‘L.A.’s Landmark Restaurants: Celebrating the Legendary Locations Where Angelenos Have Dined for Generations’

AAward-winning chef and best-selling author George Geary serves up another fine book, L.A.’s Landmark Restaurants: Celebrating the Legendary Locations Where Angelenos Have Dined for Generations.

This latest work follows his classic L.A.’s Legendary Restaurants. More than 50 famous restaurants from the 20th century not featured in the previous book are given their due in this beautifully illustrated book, which features Philippe The Original on the cover.

The more than 250-page book only gets better from there. The short, illustrated chapters on each eatery make this a book to be savored over many readings with a pastrami sandwich and potato salad.

Geary includes such iconic restaurants as: Philippe The Original; Pacific Dining Car; The Derby; Sardi’s Café; Langer’s Deli; Canter’s Delicatessen; El Cholo; and The Original Pantry Cafe.

Lavishly illustrated throughout with color and black and white photos, each chapter includes a profile of the restaurant, including opening date, location, original and current phone number, founder, and cuisine.

Re cipes made famous by these landmarks are provided, giving readers the opportunity to recreate some of the dishes that helped make these establishments famous. Photos of menus, matchbooks, advertisements, and other ephemera can be found, enhancing the joy down memory lane.

Making this a must-read are the stories and anecdotes behind the founders, owners, and the eateries themselves. One of the longest-running mysteries is the question of who invented the

BOOK TALK BY DAN DE NEVE

French Dip sandwich, Cole’s or Philippe’s?

Geary recalls this legendary Los Angeles tale that extends far beyond just describing local culinary history.

However, more than a trip down memory lane or providing delicious recipes accompanying beautiful photos, this is a destination guide for locals and tourists. If you are in Los Angeles and need a place to eat, this is a gold mine.

There are many reasons why these places are all still going strong, some for more than a century, but the biggest reason is they serve excellent food. Furthermore, it is evident the restaurants have character and tradition that few newer, trendy places can even challenge, let alone match.

As with his Made in California, I cannot recommend this book enough. G eary’s thoroughness and expertise is evident. The book was worth the wait, just like any good eatery, and Geary does not disappoint.

So, grab a copy, read through it, chew on it, digest it, recall these fine, historical landmark restaurants if you’ve been there, and maybe grab a bite at one of these places if it’s your first time or you’ve lost count.

In addition to this book, Geary was a former pastry chef for the Walt Disney Company. He created all the cheesecakes for The Golden Girls and several other television programs.

He has authored nine cookbooks and three historical restaurant books.

The Dana Point Library offers two book groups each month. For more information about these groups or Geary’s latest book, please call 949.496.5517.

Dan De Neve is a longtime employee of the Orange County Public Library. He currently works at the Dana Point Library as the Adult Services Librarian. He is an avid reader of history, biographies and sports. DP

34932 Calle del Sol, Suite B, Capistrano Beach, CA 92624 phone 949.388.7700 fax 949.388.9977 danapointtimes.com

MANAGING EDITOR

Shawn Raymundo • 949.388.7700, x113 sraymundo@picketfencemedia.com

SPORTS

Zach Cavanagh • 949.388.7700, x110 zcavanagh@picketfencemedia.com

ADVERTISING

Lauralyn Loynes • 949.388.7700, x102 lloynes@picketfencemedia.com

DISTRIBUTION

Racks, Driveways, Subscriptions Inna Cazares • 949.388.7700, x111 icazares@picketfencemedia.com

GENERAL MANAGER

Alyssa Garrett • 949.388.7700, x100 agarrett@picketfencemedia.com

Advertising Sales

Debra Wells (CD)

ART + DESIGN

Group Art Director

Marc Hostetter

Special Projects Art Director

Jasmine Smith

OPERATIONS

General Manager

Alyssa Garrett

Collin Breaux

Sports Editor

Zach Cavanagh

Digital Producer

Evan Lancaster

Columnists

Tom Blake

Special Projects Editor

Andrea PapagianisCamacho

Copy Editor Randy Youngman

ADVERTISING

Associate Publisher Lauralyn Loynes (SC + DP)

Group Operations & Production Coordinator

Inna Cazares

Local Distribution

Tim Trent FINANCE

Accounting & Finance Manager

Tricia Zines

CONTRIBUTORS

Megan Bianco, Jake Howard

Dana Point Times, Vol. 16 Issue 29. The DP Times (danapointtimes.com) is published weekly by Picket Fence Media, publishers of the SC Times (sanclementetimes.com) and The Capistrano Dispatch (thecapistranodispatch.com).

Copyright: No articles, illustrations, photographs or other editorial matter or advertisements herein may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. The publisher assumes no responsibility