May 2009 Archives

This was the word that decided the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee. It means, according to news accounts, "indifferent in religion or politics."

To use it in a sentence: "People who fill the Daily Bulletin's letters to the editor section are not Laodicean."

This week's restaurant: Fong Noodle, 1515 N. Mountain Ave. (at 6th), Ontario.

I'm sure I would never have tried Fong Noodle, a small Chinese restaurant outside the Edwards 14 theater off the 10 Freeway, if not for a tip from reader Stephanie Ulmer. Ulmer said prior to Fong's arrival, it was typical buffet-style Chinese. Now they cook your food fresh when you order it. She and her friends love it.

Curious, I gave Fong Noodle a try Wednesday evening. The menu has Americanized Chinese stuff like broccoli beef and the ubiquitous orange chicken, but also boasts chow fun (broad flat noodles) and Singapore-style noodles (thin, spicy), both of which are relatively rare in these parts.

I ordered shrimp chow fun ($6.95). The order was passed from the middle-aged woman to the middle-aged cook, who sprung into action. A simple salad was brought out, followed several minutes later by a large plate of noodles, plus an egg roll. The noodles were fresh, the shrimp plentiful and the portion enormous; I took home half.

They make their own noodles, the counter-woman confirmed. How about that!

The storefront location is sparkling clean, the decor understated: paper lanterns, a decorated fan and two pieces of traditional art. There are two outdoor tables and plenty of inside seating. And, that evening, plenty of empty seats.

"I was initially afraid to write to you," Ulmer confided, "because once you taste it, you will rave too, and I don't want King Taco-sized lines to form for the tasty chow. But in this economy I thought it was better to send more folks than to keep it to myself."

Thanks for divulging your secret.

On Sunday I traveled with a group from downtown Pomona to Dodger Stadium for the Dodgers-Angels game. The awkwardly named Downtown Pomona Owners Association (a business improvement district funded by property owners) arranged the getaway and chartered a bus. I paid my $42 ($32 for the ticket, $10 for the ride) and climbed aboard.

You can see photos on the Metro Pomona blog in the May 23 entry "Freeway Series."

I went through a baseball phase as a boy, one summer buying bubblegum packs right and left in my futile attempt to collect every Topps card, but my interest cooled by the early '80s. (The Cardinals were my team. These were the days when Joe Torre was a player.)

I've been to a total of four Dodgers games in my dozen years here -- although two have been this season, including Sunday's game, which was my first-ever day game. That's what made the invitation irresistible.

So I was there more for the experience than having any rooting interest. Dodgers, Angels, whichever. Most of the 40-some people in our group were Dodgers fans, leading to incessant kidding of DPOA executive director Larry Egan and his wife, who were in Angels caps. The kidding began sticking in everyone's throat as the Angels overcame a 4-0 deficit and eventually won 10-7.

Two Pomona council members, Tim Saunders and Danielle Soto, were in attendance. Saunders was cheering for the Dodgers while Soto was observed cheering for both teams. She was also overheard talking about "points." Maybe she was there more for the experience too.

Food-wise, some of us got our Dodger Dogs grilled; the stands for the grilled version are on the levels behind home plate, near where we were (blue reserved section). While I always get a hot dog at any ballpark, including the Epicenter, I'm going to be controversial by asserting the unspeakable: Dodger Dogs, grilled or boiled, are very standard, if not substandard, hot dogs. There, I've said it, and I feel better.

Speaking of insults, Dodger fans certainly can be boorish, if harmlessly so. As their team slipped to defeat, occasional pouting cries of "Angels suck!" rent the air. One has to wonder what it says about the Dodgers if a team that sucks was able to beat them.

But the experience was a lot of fun, the company splendid, and Dodger Stadium remains an old-school gem.

On the way to the bus, Saunders lent a hand to some strangers by taking their photo. The group of six was evenly split between Dodgers and Angels fans. Saunders was in a Dodger cap.

A passerby exclaimed, "You're not a real Dodger fan if you're taking photos of Angels fans!"

Tough crowd.

Since my column mentions the subway performers I saw while in NYC, and I have photos, I might as well share them here as a bonus. (You can read more about NYC subway performers at the Saw Lady's blog.)

Above are the Ebony Hillbillies in (I think) the 42nd Street subway station, doing old-timey songs such as "Hard Times." There was a decent-sized audience, as seen below.

Speaking of old-time sounds, how about this fellow on musical saw? I think he was in the Rockefeller Center station. He was performing some recognizable pop chestnut that had me humming, although the title has since slipped my mind.

And at the Cathedral Parkway platform, this man was regaling us with Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," and quite well.

That's one thing we don't encounter much in suburban L.A.: random music. Our loss.

While in New York City, I made a point of tracking down the fountain depicting the Goddess Pomona. It's just below Central Park in the Grand Army Plaza outside the Plaza Hotel. Ooo-la-la!

It's a grand location for a grand figure. Tony Fifth Avenue is a few steps to the east. Horse-drawn carriages clip-clop past. In the other half of the plaza across Central Park South, facing the Goddess, is, of all people, General Sherman astride a horse.

The Goddess of Pomona blog had a nice writeup on the Pulitzer Fountain a couple of years back. You can read that here. Wikipedia offers a decent history here. More views of the fountain can be seen here.

This week's restaurant: Giuseppe's, 2433 N. Euclid Ave. (above 24th), San Antonio Heights.

Giuseppe's is a quaint place just north of the Upland border that specializes in both Persian and Italian foods. This means you might exclaim during your meal: "Mama mia, that's-a spicy kebab!"

I'd been wanting to try this restaurant for ages because of the novelty. My friends Tom and Ann, who are regulars, met me there for lunch on Wednesday. Two of us ordered koobideh kabobs and the third got the lasagna. (The takeout menu doesn't have the lunch prices but the items were under $8.)

The kabobs and rice were hearty, the lasagna cheesy. Having baskets of pita bread and French bread on the same table was slightly surreal.

Our server had earlier brought out complimentary shirazi and yogurt salads. As we were finishing our entrees, she returned with complimentary filet mignon and veggie kabobs.

I quietly asked Tom and Ann: "Do you think we're getting all this because you're regulars or does she know what I do for a living?" Ann replied: "Well, I did say we were waiting for a newspaper columnist..."

Sigh. (I try to eschew special treatment.)

Well, no matter why we got the free food, the kabobs were good, especially the flavorful filet mignon. We polished off about half when the server returned with complimentary baklava. No complaints there either.

The restaurant is in a small building, easy to miss, as you round the curve into San Antonio Heights proper. The restaurant interior is comfortable and well appointed, with a subtle Mediterranean influence -- columns at the entryways, colorful mats under the glass tabletops, muted Middle Eastern art on the walls.

Why does Giuseppe's have an Italian name but two different cuisines? The co-owner said her family, which is Iranian, took the pizza parlor over in 1997 (it was founded in the mid-'80s) and added the Middle Eastern items. Her husband used to own an Italian restaurant, however, and that part of the menu isn't an afterthought.

Wonder if you can get falafel on your pizza?

An oversized pastrami sandwich at Carnegie Deli in Manhattan...

...pizza at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn...

...raspberry swirl cheesecake at Junior's in Grand Central Station...

...a slice and a window seat at Pronto Pizza on Broadway in Manhattan...

...and a slice from Two Boots at Grand Central Station, placed on an MTA-themed tabletop in the food court.

Not pictured: a hot dog and papaya drink at Gray's Papaya, a hot dog from a cart outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, beef brisket at Junior's, a tuna melt panini at Hot and Crusty, etc., etc.

Hungry yet?

Manhattan, as seen from Brooklyn.

What with one thing and another I've been too busy this week to say anything about my first-ever visit to NYC. And I don't have much time now. But let me say this: It was awesome.

The above photo was taken on our first night after dinner at Grimaldi's Pizzeria in Brooklyn, right under the bridge. An hour wait to get in. Neat neighborhood pizzeria, comparable to Casa Bianca in Eagle Rock in style and ambience, although the pizza was overrated -- solid, but not the classic NY-style pizza one might have expected.

Good experience, though, and a block away, I took this shot.

More later this week, and probably next week, and in an upcoming column.

Photo from Pomona Public Library via REN

Forty-one years ago today (April 20, 1968), Robert F. Kennedy spoke to a luncheon crowd at Robbie's in Pomona during his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president and from there went to ONT for a second speech, events I wrote a column about a year ago. (You can read the complete text by clicking the "Continue reading" link at the end of this entry.)

Since then I found a short video clip online of an RFK campaign appearance in Pomona. The curious thing is that the tree-filled backdrop didn't seem to be along East Second Street, where Robbie's was located. Did RFK stop at Fairplex or Cal Poly or...?

So that's a mystery. Here's a link to the Jeff Greenfield CBS report from May 2008. The video, alas, doesn't seem to work anymore (I last watched it a couple of months ago), but you can try it yourself, or at least read Greenfield's text story.

Greenfield, now a senior political correspondent, was a 24-year-old junior speechwriter for the campaign. Let me reprint the relevant portion from his story:

"There was also a lot of humor. Robert Kennedy had very little patience with the platitudes of politics, and he often mocked them -- and himself. Listen to his explanation to the citizens of Pomona, Calif., why he won't put on the oversize sombrero they gave him.

"Kennedy said: 'What if it's too big? What if it's too small? Then it'll fall down over my ears and you'll be embarrassed that it's too big. Let me try it on at home.'

"The crowd implored him to try it on.

"Kennedy said: 'I'll say this, if I'm elected president of the United States with your help, the first day I'm in the White House, I'll put the hat on.'"

One more loss from RFK's early demise.

These miniature versions of a half-dozen classic Inland Valley signs were done by artist Paul Knoll and are, or at least were, being displayed in a Pasadena storefront. See a short writeup here. Thanks to Chris Nichols for the link.

Can you identify them all?

At last, ABC-7's piece on the digital TV conversion aired May 14, with contributions from your technoklutzy blogger ("a writer for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin").

Did you catch the piece? A few of you have told me you did. I was on vacation and missed my moment of digital glory, alas, but the video is viewable on the KABC website at this link.

Ironically, given the story's focus on my ability to watch "Lost," vacation also meant missing the "Lost" season finale. A friend promised to TiVo it for me.

Anyhow, reporter Ric Romero did a nice job, and I was relieved to see that I don't come off as a complete dope. I think the camera added 10 pounds, though. Or maybe my Restaurant of the Week feature is to blame.

(You can read more about the interview in my April 1 column.)

Even if the piece is of no practical use to you, you may enjoy listening to me murmur and glimpsing a portion of my living room. For you home decor critics, I do have a coffee table, but to simplify the shot we moved it out of the way.

A second piece on how to hook up your TV is viewable by clicking here and features me in an uncredited cameo as I fiddle with my antenna.

All of this begs the question: If I'm the sort of trash they're putting on TV, why convert?

This week's restaurant: Burger Bar, 425 W. Foothill Blvd. (at Indian Hill), Claremont.

Burger Bar opened recently in the same Old School House building that houses Trader Joe's and Robeks Juice and the reviews have been mixed. Yelpers give it two stars and the Claremont Insider was even less kind (so what else is new?). The Claremont Courier was more upbeat, as was my colleague Elaine Lehman.

I gave Burger Bar a shot myself recently despite misgivings. Well, I was going to Trader Joe's anyway.

A single-location place (which explains the slightly cheesy sign), Burger Bar is clean and cheerfully yellow. Your initial reaction may depend on your tolerance for the concept: You pick up an order form and choose the size of your burger, the bun, the spread, the cheese and two condiments, among them grilled peppers, sauteed forest mushroom blend and tossed house spring mix. This may be more "have it your way" than you really want.

A champion waffler who was suddenly confronted with multiple decisions, I eventually got the quarter-pound patty on wheat with pesto mayo, bleu cheese, sauteed onions and the mushroom blend, with sweet potato fries rather than french and a soda ($7.90 as a combo). The tray was delivered to my table.

The toppings proved a good choice, and I can't say the sandwich was bad. But midway through, sensing the weak link in it all, I lifted the bun to take a squint at the burger. It was a wan, puck-like thing.

It seems as though management focused on the gourmet-ish toppings and forgot the basics. Imagine a grand mansion constructed on a foundation of straw.

The sweet potato fries were a delicious novelty, by the way. But when I'm at home in Claremont, I'm afraid I'm going to continue heading west to La Verne's The Habit when I want a decent burger. Unless I'm going to Trader Joe's.

Books bought this month: "The Jagged Orbit," John Brunner; "Bob Dylan, the Essential Interviews," Jonathan Cott; "Orange County," Gustavo Arellano; "Between You and I; A Little Book of Bad English," James Cochrane; "Vanishing America," Michael Eastman.

Books read this month: "Green Shadows, White Whale," Ray Bradbury; "Greener Than You Think," Ward Moore; "Three to the Highest Power," ed. William F. Nolan; "The Time Machine," H.G. Wells; "Lost on Venus," Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Someday I'll actually read a book the same month I buy it, but this wasn't the month. (One of these April purchases I've already read in May, at least.)

Two of the above are part of my Bradbury diet for 2009. "Green Shadows" is a fictionalized memoir of the months circa 1952 that Bradbury spent in Ireland with John Huston writing the screenplay for "Moby Dick." He incorporates his many Ireland short stories of the past into the narrative. It's a sentimental view of beggars and the pub crowd, enjoyable but a bit lightweight.

"Three" collects three SF novellas, by Bradbury, Theodore Sturgeon and Chad Oliver, who was previously unknown to me. Each piece was entertaining.

"Greener Than You Think" is a comic SF novel about Bermuda grass that overruns first L.A. and then the world, and yet it scores points along the way on race relations and gender equality (it was published in 1947 and thus ahead of its time). The newspaper editor character is a comic gem with his rapier putdowns of the clueless narrator. More about this book in Friday's column.

As with a lot of older SF, little care was taken in the presentation; the typesetting is atrocious, with several missing apostrophes on virtually every page, making for an odd read. But the book can be found frequently in used bookstores and is worth tracking down for devotees of L.A. disaster fiction.

"Lost on Venus" is the second in Burroughs' Venus series. The book moves at a rapid clip and was a fun read.

As for "The Time Machine," that was the clear winner this month. Wells, I was surprised to learn, invented the concept of a time machine. I guess someone had to. This was his first book and, despite its slim length (my copy is 126 pages), it has a lot to say about class divisions and the possible fate of humanity as our hero journeys 800,000 years, and more, into the future.

An especially sobering passage: "... all the activity, all the traditions, the complex organizations, the nations, languages, literatures, aspirations, even the mere memory of Man as I knew him, had been swept out of existence."

I read the entire book on a day-trip to L.A., blogged about previously.

I learned from Wikipedia that there's a "lost" chapter of "The Time Machine" cut before publication, presumably because it was too shocking. You can read it here.

After three months of reading four books per month, my reading pace picked up slightly in April to five. With 17 completed in one-third of the year, I remain on track for 50.

Comments on any of these books or authors, or your own reading, are always welcome.

In today's column, Ontario Councilman Jim Bowman mentions having worked as a dishwasher at Eader's Bakery while at Chaffey High in the 1960s. Kelly Zackmann of the Ontario Library's history room turned up this image from the 1967 Ontario phone directory. Eader's was near Wag's, later Molly's, a soda fountain and diner.

After two days in St. Louis with the folks, we're headed out today for a joint vacation in New York City -- where, believe it or not, your columnist/blogger has never been.

I'm a small-town boy (my hometown had 9,000 residents) and have to admit that NYC has always intimidated me. But I'm very excited about the trip.

As usual, I don't know if I'll have Internet access, so if you leave comments, be patient as I may not be able to post them for hours/days.

Keep checking back -- I have three posts written in advance that will pop up this week. For you book lovers, there's my April Reading Log; for you food lovers, there's my Restaurant of the Week. And for nostalgia buffs, there's a minor treat on Wednesday that ties into my column that day.

Yes, rather miraculously, fresh columns will appear Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Somehow I found the extra hours the past couple of weeks to cobble 'em together. Now I really do need that vacation.

Until my return: Stay classy, Inland Valley.

Cleaning out my camera, I uploaded three photos to freshen up past entries about St. Louis -- here and here -- and New Orleans.

Release of the "Star Trek" movie reminds me that several of our cities have names taken from Trek spacecraft, either from the original TV series or the spinoffs.

Rancho Cucamonga has an Enterprise Street, Upland has Enterprise and Excelsior drives -- are those faster than warp drive? -- and Pomona has an Enterprise Place and a Voyager Street. Yes, it's possible the Rancho street is simply named for the idea of enterprise, but the Upland and Pomona names are clearly from the series.

I guess any source for street names is acceptable in a (Vulcan nerve) pinch.

(Belated thanks to reader Derek Deason for informing me of the Pomona names quite some time ago.)

This week's restaurant: Aladdin Jr. 2, 296 W. 2nd St. (at Main), Pomona.

Aladdin Jr., a popular Middle Eastern restaurant on Pomona's Garey Avenue just south of Foothill, recently opened a second location in downtown Pomona, taking over a vacant space last occupied by Lela's, of "Kitchen Nightmares" infamy. (The Aladdin owner also has Casablanca in Claremont, a slightly more upscale restaurant.)

Aladdin Jr. 2, as it's dubbed, is still ramping up, but it's been drawing a decent lunch and dinner trade since opening in March. The corner location is striking, with a patio, rollup doors that expose the 2nd Street side, brick walls inside and paintings by local artists. Contrast with the slightly kitsch Garey location, in which servers wear vests and fezzes and an imitation-Disney Aladdin mural decorates the walls.

I had dinner at Aladdin 2 with friends before the Smogdance Film Festival at the Fox a couple of blocks away. We all had chicken shawarma and all were impressed.

As a sandwich, you get a generously-sized portion that comes in pita bread wrapped in paper to hold in the juices. I had it a la carte ($5.99), one friend got it with some tasty round fries (price unknown), and the other had the shawarma as an entree with salad and hummos ($9.99).

On Monday i returned to try the lunch buffet ($9.99). The two steam tables were piping hot. I tried at least a smidge of the following: shrimp stew, chicken and kafta kabobs, lamb shanks with rice, kebbey, Mediterranean salad, tabbouleh and hummos. Items change daily. A complimentary baklava was dessert.

Not gourmet, but all in all, pretty good food for a pretty good price.

The location is perfect for Second Saturday art walk nights, Fox shows and jury duty. The menu is evolving; unsure of their market, management put four pastas plus pastrami and turkey sandwiches on the menu, but to Pomona's credit, few people are so timid as to order them. Unlike big brother Aladdin Jr., the sequel has beer and wine.

Hanawalt House, pre-renovation

La Verne's Hanawalt House has been restored and was unveiled to the public on Wednesday. I couldn't make it out to the wilds of La Verne for the 3 p.m. ceremony, but here's some history courtesy of the University of La Verne, which owns the building.

The house, at 2058 2nd St., was built in 1908 for W.C. Hanawalt, the fifth president of what was then Lordsburg College. The house features Queen Anne and Eastlake architectural attributes and its foundation was made of concrete blocks -- a rarity for private residences in those days, apparently -- by Hanawalt's half-brothers.

(They later assisted in building La Verne's iconic Church of the Brethren.)

In 1973, Hanawalt's second wife, Pearl, sold the house, which is on the campus grounds, to the university, which used it as offices. A 2004 fire caused major damage -- oh no! -- but an extensive renovation put it back into service, retaining its historic character while allowing modern uses.

The downstairs now features two meeting facilities -- the Palmera and Lordsburg rooms -- and a smaller receiving salon, Pearl's Parlor. The upstairs is home to the university's Alumni Relations and Special Events offices. The surrounding grounds have also been replanted and upgraded.

Participants in Wednesday's ribbon-cutting were to include University of La Verne President Steve Morgan, Mayor Don Kendrick, Historical Society President Galen Beery and Hanawalt family representative J. Clair Hanawalt.

I'm sorry to note the passing of Casa Flores, a florist and nursery on Yale Avenue in the Claremont Village, across from Rhino Records.

Casa Flores closed sometime in April after many years in business. It was there when I moved to Claremont in 1999 and seemed like a fixture.

I suppose I dropped the ball on this one, but you know how it is -- there's more material out there than I have time to pursue. Actually, you'd think this is what the Claremont Courier is for, but they never wrote about its closing either.

Update: All I can find about Casa Flores online is that it was "family owned and operated since 1932." Wow! Now it's yet another of the useful Village shops of the past that's gone, probably to be replaced by a salon or an organic dog biscuit store.

Anyone have any experiences with Casa Flores or information about the owners?

Metrolink trains and Union Station have posters for National Train Day, which is May 9. What's that? Curious, I looked it up.

It's an event in its second year to encourage train riding. It commemorates 140 years (minus one day) since the "golden spike" was driven to complete the transcontinental railroad. Amtrak is sponsoring Train Day and is hosting events in D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago and, surprisingly, L.A.

Or maybe not so surprisingly: Union Station opened in May 1939, or 70 years ago.

There'll be live music and other events at Union Station from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit the website to learn more. But don't drive to Union Station -- that kind of defeats the purpose.

Every now and then I'm going to put up a photo of an Inland Valley sight and challenge you to guess what it is and where it is. You won't win anything, other than praise on this blog as a sharp-eyed observer -- which, come to think of it, doesn't sound like a bad prize, does it?

Here's the first one. It depicts one of the valley's few remaining working phone booths. But where is it located? Start guessing.

To avoid spoiling this for anyone, what I'm going to do is not post any of your comments, or at least not post any of the correct guesses, until Tuesday morning, when the correct answer will be revealed here. So check back.

UPDATE: OK, pencils down. The contest is closed as of 10:22 p.m. Monday, as I'm typing this. This phone booth, as several of you guessed, is at Chino Airport, specifically, just steps from Flo's Airport Cafe. Congratulations to those who got it right: Annie, Richard Delman and Larry. And to those who got it really right by also naming Flo's: Bob Terry, Ronald Scott and Scott in R.C. But thanks to everyone for playing.

Sixteen guesses? Hey, we'll have to do this again!

My friend Lesley Tellez, a Rancho Cucamonga native who once interned at the Daily Bulletin before moving on to Texas, now lives in Mexico City, the city of 20 million people and untold numbers of swine flu viruses.

How's she doing? Fine, according to her blog. In fact, she made orange bread pudding with gooey raisin sauce.

Her posts are a nice antidote (the literary equivalent of Tamiflu?) to swine flu hysteria. From her main page, start with "Are We All Going to Die From Swine Flu?" on April 25 and work your way up.

Pacific Fish Grill, 13865 City Center Drive (at Peyton), Chino Hills.

Pacific Fish Grill is at the Shoppes at Chino Hills and, from what I can gather, is a single-location restaurant, although it could be a chain in the making. It's located between a Panera and a Johnny Rockets near Barnes & Noble.

Like Louie's Chicken and Fish Grill in Upland, featured here last week, Pacific Fish is a rarity, a seafood-based fast-casual restaurant. Grilled fish plates run $8 to $15 and come with rice, salad and pita bread. They also have salads, fried fish, sandwiches, wraps and tacos. View the menu here.

I ate here in February after the library dedication when I bumped into friends and we decided to have lunch. That meal I ordered the tilapia plate ($8.95) with lemon-oregano seasoning. Not bad.

I returned recently (this time with my camera) and ordered a salmon caesar salad with Cajun seasoning ($10.95). I liked it. Not an outstanding piece of fish or anything, but it was fine, and there was enough salmon for each bite of salad.

There's an open kitchen, high ceilings with visible piping and slowly revolving ceiling fans.

A place like this (or Louie's) seems like a fairly inexpensive, no-fuss way to get more seafood in your diet. People on Yelp say the fish tacos are good; on Tuesdays they're 99 cents.