This week, we’re paying homage to Johnie’s Coffee Shop, the former LA diner that has held court on the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax since 1955.
Let’s get into it:
Story
“Artist Gary Baseman Reactivates Johnie’s Coffee Shop” — As mentioned in the June newsletter, artist Gary Baseman has breathed life back into Johnie’s Coffee Shop with his new exhibition, Off the Menu, which features his drawings on the menus of over 40 iconic LA restaurants.
The Miracle Mile diner has spent the better part of two plus decades shuttered. It first opened in 1955 as Romeo’s Times Square, “a googie-style architectural masterpiece of the highest order, designed by Armet & Davis, who also brought you Norms, Pann’s, and Mel’s Drive-In in Santa Monica. The exaggerated butterfly roofline, the acres of glass and the screamingly loud signage are all hallmarks of the optimistic and enthusiastic googie style that touched down in Southern California after World War II,” as writer Chris Nichols reports in this piece for LAist. The diner closed in 2000, then became a designated City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2013.
The Mid-City space has served a multitude of alternate purposes since its closure, from student filmmaker set to Bernie Sanders campaign headquarters. Now, through next weekend, it houses Baseman’s playful ode to the city’s culinary culture. Nichols explains: “In Baseman’s world, cats eat sushi at Genghis Cohen and a drooling snowman can mingle amidst glamour girls in silk qipao dresses at Formosa Café. The Bob Baker Marionettes seem to really enjoy hanging out at Joy, a Taiwanese place on their block in Highland Park…Baseman tells Los Angeles: ‘I wanted a venue in the neighborhood where I was born and raised for my first solo show in a dozen years…I’m so honored to show my work at Johnie’s…I’m so glad this googie building still exists.”
(If you’re in LA, definitely stop by the exhibition! I went yesterday and had so much fun. It’s free, and everyone was super nice.)
Screener
The Big Lebowski (1998, dir. Ethan and Joel Coen) — Movies from Miracle Mile (1988) to The Big Lebowski (1998) filmed inside Johnie’s Coffee Shop, helping cement its status as a local landmark. Spend your Sunday night streaming the latter film, a neo-noir staple from the Coen Brothers.
Roger Ebert explains: “The Big Lebowski is about an attitude, not a story. It’s easy to miss that, because the story is so urgently pursued. It involves kidnapping, ransom money, a porno king, a reclusive millionaire, a runaway girl, the Malibu police, a woman who paints while nude and strapped to an overhead harness, and the last act of the disagreement between Vietnam veterans and Flower Power.” Jeff Bridges carries the crime comedy as Jeff Lebowski, aka: The Dude, a stoned successor to Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe. When a case of mistaken identity puts him in the path of porn kingpin Jackie Treehorn (played by Ben Gazzara), The Dude’s busy schedule of bowling and smoking gets spun in an unexpected direction.
[New Yorkers also can catch Miracle Mile at The Paris Theater tomorrow night on 35mm, featuring a Q&A with actors Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham. Per the site: “After a chance meeting at La Brea Tar Pits and an unlikely first date, Harry (played by Edwards) and Julie (played by Winningham) are on their way to falling head over heels in love. They arrange a second date after Julie has finished her shift at a late night dinner, but Harry oversleeps and leaves Julie out in the cold. After heading to the diner to make things up to her, Harry inadvertently intercepts a phone call that alerts him to an impending nuclear war, setting off him on a manic journey through the city to rescue his new-found love.”]
Snack
White Russian — The Dude’s drink of choice, obviously. To make it, combine two ounces of vodka with one ounce of Kahlúa over ice. Then, top with one ounce of heavy cream and stir. If you want a lighter alternative, go down to one ounce of vodka and substitute the heavy cream with skim milk. Cheers!
Until next week!
xo,
Najet