The Van de Kamp’s bakery on Fletcher Drive, where the first Van de Kamp’s coffee shop was opened, circa 1945.
In the 1950s, Van de Kamp’s was at the forefront of entertaining. The bakery encouraged home cooks to create a sweet appetizer to brighten a party by sandwiching a little cream cheese between thin slices of its Date Nut Loaf.
Serves 6 to 8
4 oz. pitted dates, finely chopped
1 cup water
1 cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ cup walnut pieces
1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. Spray an 8 × 4-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
3. Combine the dates and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and use a handheld mixer to purée the mixture.
4. Place the mixture back over low heat and add the brown sugar and butter. Stir until the sugar melts, then remove from heat.
5. Place the egg in a medium bowl and add a small amount of the warm date mixture in a steady stream while stirring to temper the egg. Slowly whisk the tempered egg mixture into the rest of the date mixture, being careful not to let the mixture overheat and scramble the egg. Add the salt, vanilla, and walnut pieces.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder, then fold into the warm date mixture to combine. Mix just until the batter is smooth.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover immediately and tightly with aluminum foil, and let cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. To store, keep wrapped in foil or a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
A Van de Kamp’s bakery in Glendale, 1925.
Legendary bartender Manny Aguirre pours a drink at the Musso and Frank Grill, 2012.
OPEN: 1919–present
LOCATION: 6667 Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood, CA 90028
ORIGINAL PHONE: HO-0728 and HO-7-7788
CURRENT PHONE: (323) 467-7788
CUISINE: American
DESIGN: L.A. Smith
BUILDING STYLE: Regency
IN 1919, A RESTAURANT OPENED ON HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD NAMED FRANK’S FRANCOIS CAFÉ. Four years later, its owners, Frank Toulet and Joseph Musso, changed the name to the Musso and Frank Grill; four years after that, they sold the classic New York-style eatery to restaurateurs Joseph Carissimi and John Moss. Still in operation today, the Musso and Frank Grill has become one of the longest-running restaurants in the Los Angeles area.
After Carissimi and Moss purchased the restaurant in 1927, they began construction to renovate the space. They also refurbished the kitchen and added a state-of-the-art grill with cast-iron grates. Although its bars have bent a bit over the years, the original grill is still used today; all of the steaks prepared at the Musso and Frank Grill are seared on its blackened grates. Burning through about 250 pounds of mesquite wood per week, it can cook up to 80 items at one time, with a daily output of about 550. Its temperature ranges from 300°F to 600°F.
The restaurant has expanded a few times over the years. In 1934, the owners leased what they called the “Back Room,” a legendary private space reserved for the Hollywood elite. When the lease expired on the space in 1955, a larger “New Room” was built, modeled after the original Back Room. Everything that could be removed from the Back Room, including the bar, chandeliers, coat racks, booths, and tables, was transferred to the New Room. Whatever could not be transferred was replicated as closely as possible—including the Back Room’s skylights, which were recreated as faux skylights in the New Room to maintain the same feel.
Joseph Carissimi, Joseph Musso, and Frank Toulet named their restaurant Frank’s Francois Café before settling on the Musso and Frank Grill.
Stepping into the Musso and Frank Grill is like walking back into the year 1919. The place remains virtually unchanged. Its high ceilings with tin inlay, its red, high-backed booths, and its dark mahogany wood are all still the same. The coat and hat racks that separate the booths are the same ones that were first installed in 1919. The front bar still has seats attached to it, like what you might see in a diner. The bartenders and waiters don the same short red jackets with black trim, crisp white shirts, neatly tied bow ties, center-pressed black pants, and spit-shined black shoes as they did the day the venue opened. The restaurant’s pay phone was the first to be installed in Hollywood; this was where many industry deals were made.
The Musso and Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard, 1930.
Many claim to have seen and heard the ghosts of past patrons at the bar, such as Orson Welles and Charlie Chaplin. Some have seen faces in the mirrors while dining. Those who sit in booth 1 (Chaplin’s favorite spot) sometimes feel a strange presence there, as well as variations in the temperature.
The restaurant was known as a writer’s café, since many authors—including regulars like Nathanael West, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Bill Lippman—created literary works while tucked away in the private, high-backed booths, working undisturbed for hours. On Saturdays, a big group of them would come in and sit around the large table in the Back Room. The Los Angeles Times once claimed that if you came to the Musso and Frank Grill every day since its opening day, you would encounter every major writer imaginable.
This place was not meant for the big parties that stars held at other famous establishments like Chasen’s or Spago, but for good, hearty, honest food. Stars like Buddy Ebsen, Steve McQueen, Keith Richards, and Johnny Depp were regulars (and always requested that Sergio Gonzalez be their waiter). Instead of entering through the front door on Hollywood Boulevard, they would use a back entrance and go through the busy kitchen. They could also see what Chef Jean Rue was creating for the day’s special.
Like other restaurants frequented by the stars, the Musso and Frank Grill would reserve certain preferred tables for celebrities. Raymond Burr always sat at table 38, never at the bar. Elizabeth Taylor sat at table 34. Nancy Reagan preferred table 36, while Merv Griffin enjoyed table 37 with a glass of wine or a vodka tonic. Al Pacino used to sit in the corner at table 28,