"Eagle Rock: Where land use and planning is
a contact sport"
THE EAGLE ROCK ASSOCIATION
October 3, 2002
1. WOMEN'S WORK 2002 -- RECEPTION OCTOBER 5
2. GARDENERS CAN GET PLANTS, SEEDS, AND TRAINING THIS SATURDAY --
OCTOBER 5
3. HEARING ON GLASSELL PARK McDONALD'S CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT --
OCTOBER 15
4. CAMILO'S -- EAGLE ROCK EATERY COULD GAIN FAME ON FOOD NETWORK!
5. ART AND COMMUNITY BEAUTIFICATION -- OCTOBER 7
6. WOMENTALK -- OCTOBER 9
7. THE EAGLE ROCK MUSIC FESTIVAL!! -- OCTOBER 12
8. FROM THE TERA ARCHIVES -- COMMUNITY DESIGN OVERLAY (CDO)
ORDINANCE
9. LAUSD SURVEY ON OVERCROWDING IN OUR SCHOOLS
10. EAGLE ROCK HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' TENNIS TEAM CHRISTMAS TREE
SALE/FUNDRAISER
11. THE LATEST ON THE EAGLE THEATER
12. MEETING ON THE AD HOC COMMITTE ON THE LA RIVER -- OCTOBER 7
13. WHO IS YOUR LOCAL HERO? NOMINATE HER OR HIM -- DEADLINE
OCTOBER 18
14. EAGLE ROCK'S CAFE BEAUJOLAIS STRIKES MEDIA GOLD AGAIN!
15. ENTERTAINMENT LINE-UP AT COLOMBO'S
16. LETTERS AND E.MAILS
17. QUOTE OF THE WEEK
1. WOMEN'S WORK 2002 -- RECEPTION OCTOBER 5
WOMENS WORK 2002
2nd Annual Exhibit - October 2nd - 31st, 2002
Reception Date: Saturday, October 5th, 2002 11-3pm
(both venues listed below holding receptions simultaneously)
Featuring new and previously created works by 50 local and national artists
Katy Drury Anderson | Nancy Armitage
Linda Johstone-Allen | Naomi Buckley
Lori Caley | Irene Carranza | Pamela Mower-Conner
Charlotte Chen | Carol Caley
Petrina Cooper | Adrienne Cragnotti
Patricia Cudd | Sally Dill
Leonor de la Vega Donato | Mary Ann Ripper
Jo Raksin | Sharon Sato | Patrice Sena
Paula Durbin | Greta Grigorian
Tina Gulotta |Annette Hammer
Constance Hanselman | Natalie M. Hansen
Galiliah Hernadez | Deborah Hosking
Kris Hostikka | Candace Jeanette
Miriam King | Bobbie Kitchens
Kay Kropp |Christi Lyon | Miss Mindy
Pernilla Persson | Liz Quesada | Courtney Regli
Jo Raksin | Patrice Sena
Maud Simmons | Lynn Byrne Simon | Margarita Skiadas
| Rita Stern | Suzie Stroll | Maureen M. Staley
Janice Tieken | Catherine M. Villagran | Melanie Weaver
Kate Turning | Kelly Williams and others
Show and Reception jointly hosted at :
Gallery Ophelia
http://www.galleryophelia.com
2114 Colorado Boulevard
Eagle Rock, 90041 323 982-9945
The Center Gallery http://www.erccc.org
The Eagle Rock Community Cultural Center
2225 Colorado Boulevard
Eagle Rock, CA 90041 323.226-1617
Show Information:
Women in Design Los Angeles is proud to present it-s second annual juried art
exhibition "Women's Work." This year, the even twill be jointly
hosted by Gallery Ophelia & The Eagle Rock Community Cultural Center. Both
have beautiful exhibition spaces,within a block of each other, in Eagle Rock,
California (in Northeast Los Angeles).
This show was conceived as a forum for women working as artists and designers
in Los Angeles to show their works together, to generate a dialog about women
and work, and to give women an outlet to voice their creative passions. Through
painting, collage,assemblage, photography, installation and sculpture, Women's
Work is a show about the multi-dimensional lives women lead.
Show Generously made possible by:
Women in In Design Los Angeles (non-profit Women's organization)
The Eagle Rock Community Cultural Center Gallery, and Gallery Ophelia
*for more info, visit http://www.galleryophelia.com
2. GARDENERS CAN GET PLANTS, SEEDS, AND TRAINING THIS SATURDAY --
OCTOBER 5
This is a great opportunity for NE gardeners to check out Common Ground, the
program that trains Gardening Angels and Master Gardeners for LA County:
GARDEN DAY L.A. -- Resources for Community and School Gardens
Saturday, October 5, 2002
8:30am á 1:00pm
Carmelitos Housing Development Community Garden
851 Via Carmelitos, Long Beach
$5 per person
All Sessions Will Be Translated Into Spanish
Presented by University of California Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles
County Common Ground Garden Program
SCHEDULE
8:30 Registration, Information Tables, Refreshments
9:15 Welcome. Yvonne Savio, Common Ground Garden Program Manager
9:30 Toxics in Garden Soil. Don Hodel, Environmental Horticulture Advisor
9:45 Workshop #1¯Everyone -- Composting Techniques¯Manuel Cisneros¯Compost Area
10:45 Workshop #2¯Your Choice -- Starting New Plants from Seeds and Cuttings¯Pete
Beaudoin¯Greenhouse (NOTE: Pete is an EAGLE ROCKER, living in the hills
off Fig!!!), Simple Healthful Vegetable Recipe Demonstration¯Sue
Giordano¯Horticultural Building, Watering and Fertilizing¯Jenny Rees¯Open area
between Greenhouse and Horticultural Building
11:45 Workshop #3¯Your Choice -- Starting New Plants from Seeds and Cuttings¯Pete
Beaudoin¯Greenhouse
Simple Healthful Vegetable Recipe Demonstration¯Sue Giordano¯Horticultural
Building
Watering and Fertilizing¯Jenny Rees¯ Open area between Greenhouse and
Horticultural Building
12:45 Raffle¯Amphitheater
INFORMATION RESOURCE TABLES
University of California Cooperative Extension Common Ground Garden Program
Los Angeles Community Garden Council
5-A-Day
Los Angeles Conservation Corps Clean and Green
TreePeople
Long Beach Organic
DOOR PRIZE
Basket of fresh-picked vegetables
FREE SEEDS
Vegetables, Herbs, Flowers
PLANTS FOR SALE
Vegetables, Flowers, Succulents, Trees
RAFFLE (1 PM)
Trees, Plants, Books, etc.
$1 per ticket
DIRECTIONS
Near junction of 405 and 710 freeways. From 710 freeway, take Del Amo
exit, go east on Del Amo, turn left onto Orange, turn left onto Via Wanda, turn
left onto Via Carmelitos. Garden is on the left. Park on street.
Gather at amphitheater.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Common Ground Garden Program, Gloria Mitchell, (323) 838-4539, gjmitche@ucdavis.edu
Thanks to Community Development Commission for the use of its
Carmelitos site
Mary Tokita
mtokita@earthlink.net
Eagle Rock, CA 90041
323/257 5886
3. HEARING ON GLASSELL PARK McDONALD'S CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT --
OCTOBER 15
The following was submitted to us by Glassell Park resident Tony Scudellari --
Dear
Friends & Neighbors:
The Planning Commission has set a hearing on the Conditional Use Permit (CUP)
for the proposed McDonald's on the old Masonry Builder's parcel, between the
Triangle Motel and the 2 Freeway ramp at Eagle Rock Blvd. & Verdugo Road.
Of course, the hearing is scheduled for a weekday during business hours (October
15th at 10:30 am at City Hall, Room 1020).
Now is the time to mobilize against this project which will be a source of
garbage and blight for our neighborhood. We must work to oppose this and
get businesses in our community that enhance and not detract. Here is
what you can do:
1) If you can attend the hearing, it is strongly
encouraged. If there is enough community opposition, we can stop the
Conditional Use Permit from being issued and McDonald's will have to sell the
property or allow other uses for its development.
2) If you can't attend the hearing, I am
organizing a petition to be signed by neighbors opposed to this. The
petition will be presented at the hearing.
Contact me about what you would like to do -- please spread the word to your
friends and neighbors. Our strength comes in our numbers and we need as
many people involved as possible.
The more I find out about this, the stronger my opposition to this proposed
McDonald's at 3901 Eagle Rock Blvd. Let me just say that I don't oppose
development per se, but I do oppose development that will have a negative
impact on our community. Another McDonald's will be a blight (both
economically and environmentally) to our area. We need community-building
businesses -- sit-down restaurants, galleries, coffeehouses, theatres,
bookstores, etc. I would happily support any of those businesses coming
into the area. Here are the reasons I and many other area residents
oppose the McDonald's proposal:
a) The area is over-saturated with fast food
restaurants. We have at least 25 fast food restaurants within a 3 mile
radius of the proposed location, including 5 McDonald's.
b) Another McDonald's is counter to the Northeast
Community Plan, which calls for diversity in commercial development.
c) Fast food restaurants generate garbage in our
communities.
d) A fast food restaurant with a drive-through window
(which is proposed by McDonald's) will adversely impact traffic flow on Eagle
Rock Blvd., a busy thoroughfare in our community. And, with the potential
for having cars lined up and merging onto Eagle Rock Blvd., access to the
northbound on-ramp to the 2 (Glendale) Freeway will be blocked.
e) McDonald's is proposing that the hours of operation
for this location include closing at 1:00am on the weekends. This will
create a noise and traffic nuisance for the residents in the immediate
neighborhood, including the apartment complex across the street. It will
also be a magnet for gang members and other people who frequent the nearby drug
house at Verdugo and Avenue 33.
f) McDonald's produces low-wage, non-union, dead-end
jobs for a few people with a frequent turnover. These positions do
nothing to uplift those they employ, nor does it truly enrich their lives.
And, the food McDonald's serves does anything but nourish our kids.
After all the efforts LAUSD has done to try and get junk food out
of schools, it would be a travesty for our community to allow a McDonald's
practically across the street from a charter school. (And, may I suggest
you read "Fast Food Nation" -- it's an eye-opener about the fast food
business and its harmful effects.)
Here are some effective ways you can help in this fight. Any and all
you can do will be greatly appreciated. And remember, the more
neighborhood opposition, the better our chances for success:
1) Attend the Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday,
15 October at 10:30am. The meeting will be held at City Hall in Room
1020. The more people we have, the better our chances.
2) Sign the petition opposing the McDonald's and get
your friends, family and neighbors to sign (I can send a copy as an attachment
on Word or AppleWorks, depending on which program you use).
3) Contact these city officials and let them know you
oppose the McDonald's at 3901 Eagle Rock Blvd. and give any and all reasons for
your opposition:
a)
e.mail Councilman Eric Garcetti at garcetti@council.lacity.org and register
your opposition.
b)
Call Con Howe, Director of Planning of the City's Planning Commission, at (213)
978-1271, or e.mail him at chowe@planning.lacity.org, and let his office know
you oppose the McDonald's at 3901 Eagle Rock Blvd. in Glassell Park.
(If you email Councilman Garcetti or call Con Howe, please either cc me
or let me know.)
So, please help. And, spread the word to your friends, neighbors and
family. We have a very good chance for success, but it depends on YOU.
If we stop McDonald's and strive to attract a better business for the site, it
will be a positive step in a business renaissance for our community -- one
which our friends and neighbors in Eagle Rock started and Glassell Park can be
a part of.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at any time.
Sincerely, Tony Scudellari tscud1@earthlink.net
[Editor's note: Tony is scheduled to be out of town today, Thursday,
October 3, through Sunday, October 6. Kathleen Perrin will act in his
stead during that time, and her email address is prcoalition@earthlink.net.}
4. CAMILO'S -- EAGLE ROCK EATERY COULD GAIN FAME ON FOOD NETWORK!
The following article appeared in the September issue of The Arroyo Seco
Journal:
Our Town... Eye On Eagle Rock©
Camilo's: Today Eagle Rock, Tomorrow the Airwaves?
Popular Restaurant Owners Being Wooed by the Food Network
"I thought they just wanted to talk to me, but once they met her, they
forgot all about me," laughs Camilo Gonzales, owner of Camilo's California
Bistro, which recently moved to Eagle Rock from its Highland Park location.
He is laughing about the impression his wife Amelia made on the producers of a
television production company which plans to create a new Food Network series
featuring the ebullient pair.
"She just came along to see what was going on with the show, and that was
that."
The production company, based in Woodland Hills, produces the Wolfgang Puck
series on the popular cable network, and were looking for another chef to build
a show around. Camilo's was recommended by locals. And once the producers saw
the new Colorado Boulevard location, there were only details left to discuss.
According to the Gonzaleses, the company hopes to produce as many as 63 shows
and/or segments with the pair beginning sometime in December.
Both agreed that that many shows would be a problem since the schedule for the
busy restaurant and caterers is already packed.
In addition to the restaurant, the Gonzaleses run a full catering business as
well, and running both while taping a television series during the holiday
season might just be a touch difficult.
"Were talking to them. Were gonna work it out," said Camilo.
The show would feature the pair over a wide range of topics, including cooking,
home entertainment, and party planning.
"It's like Martha Stewart, but with us," he joked.
The Gonzales left their former Highland Park York Boulevard location
approximately eight months ago. The move was precipitated by the owner wanting
to sell the building, perhaps overestimating the ability of another restaurant
to do as well in that location.
The Gonzales began to look in Highland Park, but the right location never
became available. As serendipity would have it, while shopping in a local
furniture store, they were told of the available location at the corner of Colorado
and Merton, the former home of Harnsberger real estate.
The previous location has been taken over by a Salvadoran restaurant once
located at the corner of Avenue 50 and Figueroa, home of a new McDonald's.
Highland Park's loss is Hollywood's gain.
Camilo's California Bistro is at 2128 Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock. (323)
478.2644
5. ART AND COMMUNITY BEAUTIFICATION -- OCTOBER 7
An Arts Task Force Meeting
Northeast Community Resources Coordinating Council
MONDAY, OCTOBER 7TH, 2002
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
(Please Bring Your Lunch)
Hathaway Family Resource Center
840 N. Avenue 66, L.A. CA 90042
How can we catalogue our public art for its protection?
What is the difference between murals and graffiti?
How can we work together to beautify our Northeast L.A. communities through
arts programs and partnerships?
Please RSVP to Nancy Blaine at (323) 257-9600 x208 or nancyblaine@hotmail.com
6. WOMENTALK -- OCTOBER 9
WomenTalk, a community service speaker's series offered by the YWCA Pasadena-Foothill
Valley, will feature Susan Strong, author of The Greatness of Girls: Famous
Women Talk About Growing Up, on Wednesday, October 9 at 7pm in the Donald R.
Wright Auditorium, Pasadena Central Library. Admission is free to YWCA
members and students with current ID, $10 to the public.
Please call (626)793-5171 for further information.
Anne Wolf, Manager
Occidental College Bookstore
Committee Member WomenTalk
7. THE EAGLE ROCK MUSIC FESTIVAL!! -- OCTOBER 12
The Eagle Rock Music Festival features 29 free public concerts Saturday
evening, October 12! This is one of the very best events (aside from
TERA's Home Tour) that our community offers each year -- don't miss it!
VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED TO HELP WITH THIS GREAT
EVENT. CALL JENNY KRUSOE AT (323) 226-1617.
The Eagle Rock Community Cultural Center (ERCCC) hosts the 4th annual Eagle
Rock Music Festival
Saturday, October 12
6:00 p.m. to12:30 a.m. in the Eagle Rock community of northeast Los Angeles
The free public event will present 29 live musical performances in 24 local
venues, including restaurants, a floral shop, a beauty salon, an auto garage, a
real estate office, a gas station, and several other storefronts along Colorado
Boulevard. A free shuttle service will be provided to festival venues.
"Angelenos will be delighted to discover what Eagle Rock has to offer --
it's a small town with big ideas," said Jenny Krusoe, ERCCC director and
festival co-organizer. "Our festival is a journey of discovery, an
opportunity to go places you've never been before -- both musically and
physically. Whether it's Taiko drumming on the lawn of the City Council field
office, an Armenian band in a mini-mall, or a "rave" in an empty
storefront, we're encouraging people to stroll around town and have fun exploring
musical genres."
The Eagle Rock Music Festival program will also include classical, reggae,
Cajun, Latin jazz, Tex-Mex, Pre-Columbian, folk, blues, country western,
Afro-Cuban, cabaret and contemporary original music.
Scheduled performers include: Swing Inc., Neon Venus, Go Betty Go, V.R Smith
and the Beaujolais Jazz Band, Ann Likes Red, Elliott Caine, composer Jon
Rumford, and Liz Cusuco. The winners of the Southwestern Youth Music Festival
will perform at Eagle Rock Flowers. Camilo's Restaurant will host
"The Best of the UGLA Cabaret 2002," and the Glendale Branch Music
Teachers' Association will host the 20th Century Women's Club. Fatty's, a
local coffee house, is closing a side street to host a swing concert, including
a dance contest between children and senior citizens.
The Eagle Rock Music Festival begins at 6:00 p.m. at the Eagle Rock
Community Cultural Center, located at 2225 Colorado Blvd., just west of Eagle
Rock Blvd. Festivalgoers will enjoy the first concert of the
evening, obtain a festival program, then walk eastward down Colorado Blvd. or
take the shuttle from 7:00-10:00 p.m. to hear a variety of musical
performances. The Cultural Center will close the festival with the Bobby Haynes
Blues Band, scheduled to perform at the ERCCC's historic building, a former
Carnegie library, until 12:30 a.m.
The Eagle Rock Music Festival is free and open to the public, presented with
the support of L.A. Council Member Nick Pacheco, the L.A. Department of
Cultural Affairs, L.A. County Arts Commission and the Recording Industries'
Music Performance Trust Funds through the Professional Musicians Union 47, Bank
of America, Vons, the Westfield Shoppingtown Eagle Rock, and the fantastic
community of Eagle Rock.
For more information, call the Eagle Rock Community Cultural Center at (323)
226-1617.
8. FROM THE TERA ARCHIVES -- COMMUNITY DESIGN OVERLAY (CDO)
ORDINANCE
The following write-up hails from 1997, when the City Council unanimously
approved what's known as the Community Design Overlay (CDO) ordinance. We
didn't have e.mail, and TERA had only around 100 members. This was sent
out to our membership at that time, and we'd like to update all of our 1,000+
members and the wider Northeast Los Angeles community now:
THE
CDO: TERA BACKS ANOTHER WINNER!
On Wednesday, October 8, 1997, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously
approved an addition to the Los Angeles Municipal Code, called the Community
Design Overly (CDO) Ordinance. This will allow community based design
standards and guidelines to be established to guide future development in Los
Angeles neighborhoods. Several members of TERA were present and spoke in
vigorous support of the proposal.
This landmark legislation can greatly assist in the preservation and
strengthening of neighborhood character throughout the City. The idea
arose from the efforts of the Northeast Community Plan Advisory Committee
(CPAC) to protect the distinctive character of its residential communities and
business districts, and to promote understanding of the Northeast's vitality
and promise as a cooperative collection of villages where it is good to live
and to do business. Members of the Planning Department recognized the
value to the rest of the City of the CDO idea and, with City Council staff,
decided to strive to create a measure that could be applied to neighborhoods
city-wide.
The CPAC is a citizen committee originally appointed in 1989 by the three
Council members whose districts overlap with the Northeast Community Plan Area,
namely Richard Alatorre, Jackie Goldberg, and Mike Hernandez. The Plan
Area reaches from El Sereno and Lincoln Heights to Atwater Village to Eagle
Rock and Highland Park, and includes Glassell Park, Cypress Park, and Mt.
Washington. The committee's work with members of the Planning Department
over nearly eight years, and especially its nurturing and shaping of this
legislation through hearings and countless deliberations during the last two
years, was rewarded by enthusiastic speeches on the floor of the Council
Chambers by Council members Mike Hernandez and Joel Wachs as well as by strong
support from Council members Alatorre and Goldberg. The long, hard work
of CPAC was warmly acknowledged by Council member Hernandez, himself a member
of CPAC before being elected to the Council. Council member Alatorre also
gave tribute to the efforts of CPAC and also to the unstinting support of TERA,
and to its members' willingness to spend valuable time and energy to
participate in the important civic life of the City. Council member Wachs
said passage of this legislation represented doing the City's work as it ought
to be done -- through cooperative efforts among local citizens, City
administrative offices, and the City Council and its staff.
So . . . we're wondering. After five years, where is Eagle Rock's CDO?
9. LAUSD SURVEY ON OVERCROWDING IN OUR SCHOOLS
Dear PTA Members, Parents, etc.:
A few days ago I had a chance meeting with LAUSD School Board President Caprice
Young and she asked me a question; maybe it's fair to say "she asked me
ask you a question".
The School Board is interested in getting input from parents on how we would
like the school district to initially concentrate on relieving overcrowding in
our schools -- What First? Should the district focus on getting kids off
buses and back to neighborhood schools? Should they be concentrating
first on classroom size reduction? Are year-round calendars our biggest
concern? Or is it bungalows that bother us the most?
Obviously all of these things need to be addressed, but when I went to some
senior PTA leaders it was obvious there is a difference of opinion on what is
the most pressing concern.
So I'm asking you to help with a very unscientific survey. This is not a
weighted poll with a predictable margin of error - it's simply some questions
where the answers should prove informative.
Please click <A
HREF="http://www.freesurveysonline.com/fso/AskSurvey.fso?Survey=1543&CheckID=1466">THIS
LINK</A> - or go to
http://www.freesurveysonline.com/fso/AskSurvey.fso?Survey=1543&CheckID=1466
on the internet - and answer a couple of questions. Then, if you would, please
forward this e-mail to two or five ...or ten fellow interested parents with
kids in the district who you think might be willing to participate.
Thank you -
Scott Folsom
PTA Representative
LAUSD Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee
PS: When you forward this e-mail please address it to your fellow parents
with their e-mail addresses in parentheses: (parent@pta.com) . That way you
can protect your friends from spam!
10. EAGLE ROCK HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' TENNIS TEAM CHRISTMAS TREE
SALE/FUNDRAISER
Please
help support the Eagle Rock High School Tennis Team by ordering a Christmas
tree, wreath, or 10-foot-long garland. The team is raising funds for the
two overnight trips it takes (to see professional tennis at Indian Wells and to
train for the playoffs at the Big Bear Tennis Ranch). Each team member
needs to raise about $200 to pay for those two activities, along with his
uniform, the banquet and trophies.
So, we
are selling Christmas trees of three sizes (5-6 foot, 6-7 foot, and 7-8 foot)
and of three varieties (Douglas Fir, Grand Fir, and Noble Fir). Prices
for trees range from $33 and up and the quality of the trees is guaranteed or
your money back! Small wreaths are $22, large wreaths, $27,
and a
garland is $21. Christmas tree stands are extra.
All
trees are cut only TWO days before shipment to the school on December 13.
Also, we offer free delivery if you live in Eagle Rock. All trees
will be delivered (or need to be picked up at the tennis courts on campus) on
Saturday, December 14, between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM.
Please,
if you were planning to buy a beautiful, live tree, buy through us and get a
tree of the highest quality. Sales are from October 1 through October 21
only, and a deposit of $20 per tree is due when ordering. You can order your
tree or get more information by contacting ERHS alum and Tennis Coach ERIC
JACOBSON '89 at ERHS during the day at (323) 254-6891 (ask for the Counseling
Office) or in the evening and on weekends at (323) 550-1902.
Help
the highest-ranked tennis team in ERHS history with this generous, helpful act.
Tell your friends and neighbors too!
11. THE LATEST ON THE EAGLE THEATER
Many of you have been asking about the Eagle Theater. Here is a very
recent interview in the September 27 through October 3 LA Weekly with
Fred Eric, Eagle Rocker and TERA member. Wondering what's been up?
Read on . . .
An
interview with restaurateur and future farmer Fred Eric
Marcel Duchamp would be proud
(Photo by Stacy Kranitz)
Depending on whom you ask, chef Fred Eric is either a visionary, a crazy
man, a frustrated sculptor or a restaurant revolutionary. He's notorious as a
pioneer of retro-cool who capitalizes on all that is edgy and witty. In the
early 90s he worked at the once-paradigm-shifting Olive, and before that with
Joachim Splichal at Patina; later he opened the supper club Vida, and Fred 62,
a 24-hour hipster hangout, both in Los Feliz. His food is happiest when it's
doing something weird. He has plated macaroni and cheese on push-up boxes, iced
oysters on ashtrays, served soba noodles on glass bricks, and wrapped French
fries in origami paper bags. His restaurants are not so much about meals as
they are about lifestyle, music, design and scene. The logo for his most recent
brainchild, the Airstream Diner in Beverly Hills, is a lone man on a bicycle
single-handedly pulling a trailer: an emblem of might, moxie and madness. He
meets with me at Airstream to consider the future of food, and life, in the
city.
Gendy Alimurung
L.A. WEEKLY: How did you get started in this business?
FRED ERIC: I was in farming school, biodynamic farming. When I got out of
high school, I realized I wasn't going to make it economically. But I thought,
"Oh, if I learn how to cook, and I get really good, then eventually I'll
be able to have a farm and make food for restaurants!" So that's my
mission: To be able to have a farm.
Are you sure I can't get you anything to eat? A little something?
No, I think I'm okay, but thank you. Why did you decide to keep your restaurant
open 24 hours?
The decision was to make food you want to eat all the time, served all the
time. So it should be open 24 hours.
I'm also opening another place, Lou C's, downtown across from Staples Center.
And it's going to be open 24 hours. Lou C's, my grandfather's name, is
going to be in a free-standing, turn-of-the-century Spanish building that's
built out into a huge dining hall and patio. Kind of a cross between the train
station and Musso & Frank. Its going to have this big outdoor kitchen and
outdoor bar and fountains and fireplaces. The food is going to be like
heartland-of-America food. Baskets of steamed crayfish.
And there's also a place you're opening up in Eagle Rock?
In Eagle Rock I bought a movie theater and a 99-cent store next door, and we're
making the 99-cent store into a restaurant and connecting it to the movie
theater. So it'll be like two spaces in one. In the movie theater, there'll be
little living rooms where people can sit. Normally, when you go out and see a
movie, you go out to a mall and you realize you're just another little
itty-bitty cog in the big wheel of commerce. I want it to feel more like art.
I want people to see this big story told on a light box. It's more of a
fantasy. And this restaurant's going to be 24 hours, too. We'll have
this big wood-burning oven, and we'll do different kinds of flatbread.
How soon will all this happen?
Lou C's will be open in six months, and the movie theater will be open in 10
months. I'm just waiting for the 99-cent store to leave. His lease is actually
up in September. But he hasn't paid rent for two months. I guess I'm gonna have
to kick him out. The movie theater's going to be called, here, I'll write it
down. "The Eagle and the Night Hawk Diner." Nighthawks at
the Diner is a Tom Waits album [Editor's note: this idea, we believe,
originated from the wonderful 1942 painting "Nighthawks" by Edward
Hopper].
Where do your ideas come from?
Who knows? This place was just cement and glass when I started, and I was
trying to figure out how to make it so that someone would want to come in here.
And I always wanted to do an Airstream diner because I love East Coast diners.
It sounds like these places take an awful lot of work.
Making anything an adventure is the key, because once you're on an adventure,
it's like problems aren't problems, they're challenges. Its kind
of like some people go for a walk and think it's a total chore, and once you've
got in your mind it's a chore, my God, it's so difficult! But it's fun if
you're like, "Oh, we're going for a walk! Up in the mountain! And we may
run into a raccoon!" It's all chemicals in your brain. That's what I try
to suggest to people with the restaurants. It's all in your brain. What is that
neurotransmitter, the one that lets you have fun? Serotonin! That's it. That's
what I'm all about. Just call me Mr. Serotonin.
What made you decide to put French fries in an origami paper bowl?
I came from working at a three-star restaurant in Paris, and one time we had to
do French fries and I thought, "My God, what am I going to do?" So I
sat down and decided to take a paper bag and make it into something. And now everyone
who works here has to learn how to make the French-fry bag.
Sweet.
I think Marcel Duchamp would be proud.
You used to bring together a collective of chefs.
We would have meetings and talk about what's going on and what's going on in
the business. It was really fun. It was really organized, too. We'd have an
agenda and everything. We'd go from one restaurant to another.
To try them out?
No, no, no! With chefs, you're lucky if you get one day off. Once a month we'd
meet in different places. But we haven't done that in a bit. You get too busy.
And some of the people coming, they work for other people, and those
guys were mad that we're having these meetings and they weren't involved. It
was weird.
And what were these meetings about?
About food and about business and about how things are going. How to get stuff
to work. What we're excited about. How we could help the Los Angeles food
scene. Which for a while was really, really exciting. Going out was a big deal.
And then it tapered off at the end of the 80s. And for almost all of the 90s,
people weren't really excited. Not like in San Francisco or New York.
Why? What happened?
There used to be a group of people for whom dining out was an important aspect
of their lives. I think nowadays people are more interested in other things.
They're more interested in yoga and working out and proper diet than in going
out and sitting down. Once upon a time, the rock-star guy would be like
"Let's go out and have some champagne and invite all our friends and just
have a great meal and we'll see how much money we can spend." But
nowadays, that would be considered . . . rude. Like Mike D would not do
that though, oddly enough, he does.
Do you feel like it's picking up again?
I think that it's not picking up again the way it was. You just don't have the
foodies who get just really excited. I mean, there was this point where you
couldn't even get fresh herbs! And there were restaurants where they didn't
even know what spinach was. There was a time there when people were like,
"OH MY GOD, WILD MUSHROOMS! WOW!" and now you can go to International
House of Pancakes and get wild mushrooms. I mean, they don't taste that good
cause they're farm-raised and kind of funky, and not really wild, but they're
still mushrooms.
The stakes are higher now. If everybody knows about everything else . . .
Kids grew up munching on sushi. They're like, so what? Now they'll eat at
Johnny Rockets. I don't feel like I want to spend so much time making this
precious thing that someone's only going to want to eat like once a month. I
try to make food that you can eat all the time. I mean, if I could open
anything, I mean, I'd love to have a farm, a huge restaurant where people got
to work really slowly, and they bake bread, and everything was organic. Nothing
had to die ever.
Could the farm happen here in L.A.?
I'm looking at a place in Sunland. They have horses! Maybe I'd grow the
food there and have it sent in to the restaurants.
I'd also love to have a test kitchen where you have people coming in from
different cultures and making things authentically. Like, "This is how to
make the perfect pad Thai," and then you'd examine what makes it really
good, and find some fresher ingredient to make just the essence of pad Thai.
How do you see your restaurants fitting into this city? What do you try to do
with the places you create?
I try to have fun. I try to be organized, and I try to make good food. People
think I'm just this kind of crazy guy, but Wolfgang Puck once said to me,
"You're the most organized chef I've known. And you're the last person I
would have thought would be organized." I spend a lot of energy being
organized. The restaurants are about not taking things too seriously. Old
people come in, and Aphex Twin might be playing, but it's Aphex Twin that anyone
could listen to. I look at the restaurant as a place where people can come and
pick up their spirits. I see that happen all the time. That's really all it
comes down to. Enjoy life. It's kind of like "coke" without the
"caine."
12. MEETING ON THE AD HOC COMMITTE ON THE LA RIVER -- OCTOBER 7
Bike folks and others--
You are cordially invited to attend the Kick-off Meeting of the Ad Hoc
Committee on the Los Angeles River, Monday-October 7, 2002 at 9am.
Here's a chance to tell the City Council that bike paths and a revitalized
river go hand in hand. The Broadway/Buena Vista Bridge will be closed to
traffic for the reception and committee meeting, so take the opportunity to
walk on this historic bridge and see the views.
Come hear some ideas currently proposed for our River, and let us know what you
would like to see
Monday October 7th 2002
9am Reception
10am Committee Meeting on the Broadway/Buena Vista Bridge in Lincoln Heights
Spanish and Chinese translation available. For more information call
(213) 485-3451 or e.mail lmvela@earthlink.net
13. WHO IS YOUR LOCAL HERO? NOMINATE HER OR HIM -- DEADLINE
OCTOBER 18
LA County Human Relations Commission and LA City Library Dept sponsor --
The Power of One. People who make a difference. 300 words to
describe a person's story and why they make a difference. Winners get
honored at a special event in November and their stories get displayed at LA
libraries next spring.
Deadline: Oct. 18, 2002. http://www.facinghistory.org for
examples of entries. For more information, call 626 744-1177.
14. EAGLE ROCK'S CAFE BEAUJOLAIS STRIKES MEDIA GOLD AGAIN!
Cafe Beaujolais in Eagle Rock gets a great review in the San Marino
Tribune -- check it out! Dining with Debra. Click here: San
Marino Tribune -- serving San Marino, CA http://www.sanmarinotribune.com/
15. ENTERTAINMENT LINE-UP AT COLOMBO'S
Sunday 5pm till 9pm Eric Extrand Trio featuring Leslie Baker on standup
Bass and Frank Wilson on drums, Eric piano & vocals
Monday 9pm till midnight Eric Extrand Trio is basis for our Celebrity
Jazz Jam (last Monday we had 4 trumpet players, electric guitar player,
baritone sax player and 4 vocalists)
Tuesday 7pm till 11pm Eric Extrand at the piano and vocals
Wednesday 7pm till 11pm Eric Extrand with Bobbie Norman
Thursday 8pm till 11pm Fiumara & Armbruster quartet
Friday & Saturday 7pm till 11pm is open Mic night with Linda Lopez
Nogueira at the piano
Colombo's restaurant is located at 1833 Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock.
Great food, extensive menu, a wonderful "retro bordello"
atmosphere, and the best drinks in town, "bar" none (yuk yuk).
(323) 254-9138.
16. LETTERS AND E.MAILS
"Dear TERA --
Thank you again for all your support! Your e.letter is a wonderful,
informative tool and has been instrumental in sending many of your marvelous
readers to our yoga studio! Keep up the great work!
P.S. What's the latest word on the Shopping Bag Property? Is it
still in escrow? Many blessings --"
-- Krista and Phillip, owners, Yoga Essence Studio
"What this town needs is a good sushi bar. Thanks for your good
work. You're doing a great job for our community."
-- Bruce Mitchell, Eagle Rock resident and TERA member
"I just received the response from TERA regarding the Cingular cell
installation. I thought the response very effectively conveyed the various
points of opposition toward the project. I have just emailed the Zoning
Commission my letter below (and copied Jessica). Thanks again for being a
leader in the Eagle Rock community. Regards --"
-- Rafael M Lopes, new Eagle Rock resident [Editor's note: The
response letter was written by Dan Paul and Michael Tharp, TERA Land Use
Committee member and chair, respectively.]
"As one who has Verizon Wireless to provide my cellular telephone service,
I find it interesting that, due to the fact that I live on a hillside in the
east part of Eagle Rock, my service is erratic. So erratic that it can vary by
what part of my own house I am in when I'm talking on my cell phone.
Hillside territory is by its very nature difficult for cell phone service.
As a result, those of us who use cell phones need MORE antennas in the
area, not less. I wish it were Verizon which was applying to put up a
tower near Colorado and Figueroa -- I'd support it!
P.S. I wish I didn't have to have cable television service, or satellite
dish reception. I live no more than five miles from Mt. Wilson, 'as the crow
flies,' (to quote an old saying.) But intervening hills keep me from getting
reception with an antenna. This is part of the hassle of living in a
community surrounded by hills. There are tradeoffs involved. In the
case of cell phone service, having cell antenna towers on hillsides is one
tradeoff."
-- Tom Griffith, Eagle Rock resident
"Dear Councilman:
The idea of allowing another multi-story self storage facility to encroach into
Eagle Rock/Northern Glassell Park area is disgusting. A three-story
building put in the place of a community gathering place will not improve the
community, it will degrade it. The television series 'Ed' has increased
public interest in bowling across the country. Why not here?
Industrial areas, not residential-commercial areas, are the place the
such facilities. There is no real shortage in the immediate area.
The self-storage facility will be an eyesore to Eagle Rock and will only
serve to meet the needs of residents in other areas that are not thought to be
voiceless by developers.
Do not fall for the arguments of the developers, and snip this project in the
bud."
-- Bob and Marjorie Fairman, Eagle Rock residents and TERA members
"I am told that storage is a nice cheap way to hold land until other uses
can be found more profitably. We should all be aware that this may be a
temporary plan. We should question the long-term intentions of the
developer. Keep up the good work."
-- Mona Field, Eagle Rock resident and TERA member
"Thank you for informing the community of the demolishing of the All Stars
Bowling Lanes.
There is so little for the children and teens of this community to have a
healthy outing with their friends and family. My husband and I had the
pleasure of many community outings with our sons and their little leagues, PTA
fund raisers at the Bowling Alley. When they were a little older it was a
way for them to spend time with their friends in high school. As young
adults they had music bands appear in the bowling alley. The last time
was earlier this year. It has always been a safe haven for children of the
community.
What can a storage do for the youth of Eagle Rock... It can bring drugs,
gang hang- outs, and storage of illegal items like most storage facilities do.
We already have two large storage facilities. One off the Verdugo
Road and the Glendale Freeway. The second on Eagle Rock Boulevard.
I am saddened to read that Ms. Jessica Wethington, Eagle Rock resident, and I
quote her words, 'I attended the TERA Land Use Committee meeting when the
company presented their plans for the storage facility. It is a nice
looking building --looks like a professional office building, much, much nicer
than any storagefacility I've ever seen, it is set back from the street with
nice landscaping in frontand has daytime hours, nice for neighboring residents....
If the bowling alley is going to sell anyway, which apparently they intend to
do, the area could do a lot worse than this facility coming onto the lot.'
I hope that the nice landscaping in front will have an area for the children
and teens to congregate and a way to build healthy competion, have fund raisers
at a safe location. If it is as nice as the other two facilities.
They will have little communication with the community. I have
never seen a storage facility do anything health for any community. If we
bring in more storage facilities we will be like Compton, Sun Valley, Pomona,
and many more transit communities. This can be verified by the police
departments that safeguard these communities.
Again, I reiterate these types of facilities bring in transit populus.
Please keep these these type of facilities out of our community.
Lets keep our community safe."
-- Gloria Buccat, Eagle Rock resident
"I'm curious why TERA has no position on this issue, as this stance is so
uncharacteristic. Also, I wonder when the Land Use Committee met with the
company proposing the storage facility and whether this plan/meeting was ever
presented to the TERA membership before; it seems we are all shocked at this
time. Why was nothing ever said to the members before and why is TERA so
reticent on this deal? For all the ballyhoo over Fred Eric, whose restaurants
serve overpriced bad food and bad service, I find TERA's silence on this
storage project curious."
-- Lynn Sacco, Eagle Rock resident and TERA member
"Are they selling the bowling alley anyway? I think that's a great little
place. I'm not clear on what the city council can do if they want to sell
anyway? As a neighborhood, perhaps we can come up with a better offer."
-- L. M. Cullinan
"Here's a copy of the motion introduced by Jackie Goldberg regulating
household storage facilities. As you can see, we have put a lot of work
in making sure storage facilities are not placed next to predominantly
single-family residential neighborhoods, recreation centers (bowling alley) and
small family owned businesses (Chinese Restaurant/Montessori School).
Since they are also applying for a variance on the height (three stories), this
will definitely impact the aesthetic of Eagle Rock Boulevard.
I hope more GP residents who experienced the frustration with Public Storage
will be present tonight to voice their concern."
-- Ruby de Vera, Glassell Park resident
"Dear Ms. Turner and TERA community,
We regret to inform that we are unable to attend the meeting tonight, as my
wife is very ill today. We are the immediate neighbor to the All Star
Lanes Bowling Alley, and we are totally against the demolishing of the property
to build a storage facility. We have enough storage facilities around
Eagle Rock. It it almost becoming a dumping place for other communities.
There are plenty of big lots for sale on San Fernando Road, which are not
in residential areas. If they are really interested, they can build a
storage facility there.
The Developers and Owners of the property probably do not live in Eagle Rock,
maybe in Beverly Hills or Hollywood, etc., and probably don't share the same
interests in the community as Eagle Rock's residents. We operate our
business in Eagle Rock, we live in Eagle Rock, and want Eagle Rock as a nice
residential area. We don't want Garbage around us. We feel it would
be more beneficial if a hospital or medical building were built on the
property, or a recreational area, which we need for the Eagle Rock community.
Most of all the communities around Eagle Rock are getting better and better.
Why can't Eagle Rock?
We are planning to attend the meeting on Monday, October 21st, 2002 at Los
Angeles City Hall. We can be contacted at:
Fax: 323-258-3670
Cell: 323-385-8961
Email: noelrajah@aol.com
Thank you very much --"
-- Shirley and Nalliah M. Rajah, Eagle Rock residents and owners, American
Montessori School adjacent to All Star Lanes
"I'm sorry I was not able to attend the meeting last night, but the
executive committee meeting I was at ran long.
I bought my house in Eagle Rock 2-1/2 years ago and have lived within a 10-mile
radius of our original home in Pasadena my entire life in this country. What I
liked about Eagle Rock was its small town feeling, and I've been pleased with
the added coffee shops and small restaurants. It's developing a feel of a
South Pasadena -- homey, a residents hang out, everyone knows each other, etc.
When I was a young teenager we used to ride our bikes (when it was still safe
for kids to ride bikes all over) to Eagle Rock and go to the mall, then
bowling at the All Star Lanes. It would be a shame to replace it with a
public storage building, that no matter what anybody says will always be an eye
sore. Bowling is actually making a comeback as a family pastime. I
know many who are joining bowling leagues and taking their kids to bowl.
The concept of public storage is a 'box' with smaller 'boxes' inside...now how
can that possibly be attractive or add any value to the Eagle Rock Community.
What we want are more small restaurants and little charming
shops...that's what makes a community feel like a small town, and surely in the
vastness that we live in, L.A. County, we desperately need more small town
feel.
Please keep us posted and thank you for you vigilance and efforts in the
preservation of Eagle Rock.
P.S. Even with the improved design of the Sav-On building, every time I
come down Monte Bonito Dr., and see it, I'm shocked at the size of it."
-- Maria N. Nazario, Eagle Rock resident and TERA members
"Thanks a million for coordinating and staging the public storage/All Star
Lanes community meeting tonight. What a turnout! It's clear the
community does NOT want another public storage nuisance. I trust the TERA
board will vote to oppose this project. Thank you again for your
commitment to improving the quality of life in Eagle Rock."
-- Manuel Montano, Eagle Rock resident
17. QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Smart
growth ought to be about jobs. Let me distinguish new construction from
rehabilitation in terms of creating jobs. As a general rule new
construction is 50 percent labor and 50 percent materials.
Rehabilitation, on the other hand, is 60 to 70 percent labor. While
we buy an HVAC system from Ohio, sheetrock from Texas and timber from Oregon,
we buy the services of the carpenter and plumber, painter and electrician from
across the street. They subsequently spend that paycheck for a hair cut,
membership in the local Y and a new car, resulting in a significantly greater local
economic impact dollar for dollar than new construction. The
rehabilitation of older structures is smart growth."
--
Donovan Rypkema
We
welcome your comments. Please include your name.
Joanne Turner <artburn@earthlink.net>
President, The Eagle Rock Association (TERA)