite in borax mines. If he’s not the hardest-working man in show biz, he’s definitely in the running. Stane helped put Pasadena’s The Ice House Comedy Club on the map when it was primarily a folk-rock club with some comedy, running the venue and booking acts like Linda Ronstadt and Seals and Croft from 1961 to 1979. He’d met club owner Willard Chilcott during an audition he’d arranged for a San Diego act he represented. “I had a reputation as an entertainment promoter who ran things in a businesslike way,” Stane recalls. “Willard said, ‘I don’t care much for your act, but I’ll give you anything you want to run The Ice House for me.’” Stane signed on as partner, and now he takes a certain amount of credit for helping launch the careers of Jay Leno and David Letterman, among others.

Stane realized early on that he was an inveterate night owl who loathed office work and made a firm decision “not to live anywhere I didn’t want to live or do anything I didn’t want to do.” It may have helped that coffeehouse culture runs in Stane’s blood, but his first business venture was The Upper Cellar, one of San Diego’s first coffeehouses. It was 1958, a point in time suspended between the remnants of beatnik culture and the advent of hippiedom. With a $500 loan from a friend, he opened The Upper Cellar in 1958 and turned it into a thriving den of folk music and gathering place for cultural and philosophical discussions.

Himself a humorist, Stane was the impetus for one of Pasadena’s quirkier landmarks, the Fork in the Road, an 18-foot-tall aluminum dinner fork stuck in the traffic median

Arcadia’s Licata Brothers perform early- to mid- 20th century music.

where St. John Avenue splits off of Pasadena Avenue. Stane drove past the median frequently and liked to joke that “the fork in the road needs a fork.” So for Stane’s birthday in 2009, his friend and business partner, Coffee Gallery co-owner Ken Marshall, organized a squad of guerrilla installationists who donned fake Caltrans uniforms and waved at police as they hoisted the giant utensil upright. The “installation” has since become a permanent part of the landscape.

After selling The Ice House in 1979 (to owners who turned it into a comedy club), Stane promoted shows and stage-managed the reunion of the classic folk group The Limeliters. In 1998, he partnered with Marshall, who’d opened The Coffee Gallery in 1978. “I asked him if he had a little closet somewhere in the building where I could put on shows,” Stane says. They renovated a storage room behind the lounge area, adding a mural of a coffee warehouse, a stage and 49 seats.

From the beginning, the performance space seemed to have a magic of its own. The combination of its intimacy, spatial dynamics and first-class sound system quickly made it a must-play room for performers on the folk circuit, such as former Nitty Gritty Dirt Band singer-songwriter John McEuen, a multi-instrumentalist (and Steve Martin’s banjo mentor) who visits annually, and éminence grise singer-songwriter Randy Sparks, founder of The New Christy Minstrels, who remains a perennial at the age of 82.

Still, the coffeehouse business is a tough one, Stane says, and it’s not easy to make a dollar by serving a beverage that has to be ground, pulled, steamed and frothed to order.

He’s at it six nights a week if not seven, sitting at the door, running the sound, tweaking the lights. But in the end, it’s all about the magic, he says. “One night there was a guy peering in who looked very distressed,” Stane recalls. “I could tell he kind of wanted to come in but he wasn’t sure. So I said, ‘Come on in as my guest. Don’t worry about the ticket price.’ It was a great show that night and he came out beaming. He told me later that he’d been thinking about killing himself that night, and the show helped him turn the corner. That’s what music can do for people and it’s what keeps me going.” ||| The Coffee Gallery Backstage is located at 2029 N. Lake Ave., Altadena. Shows generally run from 8 to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; weekend days have two performances — from 3 to 5:30 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 p.m. — but the schedule varies so check the website or call. Cover charges usually range from $15 to $20. Call (626) 398-7917 or visit coffeegallery.com.

02.16 | ARROYO | 39

40 | ARROYO | 02.16

KITCHEN CONFESSIONS

The Cordon Blues Le Cordon Bleu North America is closing all its schools — including the one in Pasadena.

BY LESLIE BILDERBACK

I

t’s not often that I get to say this, but…

Culinary News Flash!

At the end of last year, the for-profit Career Education Corporation behind Le Cordon Bleu North America announced that it would no longer accept new culinary students and will close all 16 of its North American schools — including the one in Pasadena — when the current students graduate. This is in response to new federal law that requires career colleges to offer training that has a reasonable chance of leading to gainful employment. (Outrageous!)

I mention this because my long and eclectic resume includes a rather lengthy stint as chef instructor, department chair and, eventually, executive chef of the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena. During my tenure we became part of Le Cordon Bleu North America. The hope was that such a highly revered international company would legitimize our operation, turning it into the kind of school that employers would be clamoring to hire from. That never happened. Having seen this corporation in action, I can tell you that news of this implosion is surprising only in that it took this long.

The new gainful-employment rule cuts off federal financial aid to schools where students must borrow at high rates to cover their tuition, but will earn little after graduation. The post-graduation loan payments may not exceed 20 percent of the graduating students’ discretionary earnings, or 8 percent of total earnings. That’s still a huge chunk, considering that typical school fees are now upwards of $50K. When you are working as a line cook for about $25,000 a year — with no benefits (which is typical) — anyone with fi nancial sense can see that this is a ridiculous economic model. So why do so many families still sign on the dotted line?

Clearly a huge portion of fault lies at the feet of corporate admissions policies.

During my time there I repeatedly watched admission representatives talk people into enrollment with promises of high-salary jobs — jobs that simply didn’t exist.

They made used car salesmen look like girl scouts at a cookie booth. Of course, they were merely soldiers, doing the bidding of a larger entity that didn’t give two fi gs about the industry it was servicing.

The company knew that a culinary degree does not increase earning potential.

They knew a degree does not guarantee — or even significantly increase the chance of getting — a position as an executive or sous chef. (We all knew — there are always

better cooks out there without degrees.) The only thing that can get you into those positions is your performance, which might be improved by culinary school if you are the right type. That’s a big “if.” (The right types work hard to be “A” students.

They have realistic expectations, are willing to work up from the bottom, welcome criticism and continuously seek new knowledge, while fully accepting that they will never know everything.)

By the 1990s culinary schools were already viewed as suspect, and with good reason. There were few admission standards (beyond the obvious checkbook and pulse), there were no grading criteria (teachers were instructed to avoid failing students) and the placement data, collected for just six months after graduation, could include anything food-service–related, including working as a hostess, waiter or delivery truck driver. After more than a decade of teaching I can count on one hand the former students who have made a successful go of it. For the majority it has been a financial blunder. Th is is not just my opinion. Several lawsuits have been fi led against culinary schools for deceptive recruiting practices and falsified placement data. Le Cordon Bleu’s San Francisco school alone just settled a class action out of court for $40 million.

Despite my own attendance at a culinary school (California Culinary Academy, San Francisco, 1988 — long before there was any affi liation with either Le Cordon Bleu or Career Education Corporation), my tenure as an instructor and administrator left me adamantly opposed to the current model of culinary education.

Sure, there are those for whom an institutionalized culinary education can work (myself included). There is value in learning proper technique from seasoned professionals. But the model I trained under was vastly different. We had admission criteria — prior industry experience, a high-school education, an entrance essay and letters of recommendation from industry professionals. All my chefs — Europeans brought up in the apprentice system — had little patience for American bull and were extremely skeptical of my ability to succeed. Our textbook was Escoffier, a tome that contains only ingredient lists, with no instructions. We were expected to know the techniques already. Never once was I coddled, never was poor performance excused and never was I offered assistance after graduation. I had to rely on my own network, which I cultivated carefully.

Then, as food TV became popular in the 1990s, there was a sudden flood of –continued on page 42 02.16 | ARROYO | 41

KITCHEN CONFESSIONS –continued from page 41

interest in culinary schools. New schools opened and old ones expanded, to maximize profit by churning out as many students as possible. During my Cordon Bleu years our student-teacher ratio grew from 12:1 to 35:1. There was no way to offer quality education at that level. Everyone was admitted — including some who had no business working in the food industry. So, for the past 20 years this model has flooded the workforce with unqualified, poorly prepared cooks who were told by their school they were rock stars. They feel peeling onions is beneath them, so they quit the entrylevel jobs, creating a huge employee turnover rate — a burden restaurant owners do not need.

While I understand this is bad news for many, I see this as a turning point for an industry that has lost its way. It has provided me with a long, varied and exciting career, and I know there are good cooks out there who deserve the same. For those who think they fall into this category, I will continue to recommend the following: Get a job, work hard, network, discover what you enjoy, fi nd a mentor, read books and study culinary history. ||||

Veal Cordon Bleu Le Cordon Bleu initially referred to knights of the chivalric Order of the Holy Spirit, founded by Henry III in the 16th century. Their medal hung from a blue ribbon, and thus the term “blue ribbon” became synonymous with prestige. It may have initially been linked to cooking as a result of the knights’ spectacular feasts. It most certainly has lost its cachet here in the U.S. in the past few months.

INGREDIENTS 4 3-to-4–ounce veal cutlets ½ pound Gruyére cheese, grated 4 slices ham 1 cup all-purpose fl our 1 cup bread crumbs 2 eggs, whisked

2 teaspoons sea salt 2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 tablespoons olive oil ½ cup chopped Italian parsley 1 lemon, cut into wedges

METHOD 1. Pound veal cutlets with a meat mallet between two sheets of plastic wrap to achieve a uniform 1/8inch thickness. Layer each cutlet with ham and cheese, then fold it over and secure with a toothpick.

2. Place the flour, bread crumbs and eggs in 3 separate dishes, and season each with salt and pepper.

Dredge the veal packets first in the flour. Tap off excess flour, then dredge in the egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Refrigerate for 1 hour to allow coating to solidify.

3. Heat the butter and oil in a large sauté pan over high heat until foamy. Add veal packets, reduce heat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden brown and firm. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Leslie Bilderback is a certified master baker, chef and the author of Mug Meals: More Than 100 No-Fuss Ways to Make a Delicious Microwave Meal in Minutes. She lives in South Pasadena and teaches her techniques online at culinarymasterclass.com.

42 | ARROYO | 02.16

A SELECTIVE PREVIEW OF UPCOMING EVENTS COMPILED BY JOHN SOLLENBERGER

THE LIST

Full February for Chamber Orchestra

admission of $10, $6 for students and se-

Feb. 4 — The Los Angeles Chamber

under 3 are admitted free. Opening day,

niors and $4 for children 3 to 12; children

Orchestra’s Baroque Conversations

a ticketed event, includes presentations

series features Principal Bassoon Kenneth

by painters Logan Maxwell Hagege and

Munday as host and featured performer

George Carlson, with a chuckwagon

in a program of works by Boismortier, Tele-

luncheon and awards presentation; a

mann, Handel, Zachow and Fasch. Join-

cocktail reception and fine art sale follow

ing him are LACO artists Patricia Mabee,

in the evening. Tickets for opening day,

harpsichord; Allan Vogel, oboe; Claire

which runs 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., cost $270

Brazeau, oboe; and Edward Meares, bass,

($195 for members).

starting at 7 p.m. at the Colburn School's

The Autry is located at 4700 Western Heri-

Zipper Concert Hall. Tickets cost $57.

tage Way, Griffith Park. Call (323) 495-4375

Zipper Concert Hall is located at 200 S.

or visit theautry.org for opening-day tickets.

Grand Ave., L.A. Feb. 13 — The orchestra’s annual concert

Vast Display of Valuable Volumes

gala comes to the Millennium Biltmore

Feb. 12 through 14 — The 49th California

Evening in Paris” honors LACO Board

SWEETS FOR THE SWEET

the world’s largest exhibitions of anti-

Chairman K. Eugene Shutler for more

Feb. 6 and 7 — The L.A. Cookie Con and Sweets Show, the West Coast's largest

quarian books, comes to the Pasadena

than three decades of support. The

baking and sweets expo, comes to the Los Angeles Convention Center from

Convention Center, where visitors can

black tie–optional gathering features a

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The show includes free

learn about and purchase rare and

performance by Anne Carrere, star of the

samples from local shops and national brands, baking demonstrations, hands-

valuable books, manuscripts, autographs,

touring revue, Piaf! The Show, plus music

on cookie- and cake-decorating workshops and appearances by culinary

graphics, photographs and other items.

of great French composers played by the

celebrities, including luxury cake decorator Ron Ben-Israel of the Food Network’s

Included are an exhibit marking the 150th

orchestra. Tickets cost $750.

Sweet Genius and Cake Wars and Rosanna Pansino, bestselling author and

anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Won-

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel is located

creator of the show Nerdy Nummies. The Kids Zone includes free face-painting,

derland and the wares of 200 specialized

at 506 S. Grand Ave., L.A.

cookie-decorating, crafts, games and other activities. Admission costs $21,

booksellers. Books, as much as 500 years

Feb. 20 — Works by Fauré, Schoenberg,

$10 for children for a one-day pass, or $35, $15 for children for a two-day pass.

old, represent numerous areas of interest,

Ravel and Beethoven are on the pro-

Proceeds from sugar-art and baking competitions benefit Children’s Hospital Los

in a wide range of prices. Hours are 3 to 8

gram of an 8 p.m. concert at Glendale’s

Angeles.

p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and

Alex Theatre. German conductor Matth-

The L.A. Convention Center is located at 1201 S. Figueroa St., L.A. Visit lacook-

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets

ias Pintscher, music director of the French

iecon.com.

purchased Friday cost $25 and provide

Hotel at 6 p.m. “La Vie en Rose: An

International Antiquarian Book Fair, one of

contemporary music group Ensemble

admission all three days. Tickets

Intercontemporain, makes his LACO de-

purchased Saturday or Sunday cost

but as guest conductor. Ticket prices start

1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino. For gala

landscapes using a variety of media. It

$15 and include free admission to the

at $27. The concert repeats at 7 p.m. Feb.

tickets, visit brownpapertickets.com/

runs from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays. The

Huntington Library, Art Collections and

21 at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

event/2402551. For Rex Reed’s presenta-

registration deadline is Feb. 5. The cost is

Botanical gardens during February.

The Alex Theatre is located at 216 N.

tion only, visit brownpapertickets.com/

$120 ($90 for members).

The Pasadena Convention Center is lo-

Brand Blvd., Glendale. For all events, call

event/2405050.

Descanso Gardens is located at 1418 Des-

cated at 300 E. Green St., Pasadena. Call

canso Dr., La Cañada Flintridge. Call (818)

(800) 454-6401 or visit cabookfair.com.

(213) 622-7001 or visit laco.org.

Art, Water on Tap at Descanso Rex Reed Reminisces for League Gala

Feb. 6 — Descanso Gardens' all-day

Feb. 6 — The charitable San Marino

949-4200 or visit descansogardens.org.

Sex and the City Zoo Feb. 13 — The L.A. Zoo hosts a 21-and-older

tion on water-wise gardening practices,

Western Masters Roundup at the Autry

League, which provides docents for the

techniques to harvest rain water and

Feb. 6 through March 20 — The Autry

Zoo” is a lighthearted affair from 5 to 7 p.m.,

Huntington Library, Art Collections and

information on native California plants

Museum of the American West presents

starting with a reception including desserts,

Botanical Gardens, hosts a fundraising

suited to the local climate, plus a guided

its annual Masters of the American West

wine and animal “walkabouts” — oppor-

gala at the San Marino cultural complex,

walk highlighting examples of water-

Fine Art Exhibition and Sale. The event

tunities to see small animals up close and

starting at 5:30 p.m. Veteran film critic Rex

conservation practices, a water tasting

showcases paintings and sculptures

chat with their zookeepers. Animal experts

Reed heads the program, discussing “A

and more. The symposium runs from 9:30

by such prominent artists as Bill Anton,

will give a talk on relationships (mating,

Constellation of Stars: The Legends I Have

a.m. to 2 p.m. Free with Descanso admis-

George Carlson, Tammy Garcia, Robert

“dating” and cohabitating) in the animal

Known.” The event also includes cock-

sion of $9, $6 for seniors and students and

Griffing and Z.S. Liang, and emerging art-

kingdom. Tickets cost $40 ($30 for Greater

tails, hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction and

$4 for children 5 to 12; children 4 and

ists John Bye, John Budicin, Lori Forest, Cliff

Los Angeles Zoo Association members).

a multi-course dinner. Gala tickets cost

younger are admitted free.

Scott, Adam Smith and Conchita O’Kane.

The L.A. Zoo is located at 5333 Zoo Dr.,

$300; for Reed's presentation only, $50.

Feb. 13 through March 5 — Artist Virginia

Show hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays

Griffith Park. Call (323) 644-6001or visit

The Huntington Library, Art Collections

Hein conducts “Sketching on Location,”

through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Satur-

lazoo.org.

and Botanical Gardens is located at

a class on sketching Descanso's varied

days and Sundays. Free with regular Autry

water symposium offers helpful informa-

event for Valentine’s Day: “Sex and the City

–continued on page 44 02.16 | ARROYO | 43

THE LIST

CELEBRATING QUILTING Feb. 18 through 21 — QuiltCon 2016 brings quilters from around the world to the Pasadena Convention Center for a juried show of 400 quilts, as well as more than 100 vendor booths and workshops and lectures by top experts in modern quilting. Keynote speaker Gwen Marston is a quilting artist who has authored 27 books. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Workshops and lectures are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Four-day passes, for the show and vendor hall only, cost $35; one-day passes are $10. Prices vary for lectures and workshops.

The Pasadena Convention Center is located at 300 E. Green St., Pasadena. Visit quiltconwest.com.

–continued from page 43

Bottle Shop, Savor the Flavor and Arnold’s

Chamber Music from Down Under

Frontier Hardware and Gifts in Sierra

Feb. 16 — The Australian Chamber Or-

Madre; also online at eventbrite.com.

chestra presents The Reef at Walt Disney

Proceeds benefit the Sierra Madre Library.

Concert Hall at 8 p.m., accompanying a

Alverno’s Villa del Sol d’Oro is located at

100-minute film about Western Australia's

200 N. Michillinda Ave., Sierra Madre. Visit

Ningaloo Coast with a wide array of

sierramadrelibraryfriends.org.

music, from Bach to Pete Seeger. Tickets Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111

Tiny Trees, Big-Picture Talk Open Monkey Year at Huntington

S. Grand Ave., L.A. Call (213) 972-7211 or

Feb. 20 and 21 — The Huntington’s family-

are $26.50 to $49.50.

visit disneyhall.com or aco.com.au.

friendly celebration of the Year of the Monkey spotlights lion dancers, mask-

Libations Benefit Local Library

changing performances, martial arts,

Feb. 19 — Friends of the Sierra Madre

Chinese music, calligraphy and Chinese

Library sponsor an annual Wine and

brush-painting demonstrations, a display

Cuisine Tasting Benefit at Alverno High

of penjing (Chinese bonsai) and other

School’s Villa del Sol d’Oro. The elegant

activities, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:3t0 p.m.

event features samples from more than

both days. Free with regular Huntington

two dozen vintners as well as food from

admission.

local restaurants. Regular tickets cost $60.

Feb. 25 — Marking Founder’s Day, Russel

Premier tickets cost $80 and include a

Kully, director of the Art Collections, dis-

variety of wines from Giesen Wines of

cusses the origins of art at The Huntington

New Zealand, hors d’oeuvres from res-

and predicts its future course at 3 and

taurateur Claud Beltran and a chance to

7:30 p.m. Free, but tickets are required.

win a unique wine basket. Admission to

Visit huntington.org/calendar for tickets.

the premier event is at 6 p.m.; the main

Feb. 27 and 28 — The Huntington’s an-

event starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are available

nual Bonsai-a-Thon features Southern

at the Sierra Madre Public Library, The 44 | ARROYO | 02.16

–continued on page 46

02.16 | ARROYO | 45

PHOTO: © LeAnn Mueller

THE LIST

STRING AND SPEAKEASY SOUNDS AT CALTECH Feb. 20 — The Hot Sardines (above) perform “Speakeasy Nights,” a night of hot jazz from the 1920s to the 1940s, accompanied by a tap dancer, starting at 8 p.m.

Tickets cost $10 to $45.

Feb. 21 — A Coleman Chamber Music Concert at 3:30 p.m. features the Escher String Quartet, with guitarist Jason Vieaux performing works by Mendelssohn, Bartok,Tárrega, Piazzolla and Boccherini.Tickets cost $25 to $49.

Both events take place at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium, Michigan Avenue south of Del Mar Boulevard, Pasadena. Call (626) 395-4652 or visit events.caltech.edu.

–continued from page 44

California bonsai masters exhibiting their

as well as paintings of lesser-known as-

works, demonstrations, prize drawings, a

pects of palace life, such as Ming princes'

bonsai bazaar and live auction. Proceeds

religious patronage and afterlife beliefs,

support the Golden State Bonsai Collec-

only recently discovered. Archaeological

tion at The Huntington. The event runs

artifacts from royal tombs are traveling

from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. both days,

to the U.S. for the first time. Admission

free with Huntington admission.

costs $10, $7 for students and seniors; USC

The Huntington Library, Art Collections

staff and students and children 11 and

and Botanical Gardens is located at 1151

younger are admitted free.

Oxford Rd., San Marino. Call (626) 405-

USC Pacific Asia Museum is located at 46

2100 or visit huntington.org.

N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena. Call (626) 449-2742 or visit pacificasiamuseum.org.

Museum Show Casts Light on Luxe Life in Ming China

46 | ARROYO | 02.16

Feb. 26 — USC Pacific Asia Museum

Czech Chamber Quartet Checks Into La Cañada

presents the exhibition Royal Taste: the Art

Feb. 28 — The Da Camera Society’s

of Princely Courts in 15th-Century China,

Chamber Music in Historic Sites series visits

showcasing the luxurious lifestyles and re-

Lanterman House in La Cañada Flintridge,

ligious practices of princely courts in Ming

where the Czech Republic’s Bennewitz

China from 1368 to 1644. On view through

Quartet performs works by Haydn and

June 26 are more than 140 examples

Dvorák at 2 and 4 p.m. Tickets cost $85.

of the pictorial, sculptural and decora-

The Lanterman House is located at 4420

tive arts (including jewelry and hairpins,

Encinas Dr., La Cañada Flintridge. Call

devotional statues, textiles and porcelain)

(213) 477-2929 or visit dacamera.org. ||||

48 | ARROYO | 02.16