Musso & Frank’s Grill was right around the corner from my place, and I was there almost every lunchtime and dinner from 1967-1971 when I left Hollywood. Prior to that, from 1964 to 1966, I ate there occasionally, but by 1967, I was working for Chuck at Tiger Beat/Monkee Spec, and I could well afford the best food in L.A., and this was where you could find it. Click to read more, and you’ll see a video that explains it all.
The video starts in the parking lot behind the restaurant, which is how I’d usually get in there. My shop was just to the right, next to the parking lot’s entrance, about 50 feet of travel-time, total.
You’ll be walking through the double entries into the kitchen — meat on the left, pastries on the right, bakery running full-time to make their very own giant sourdough loaves; the printing press doesn’t run off the menu until the chef checks out the meat and produce for the day. THEN it gets printed on letterpress, with hand-set hot-type!!!
Okay, what more could there be???
I’ll tell you what could be more. I sat there one day in 1968, on the right-hand side as the camera travels toward the far side, the front of the restaurant, with director Max Oseran and Jack Lewis, Jack Ryan, and my longtime friend Herb Khaury, who had taken on the strange & wonderful persona of “Tiny Tim” by this time — he fought diabetes and had to control his appetites for all sorts of no-nos, but they accomodated him at Musso’s… let’s see, who else was there??? Oh, yes… my bud from New York, Freep feature writer and sci-fi author Chester Anderson, who also edited Tuesday’s Child for Art Kunkin, another friend of the period, who published the Freep, aka L.A. Free Press.
You’ll notice the beautiful richly carved hardwood risers separating the tables on the left-hand side…???
It was high up on one of those that Jonathan Winters and I crawled and balanced and did an improv scene while holding onto the coat racks …”Mr. Christian, come aft!!!” he yelled, and I climbed up on there. Paul, the maitre, as well as the owners, were friends of mine, had great senses of humor and weren’t at all threatened by the wild play, and they joined in the merriment, which lasted all of maybe 90 seconds, but it WAS written up by several journalists, including the aforementioned Chester Anderson.
The dinner section is at the farthest part of the restaurant from where the video maker comes in. That’s by far the fancies of all, and that’s where the beautiful turn-of-the-century bar is located, or used to be back in the day.
This is the place where I conducted most of my business, pitched tv series, Saturday morning cartoons and B movie distribution deals. It’s also where I had the most terrific meals, especially pastries (I’d order the entire tray and then hand them out to the other diners free). I hope you get a kick out of seeing my “second home” in Hollywood during the Summers of Love.