Mel's Drive-In Marks Milestones

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Forty years ago, director George Lucas immortalized Mel’s Drive-In in American Graffiti.

Fifty years ago, if you happened to be stumbling out of a club along the Sunset Strip in the wee hours, and your eardrums were still vibrating from a long night of listening to what would become rock history, and your stomach implored you to add nourishment to your revelry, chances are you might wander a bit east to 8585 Sunset and Ben Frank’s brand new coffee shop—open 24 hours—for a session of comfort-food scarfing and people-gazing.

Today, all Angelenos know the place as a Mel’s Drive-In location, because director George Lucas retrofitted and used the San Francisco location of the chain in his 1973 classic, American Graffiti (the film celebrates its 40th anniversary this year). But back when it was just Ben Frank’s, it was a casual palace of Googie design, built a half century ago by architects Lane and Schlick. The building featured stylistic touches of the future: geometric angles, steel beams, and an altered A-frame roof. It was an audacious establishment run by Arthur Simms, who moved to LA after World War II and operated the MGM commissary for a time.

Luminaries such as Frank Zappa, The Rolling Stones, Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, and Phil Spector occupied booths there. It’s rumored that the group Buffalo Springfield was formed in the parking lot. In 1965, a casting call that ran in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter for performers who would become The Monkees asked for “spirited Ben Frank’s types.” In Ron Jeremy’s autobiography, he mentions signing autographs for Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain there.

The Mel’s chain took over the space in 1997 and changed the vibe to reflect American Graffiti’s sense of nostalgia. The inscrutable countenance of a young Lucas hugging a movie camera and wearing a USC Trojans letterman’s jacket looms large across one wall, along with other stills from the movie. But there are also framed photos of a new era of creatives, like Diddy and Lindsay Lohan. No matter the year or the star wattage, the site itself forever remains a monument to LA’s fast cars, fast food, small talk... and big dreams.

Fall in Love with: Inn of the Seventh Ray

Mon, 06 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Where does the “Sexiest Man Alive” prefer to dine? In the sexiest restaurant in Los Angeles, naturally. As part of his November People feature, Channing Tatum named Topanga Canyon’s Inn of the Seventh Ray as one of his top California spots, presumably for canoodling creekside with wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum. And he’s far from the only celebrity to favor the mountain hideaway; other regulars include Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jason Lewis, and Britney Spears.

What’s drawing them to this somewhat remote restaurant, outside the more well-trodden territories of Malibu and Los Angeles? “There is a sense of romance, a sexy vibe to the [Inn]—especially just before sunset,” says Keenen Ivory Wayans, who has frequented the restaurant for 15 years. “That’s what makes it a keeper on my list.”

Perhaps the vibe, as Wayans calls it, can best be attributed to the Inn’s unique nature-meets-nuance charm. Set in a shaded forest of sycamore, oak, and pine trees, the largely open-air restaurant overlooks a hillside waterfall and creek (complete with “singing” frogs after nightfall). Strains of spa-style music drift among canopied tents with chandeliers and gilded Buddha statues, trellises dotted with twinkling string lights, and semiprivate dining gazebos. On chilly nights, diners can sit near the fireplace inside the Church Room, so called because the onetime chapel still retains its stained-glass windows and vaulted ceilings.

Not surprisingly, the restaurant is a popular destination for proposals and special occasions; Fergie and Josh Duhamel celebrated Valentine’s Day at the Inn several years ago. “This is proposal spot [No. 1],” says Executive Chef Bradley Miller. “I’ve seen some million-dollar rocks come through that kitchen. People fall in love here all over again. It just has that magic about it.”

In a sense, people are also falling back in love with the restaurant. Before Miller signed on three years ago, the Inn was often dismissed as a weddings-only destination or the health-conscious province of hippie Topanga locals. “[Before], the kitchen was built for volume. [There] was decent food, but it wasn’t the level of fine dining that this location calls for,” explains 31-year-old Miller, a onetime Hell’s Kitchen contestant and former chef de partie at Patina. “I come from fine-dining restaurants where we [plated the food] with tweezers, but I wanted the food [here] to meet my idea of fine dining—not stark and stale, but upscale and fun.”

To that end, Miller revamped the menu, outfitting the kitchen with an array of molecular gastronomy toys, including an anti-griddle (a device that quickly freezes food instead of heating it) and five sous vide machines (which cook airtight bags of food in water). The result? Inventive, market-driven dishes enhanced by foams, gels, and compression—though Miller takes care to avoid a “gimmicky” approach. “People have this idea that they just want to come to a romantic place, but then they get hit with this food experience that’s just like, Wow,” says sommelier Stephen Jordan, who works closely with Miller to fine-tune the wine pairings.

Miller also takes advantage of the restaurant’s remote canyon location to find unusual seasonal fare. On a given day, he might be foraging for chanterelles with fellow Patina Restaurant Group alum Kevin Meehan, or he might be down the road at Inner Gardens farm buying raw goat’s milk, pheasant, or herbs. “It’s kind of a chef’s dream up here,” the chef says.

Of course, it’s been key for Miller to get the buy-in of owner Lucy Yaney, who opened the restaurant in 1975. Though Yaney was at first reticent to make changes, Miller was able to earn her trust by staying true to the restaurant’s long-held values—keeping the food local, fresh, and organic. Jordan does the same by curating a mostly organic and biodynamic wine list.

“The Inn was doing organic food before it was a thing,” says Miller, who is currently making strides to remove all GMOs (genetically modified organisms) from the menu. “We were serving alkaline water, and now everyone has alkaline machines. Everything [Yaney] does ends up being a trend—she’s all about what’s healthy.”

Thanks to their combined efforts, the Inn is now being embraced by locavores, foodies, and discerning critics like S. Irene Virbila (who proclaimed that the food had gone from “inedible… [to] nuanced and delicious” under Miller’s watch). “It’s healthy yet flavorful, and there are a lot of gluten-free options,” says Wayans, who comes here for brunch almost every week after yoga class in Topanga. “It’s taken a step up from what it used to be.”

And as for its romantic reputation? Miller is intent on making the food itself an aphrodisiac. “An older chef once told me that couples who’ve been married 40 years have nothing left to talk about,” he shares. “I try to make the food so tasty and beautiful that they can’t stop talking about it. Running a restaurant is more about love than money or status—it’s all about making people happy.” 128 Old Topanga Canyon Road, Topanga, 310-455-1311

Los Angeles Confidential

Mel's Drive-In Marks Milestones

Fall in Love with: Inn of the Seventh Ray