Thoughts for a Rainy Beverly Hills Afternoon

"I love criticism just so long as it's unqualified praise"
                       Noel Coward

Thoughts for a Rainy Beverly Hills Afternoon

Japanese Soup For The Soul

It’s been raining quite a bit in Beverly Hills for the last couple of days. It’s 2:55pm and instead of concentrating on my work, I am starring out the window, starring at the downpour and dreaming of an event I experienced some 57 years ago and it is as fresh and bright in my mind as it was then.It was a rainy Saturday evening, in Beverly Hills and not having a date that evening, actually to be honest, I rarely had a date ,no I’ll be real honest, I never had a date ( but that’s another story), so I and my buddy Tony Greeley decided to venture out to have something to eat. We had just seen the movie “Sayanara” staring Marlon Brando earlier that afternoon, So we decided that maybe we’d try Japanese food. The only problem was we had never eaten Japanese food. The only Japanese people we had ever seen was either our family gardener or characters in the movies. Actually, two of my favorite Japanese movie stars (character actors) where Philip Ahn and Richard Loo. It seemed they were always relegated most of the time to playing evil World War 2 heavies. But I loved them, because they spoke so well, had very modulated voices – deep and smooth, which of course made them even that much more evil. Of course when they were confronted in the movies as to where they learned their language their response was always, ‘Ah! I went to UCRA”!

Mr. Philip Ahn

                                                                  Mr.Richard Loo
Years later, I was shocked to learrn that both men where not Japanese at all, but Korean. I was fortunate to meet my idol, Mr. Ahn because he was not only a well regarded actor but also a successful owner of a Chinese restaurant; The Moongate and when in town ,he’d make the rounds at the restaurant and always stop by my families table ( we ate there a lot) and say hello. Forget meeting Cary Grant or Clark Gable (which I had the opportunity also to do on several occasions years later) it was meeting Philip Ahn, that I cherished most, even to this day.
OK?, where was I going with this? Ah So! ( Messieurs Ahn and Loo used this a lot in their movies!)
So off, we set, Tony and I went to the Sawtelle district of Los Angeles ( we had heard it was a Japanese-American community) to find an Japanese restaurant. It was raining harder than ever now, with flashes of lighting and thunder. We found a restaurant and stood outside ( soaking wet) trying to get up the courage to go in and order from a menu which we knew nothing about. We finally did and that experience is another long and very funny story, but suffice to say, we did order and the first thing we were served was a steaming bowl of soup, at least we thought it was soup. We waited and waited for the proper utensils, a spoon at least! , but it never came, so Tony, being very impatient and hungry picked up the bowl and drank the soup. I was horrified, I thought we were going to be thrown out! Who ever picks up a bowl of soup and drinks from it straight? As I showed my horror, Tony just beamed and said “My god! you have to try this, its out of this world”. With great reluctance, I picked up the lacquered bowl and lifted it to my lips, turning my head at the same time anticipating that at any moment, my Proper Bostonian Grandmother would come rushing in the door and yell “ My God, Howard! What Are Your Doing?” She did not appear and as I sipped the broth, my world changed in an instant! Maybe because it was cold and rainy outside, or maybe it was just something warm heating me up, but whatever it was, this bowl of soup; we were to find out later, it was called miso ( a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soy beans with salt), was to change my life forever. Tony and I could not get enough of it and we ordered two more bowls. I am sure the owner and his wife thought we were crazy. This event started me on a long and exciting quest to explore all things Japanese, that would culminate in my marrying a Japanese-American and thinking of myself to this day not white, but as an Asian.., ………….But that’s another story! So here I am sitting, it’s pouring and I long for, I ache for, a hot, steaming, lacquered bowl of that marvelous elixir called MISO.

Class and Style Is Still Around - San Francisco

In this day and age, where there is ( in my humble opinion) very little style and class in the world at large - in what we wear, how we live, how we treat each other, how we eat and such, but ( thank goodness) there are still pockets to be found here and there.

One such place is San Francisco, - which has always been to me, a classy city with very stylish people who know how to live in style that I admire.

I attended Prep school there in the 1950's and I remember so well that men and women still wore hats and dressed to the nines for daytime business and daily pleasure outings... It impressed me so that I have always kept my way of dressing based on those early days of San Francisco, its grace ,its charm and its style.

…..Which brings me to one, Mr. Peter Taylor

But first...........

The Ferry Building, that long, tall landmark where Market Street meets the Embarcadero, once was where they brought the injured after the great San Francisco quake of 1906, now it lives to make people hungry. It these days has established itself as a foodie haven like no place Southern California has ever seen. About 40 retailers and restaurants peddle all things organic, artisanal and upscale. One of the liveliest farmers markets in the West springs up here Tuesdays and Saturdays with about 80 farmers and 30 artisanal food-makers Every day, thousands of locals and tourists walk the Ferry Building's main hall -- technically, it's called the nave -- sniffing the oysters and apricots, inspecting the gelato and olive oil, browsing the Japanese deli, the Imperial Tea Court, the rarefied desserts at Recchiuti Confections. Here you’ll find the counter of the Acme Bread Co., where you can score a fresh baguette. Or there's the Cowgirl Creamery, where you can pick up a hunk of fromage blanc Spend big, spend little. Either way, you get to watch the ferries float in and the food fly out and speculate on who's local and who's just jetted in from Nanjing or Namibia.Here among the 40 shops inside is Acme Bread to Mijita, Far West Fungi to Market Bar, Boccalone's salumi to the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant, Blue Bottle Coffee to Boulettes Larder, it’s a foodies overload and if you’ve never done it, then you are really missing something.

So,…..Mr. Peter Taylor......................................

Inside this elegant building, at the tableside of the Wine Merchant Shop (wine by the glass to purchase – besides bottles) , you’ll find Mr. Taylor every Saturday sitting at a table graced with one of his elegant tablecloths, eating from his three-tiered silver server overflowing with a cornucopia of food riches purchased from the various shops and farmers booths in and surrounding the building that morning. Mr. Taylor is the epitome of style and grace, not seen much these days. You are welcome to visit him, ask questions about what are the best shops and best buys for that day.

Mr. Taylor adds class to an already classy place.

Visit his website at

http://www.saturdaysatthetable.blogspot.com/

New Years Thought

"Happiness is a good martini, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman... or a bad woman, depending on how much happiness you can stand."