The Art of Food Service

 The Art of Food Service

      This is an idea Greg came up with on his own and I think it was a celebration of the joy in everyday life. When Greg saw a man who knew his job well and peformed it with a savoir faire he would laud the skills of his labor. One of the occupations Greg had regard for in particular was short order cooks, waiters and waitresses who gave the job their best effort and were proud of an honest day's work. A couple of these indivicuals have already been mentioned but I am going to list them just the way my old buddy would have held his hand over their heads to elicit applause.

Carl at Bill's Hot Spot, a burger stand on Santa Monica boulevard where Greg often took lunch and watched a fiftyish guy produce one fine hamburger sandwich after another while dripping sweat and wearing his trademark headband. Bill was the owner and he handled the grill in alternating shifts but Greg liked the way Carl bore down when the orders came in fast as hungry customers waited at one of the dozen stools. Carl had no frills in his white v-neck t-shirt except for a Gilbert Roland mustache. The Hot Spot was far from healthy food but it sure hit the spot after morning classes at UCLA. If you were really bold you could take your cheeseborger next door to "Betty's Pistol Dawn" bar for an ice cold beer on tap in some awesome AC.

Lonny at Ketchies who has been mentioned before so I will just add in an anti-christ to the art of Lonny,  his lazy, spoiled son who seemed to add little but sulk around paging through hot rod magazines thinking he was going to be the winner of the Indy 500. The Isseie neighbors loved Ketchies and learned to eat chili from the man.  Lonny had a big shiny Cadillac Coupe de Ville parked alongside his stand demonstrating the value of hard work and beautiful tacos, burgers and chili-dogs. 

Duke, at the Apple Pan who condensed his routine into a mathematically precise peformance that delivered you a steakburger, coca cola in a paper cone cup and even a slice of apple pie without a wasted second of your time.Since you had to wait for a seat with your mouth watering for a burger each second was important. Kevin seemed to think the man was a mormon but I did not notice a temple garment under his apron. The Pan was within the shadow of Moroni's horn however.  Duke uttered the trademark retort when you refused to order a piece of pie "uh...take a pass...

Unsure of his name but the proper British gentleman who handled the counter at the Pantry. He had impeccable manners and was upbeat about serving the men and women of Los Angeles the  heaping portions of the delights of this wonderful cafe. The first thing he did without you even noticing was to slide a plate of cole slaw and a nice helping of sourdough bread in front of your place. I was at the counter one day when a grimy truck driver with oily hands picked up the bread and tore it in half, leaving the remaining half smeared with grease and this waiter looked at me like the he had heard a fart in an Episcopalian coronation.

Rusty has also been mentioned at Dolores' but despite his colorful appearance and pansey mannerisms he was right on time with the wonderful burgers dressed with the magical onion juice spice relish Greg loved so much. Rusty really seemed to enjoy being very, very queer and probably left some red hair die on more than a few pillows in mid-town.

The Greek order window guys at  Lucky Boys who worked fast and never let a loose understanding of English slow them down when putting in orders for the famed combination of burger, fries and a coke which they forwarded to the cook as "one and one...coke! Or if you let them know you did not want pickles on the bun they would shout  "One and One...no piglets sport!

Lastly but not leastly are the dignified men of the Pacific Dining Car who approached your table with a respectful greeting and dressed in formal wait-attire. Necktie in place, old style dinner towel over their arms, white starched apron,  polished hard shoes and impeccably groomed. You might be ordering Eggs Hussarde but you felt like an English aristocrat sitting with a copy of the Los Angeles  Times and a cup of fine hot coffee.

There are many more but I will do a segment on some of my favorites too.

                               the marvelous steak burger at the Apple Pan