Arguably the most versatile of dressings, Thousand Island works on everything from hamburgers to fancy Crab Louis salads. The Tam O’Shanter tops its hamburgers with this dressing.
Serves 8 to 10
½ large hard-boiled egg, chopped
¼ cup canned beets, chopped
3 tbsp. minced green bell pepper
1 tsp. chopped black olives
1½ cups mayonnaise
4 tsp. chili sauce
1 tbsp. ketchup
¼ cup tomato juice
1. In a large bowl, combine the egg, beets, bell pepper, olives, mayonnaise, chili sauce, ketchup, and tomato sauce. Refrigerate until needed.
The Formosa Café on Santa Monica Boulevard, 1999.
OPEN: 1925–present
LOCATION: 7156 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90046
ORIGINAL PHONE: HO 2-9992
CURRENT PHONE: (323) 850-9050
CUISINE: California and Chinese
BUILDING STYLE: Train Car
IN 1919, MARY PICKFORD AND DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS BOUGHT A STUDIO ON EIGHTEEN ACRES OF LAND IN THE LOS ANGELES SUBURBS FROM SILENT FILMMAKER JESSE DURHAM HAMPTON. Pickford-Fairbanks Studios, as they called it, was located at 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard. Later, the studio evolved into the United Artists Studio, and then Warner Hollywood Studios. Today, it’s known simply as The Lot.
Across the street from this studio, a tiny eatery called the Red Post Café sat for a number of years, serving breakfast and lunch in its cramped space. In 1925, New York prizefighter Jimmy Bernstein bought the little restaurant and named it the Formosa Café. In order to add more space and serve more people, Bernstein affixed a red train car to one side of the building.
Because of its proximity to the studio, the Formosa has seen its share of movie and television stars. Up until recently, its walls were lined with over a thousand 8 × 10 glossies of every star known to man, from the iconic (John Wayne) to the more recently iconic (Johnny Depp). The café’s two slogans were also posted on an inside wall: “Meet Me at the Formosa” and “Where the Stars Dine.” The Formosa itself has appeared in many films, including L.A. Confidential, Swingers, and The Majestic.
In 1945, Bernstein brought on Hong Kong-born chef Lem Quon as his partner. It was a perfect business relationship, with Quon running the kitchen and Bernstein at the front of the restaurant, greeting customers and running the staff. The partnership lasted thirty-one years.
Over the years, the Formosa has changed its menu from bistro-style meals, to Asian cuisine, to California-style fare. If your grandparents had dined at the Formosa in their day, they would have eaten steaks and slow-cooked, braised meats; your parents, on the other hand, would have seen the introduction of Asian cuisine at the café, such as noodle bowls and raw fish dishes. Today, fresh farm-to-table ingredients are used in the Formosa’s kitchen.
The Formosa has seen its fair share of controversy. On October 23, 1944, with the war still going strong, the café was closed down for the night when sisters Francis and Betty Malson were arrested for selling “set-ups” after hours. On April 4, 1950, about an hour prior to opening, a “baby-faced” gunman (as Bernstein described him) came in through the café’s back door and demanded about $1,500 in cash and checks (the equivalent of about $14,000 today). For years, Los Angeles gangster Johnny Stompanato and his lover, actress Lana Turner, frequented the Formosa for their “back room” meetings with Johnny’s boss, mobster Mickey Cohen. In 1952, Cohen’s arrest for tax evasion put an end to those meetings.
When Bernstein died in 1976, Quon became the sole owner of the café. In the last years of Quon’s life, he arrived at the café every morning at around 5:00 AM to have coffee and breakfast, and worked until 9:00 PM, managing the kitchen and staff from his favorite corner booth (which also happened to have been Ava Gardner’s favorite). In December of 1993, Quon passed away from chronic heart failure. Today, the café is run by Quon’s grandson, Vince Jung.
The Formosa has fought two major threats in its near-century of existence. In 1991, the Friends of the Formosa preservation group was formed to fight Warner Bros., which owned the property the café sat on at the time and wanted to turn it into a parking lot. Actors and other frequenters of the café got involved, and the Formosa was saved; the parking lot was constructed a few blocks down from the eatery instead. In 2001, another fight to save the Formosa ensued when the West Hollywood Gateway Center—a two-story shopping center that would take up a full city block—was proposed. Although the Formosa was left alone, it was suddenly in the middle of West Hollywood’s largest shopping complex.
Lacking customers, the Formosa paired up with the Red Medicine Restaurant team in early 2014 to revamp its menu, calling it “Red Med at the Formosa.” Although the café’s new offerings were well-received, the partnership lasted only three months. The Formosa then brought in sixth-place Top Chef winner Brian Huskey, who added eclectic dishes to the menu like Korean brisket with Asian slaw and fried chicken sliders with sweet potato and sambal aioli. They also put On the Rocks winner Joseph Brooke behind the bar, where he whipped up tasty, Asian-themed concoctions like the Canton Iced Tea (which contained jasmine and black teas mixed with vodka, lemon, mint, and soda). This team lasted a few years.
In July 2015, the inside of the Formosa went through a complete transformation. All of the 8 × 10 glossies were taken down, the red interior was painted a battleship gray, and a rooftop garden bar was added. The menu changed drastically, featuring new items like microbrew beers and toasted cheese sandwiches. The shell of the red train car is all that remains of the original Formosa design.
Many think of the Formosa as just a dive bar, while others appreciate its historical value. Lem Quon felt that the Formosa’s success was due to the fact that everyone who came into the restaurant was treated like a star. “I never looked down on people,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “Here at the Formosa, we always make small people feel like big stars. We are all the same.”
Outside the Formosa, 2006.
It’s been said that Don the Beachcomber made very first mai tai, but this version is unique to the Formosa.
Serves 1
1 large, tall glass filled with crushed ice
3 oz. 151 rum
1 oz. amaretto