October 2010 Archives

The chain, now named Anchor Blue, was launched in 1972 with locations in Ontario, Pomona, Upland and El Monte, although its roots go back to 1948 in Ontario. My Sunday column has details on that. Check out this November 1972 ad from the Ontario Daily Report. For a larger view, click on the image. And thanks to Kelly Zackmann of the Ontario Library for the ad.

As you may have experienced yourself already, we're having some commenting problems of late on various Bulletin blogs (sigh), so if yours won't go through, it's probably our fault, not yours. It's being worked on.

Our tech folks say PC users with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome or Safari as their browser are having trouble. That's basically every browser, isn't it? It's still possible to slip one through but it may take several attempts. Don't blame you if it's not worth your time. I left a comment on RC Now the other day and it required seven tries.

If all else fails, e-mail your comments to me at david.allen (at) inlandnewspapers.com and I'll post them manually when I get home, where I have a Mac. And thank you for your patience.

Vince's Spaghetti, 8241 Foothill Blvd. (at San Bernardino Road), Rancho Cucamonga

While I prefer the Holt Boulevard Vince's in Ontario for history, as it's been there since 1945, the location in Rancho Cucamonga, known as the Route 66 Vince's, is closer to the newspaper, and thus more convenient at lunchtime.

By this point the upstart, in operation since 1984, is starting to feel historic too. The high-backed wooden booths are private and some are capped by the top of a wine barrel, stamped name faded but visible.

The food, of course, is the same. The In-N-Out of pasta, Vince's has six menu items, and I don't know that anyone orders one of them, Victoria's antipasto salad. Actually, this Vince's has a dinner item known as mostasagna, a combination mostaccioli and lasagna, unique to this location.

On a recent visit, a friend had his standby, a half-order of spaghetti with meat sauce ($8), which comes with soup or salad and bread, either garlic or cheese. Having been there fairly recently for spaghetti, I plowed new territory and finally tried the french dip ($7) with soup.

Have you had the Vince's french dip? That was the main item when Vince's opened as a six-stool dip stand. As a history on the website says, "If Frank Cuccia's uncle hadn't eaten a plate of his grandmother's spaghetti in front of the customers, Vince's Restaurant might still be a French Dip Stand."

The sandwich turned out to be tender and delicious, even better when dipped in the au jus. I began wondering if they don't put a little extra care into the dips simply because it's more of a specialty item. In any event, while I dote on the pasta, the french dip may be Vince's secret weapon. Why, it might almost be the "revelation in taste" the menu quaintly promises about the cheese bread.

In Loma Linda, reader Brent Basinger of Alta Loma spotted this sign for what appears to be a highly specialized business.

No, U-Haul wasn't expecting drive-up service. Mel's Drive-In, the '50s diner inside an '08 shopping center across from Ontario Mills (but technically within Rancho Cucamonga), closed Sunday. On Tuesday, items from the drive-in were loaded and driven out. Read more about Mel's in my Wednesday column. I miss Mel's already.

This billboard in Pomona appeals for votes for Jafar, the bad guy in the "Aladdin" movies, as favorite Disney villain, but it may strike cynics as a commentary on the hold-your-nose choices facing voters this political season. Hey, Jafar isn't perfect, but at least he likes birds...

It was a rainy week off, but it was a week off, and that's always good. I reread "Fahrenheit 451" (Pomona's Big Read choice), saw "The Marriage of Figaro" by LA Opera and the concert by The National in Pomona, tried four new restaurants for upcoming Restaurant of the Week entries, threw out a bunch of stuff at home, and basically just relaxed and caught up on personal business.

Readers, I hope our week apart went well for you too -- but not too well.

Sunday's screening time at the Fox Theater in Pomona is 2 p.m. My column gave a later time, taken from old information. Sorry for the mistake.

Did you know that since "Psycho" was released in 1960, this is its 50th anniversary? As part of the hoopla, Janet Leigh's body double from the shower scene, Marli Renfro, is scheduled to show up at the Fox to sign a new book, "The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower." Let's hope she has the correct time.

I'm taking the week off to relax, so no further blog posts are planned this week. However, you'll still find columns on Wednesday and Sunday in the paper or online this week. You get a break on Friday.

Wednesday's column is all items. I wrote it last Thursday and Friday. Sunday's is a followup about the long-gone restaurant Henry's. I wrote it in August but put it on hold, under the theory that since I'm a little sheepish about writing more on that topic, it would be a good piece to run during a vacation!

I'll continue checking in here as blog moderator to publish your comments.

Above is David Armstrong on the main floor of the old PFF Bank at 399 N. Garey Ave., Pomona, gazing at the Millard Sheets mural, which has been written about in this space previously.

Armstrong, who bought the building from the FDIC, is offering tours of the building from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday. You can also be an armchair tourist by reading my Sunday column about the building and Armstrong's plans.

Below is a view from the bank's roof, looking south. In order from front to rear, you can see the Metrolink depot, the construction-shrouded Chase Bank (formerly Home Savings) and the Fox Theater.

The third annual Sons of Italy pasta dinner takes place from 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Antonino's Ristorante, 7945 Vineyard Ave. in Rancho Cucamonga. The dinner is $10 per person, all-inclusive (salad, roll, pasta, beverage, dessert).

Attentive readers may remember yours truly being given four meatballs, twice the number as the mayor, in 2008, and three last year. This year, alas, it will be zero meatballs: I'll be out of town.

In 2011, I'm afraid the Sons of Italy may make me start over from scratch.

Friday's column pays tribute to a La Verne institution, Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop, which has been at 1030 Bonita Ave. (at Damien Avenue) since 1991, and in existence since 1985 (the first location was in Covina).

Pictured are the now-retired Judy Nelson, left, and manager Andrea Vuleta.

You can visit the store's website here and read my column here.

I was allowed to see the employee restroom, whose inner door has been decorated with doodles by visiting authors and illustrators. A portion of the door is pictured below. Click on the image for a larger view.

Do you have comments about or memories of the store? If so, post away.

There's a sequel to this restaurant in downtown Pomona named Aladdin Jr. 2, but this is the original, up on North Garey below Foothill Boulevard. It's in a slightly blah shopping center that nevertheless boasts a couple of very good restaurants, notably Los Jarritos.

Aladdin Jr. has a big, landscaped patio for eating or hookah smoking. Inside, there are booths and tables in the dining room, which is decorated by murals that highlight the Disney version of a romanticized Middle East. Kitschy but cute. If memory serves, the staff used to wear vests and fezzes, but they no longer do.

Aladdin has a lunch buffet that's popular, but on a recent mid-afternoon visit, two friends and I opted to order off the menu for fresher fare. A lamb shawarma sandwich ($6.50) was tender, flavorful and practically as big as a football. The lamb kabob ($14) and chicken kabob ($12, pictured) had generous portions of meat, plus rice and a small salad. Good stuff. The lamb guy took half of his order home.

Aladdin is priced between, say, Saca's on the lower end and Casablanca or Mes Amis on the higher end. You get a good amount of food for the money.

Service, by a man I believe was the manager, was friendly and joshing. He kidded the ones in our party who arrived late (who deserved it, which I can say because it wasn't me). Our only complaint were the persistent flies in the window. Maybe they liked the look of the sand in the murals.

Here I am speaking Oct. 8 at Western University to an intimidatingly wall-like mass of people to introduce Ray Bradbury. (Photo by Jeff Malet.)

Midway through, Muriel Spill of the Pomona Public Library came out to move me, twice, to get me in position for the video camera. In the overflow room, all they were seeing was the bare wall and my voice coming from off-camera, as if I were the Invisible Man. (Photo by Bruce Guter.)

And here is Bradbury himself a few minutes later holding forth, with his biographer, Sam Weller. (Photo by me.) You can read my account of the event in Wednesday's column.

Where? All the way next door? "It's pretty obvious the sign isn't needed," says a friend, rolling her eyes, after shooting this photo in the Claremont Packing House.

Photo: Stephanie Estrada

John Bredehoft's blog Empoprises-IE (I have to admit, I've never understood the name; maybe John can enlighten us) recently noted that Gino Filippi is running for Upland City Council. Filippi, of course, has penned a wine column for our newspaper for years.

"So does this mean that David Allen will run for the city council in Claremont or Pomona or wherever he lives?" Bredehoft wonders.

No. But thanks for asking.

Philly's Grill, 1701 S. Grove Ave. (at Francis), Ontario

Sometimes you fall out of the habit of a visiting a restaurant. The reasons might be obvious, like a bad experience, or they might be obscure. You might just be tired of a place. For probably a year in circa 2001 this South Grove sandwich shop, then known as Philadelphia Grill, was a weekly stop. Then I gave up on it and moved on.

Recently I thought I'd try it again. In business since 1986, Philly's and its green awning are still there, open Monday to Friday as befits its business park location. The UPS drivers who used to fill a couple of booths at lunchtime were absent, but I was there a bit late. The interior has been spruced up and the staff now brings your order to you.

They don't have the daily specials they used to (curry chicken on Mondays and spaghetti on Wednesdays were favorites), but the menu remains wide-ranging: cheesesteaks, burgers, deli and sub sandwiches, wraps, teriyaki, salads, spaghetti, fajitas, grilled fish and traditional breakfasts. Whew! Some of it isn't even on the menu board, only in the paper menu.

I had the cheesesteak combo ($7.39), which comes with fries (average) and soda. The sandwich was on a crusty roll with chopped meat, provolone and grilled onions. I'm no expert, but it was a good version of the Philly steak, even though it was made in a California industrial zone by Koreans.

I've since returned for teriyaki chicken ($6.39). Philly's Grill isn't going to be a weekly stop again, but I may be back. Revisiting it has been a pleasure.

For anyone curious about "Highway Patrol," the 1955-59 cop show talked about in Wednesday's column, you can watch the show's intro here or a closing moment here. For night owls, or DVR owners, "Highway Patrol" reruns air on KTLA's Channel 5.2 (see schedule here) at 2 a.m. weekdays, followed by "Sea Hunt" at 2:30 a.m. and preceded by "Outer Limits" at 1 a.m.

Author Ray Bradbury, who's visiting Pomona on Friday, visited at least twice in the 1970s, both times at the behest of civic groups, to present ideas on rescuing the city's downtown. He's no architect, but he's a fan of architecture, and some of his design concepts were used in San Diego's Horton Plaza. He's long had interesting things to say about urban design.

In 1973, he offered concepts for Pomona's ailing pedestrian mall. In 1978, he spoke as part of a "Save the Fox" program, during a period in which the theater was used as a civic auditorium.

Among his ideas for downtown: winding pavement, an artificial river, theaters, performing arts, open-air dining, shops, a farmers market and, intriguingly, an orange grove near a Mexican restaurant to evoke Pomona's early days. The whole effect, he said, should be "theatrical" and "fun" and should offer activity until midnight.

"Make the kind of place people will talk about," Bradbury urged in 1973. Five years later, he said downtown appeared to be fading and said the whole thing should be rethought: "You must do it or you'll be bled dry by surrounding malls."

Civic leaders gave him a proclamation, shook his hand and evidently ignored everything he said. Yet more than 30 years later, the Fox has been saved, the arts are a linchpin and some nights there is activity until the wee hours. Something tells me nobody has had the imagination to consider planting an orange grove, though.

You can read the Progress-Bulletin articles on Bradbury's twin visits by clicking on the thumbnail versions below. Thanks to the Pomona Public Library's special collections department for locating the articles.

As part of the Big Read, everybody in Pomona is supposed to be reading Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." Have you started it? Have you read it before? Did you toss it in a fire? I hope not, because it's a book about book-burning!

Bradbury himself is due to appear Friday at 6 p.m. at the Western University of Health Sciences Health Center, 710 E. 2nd St., along with his biographer, Sam Weller. A certain columnist is supposed to participate as well, unless someone in charge comes to their senses.

Here's a list of all the "451"-related events in October and November: book talks, film screenings, fire safety demonstrations, storytime for the kids, even a genealogy lesson and a virtual tour of the Pomona of the 1950s, when the novel was written.

The Pomona Public Library, the recipient of the NEA grant that's allowing all these programs to take place, has some great Bradbury material on display, courtesy of fan Bruce Emerton, including many of his books, such as an entire case devoted to paperback editions of "Fahrenheit 451," and several posters from the 1966 film version by Francois Truffaut.

A class at Sacred Heart, 1957

Sacred Heart Catholic School operated from 1949 to 1998 on the grounds of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pomona at Hamilton and Grand. The school educated up to eighth grade; students usually went on to Damien or Pomona Catholic high schools.

A reunion is scheduled for Oct. 10, 2010 at the Ebell Museum of History, 525 E. Holt Ave. For info: (909) 938-1599. The school has a Facebook page with a page of nifty photos, from which the accompanying picture was taken.

Did you attend the school? Feel free to post a comment here about your experience.

Books acquired: "Following the Equator," Mark Twain; "1000 Record Covers," Michael Ochs, ed.; "The New York Times Essential Library: Jazz," Ben Ratliff; "The Innocents Abroad," Mark Twain; "Exploring Form: John Edward Svenson, An American Sculptor," David Svenson.

Books read: "The Good, the Bad and the Mad: Some Weird People in American History," E. Randall Floyd; "The God of War," Marisa Silver; "A Deadly Shade of Gold," John D. MacDonald; "Gentleman Junkie," Harlan Ellison.

Greetings, gang. Welcome to another installment of my monthly Reading Log, this time chronicling a month in which all four books I read had a G-word in the title. Goodness to gracious, what kind of a system am I working under? One with a sense of humor, I guess.

"The Good, the Bad and the Mad" is an intriguing but disappointing series of short profiles of classic nutty Americans, from Stonewall Jackson to Emperor Norton; "The God of War" is a very good coming-of-age novel about guilt and family bonds; "A Deadly Shade of Gold" is the fifth Travis McGee mystery, a bit long and convoluted but stylishly written as always; and "Gentleman Junkie" (subtitled "And Other Stories of the Hung-Up Generation") is a compelling 1961 collection by the acclaimed fantasy writer, except these are gritty urban tales without fantasy elements.

"God of War," by the way, was published in 2008, a rare 21st century outing for your classically minded blogger.

As for how and when the books came into my hands, "Good" came off the discount table at the Chino Hills Barnes & Noble earlier this year; "God" was found at Powell's in Portland this summer; "Gold" was bought used at (I think) Brand Books in Glendale last year; and the '70s Pyramid paperback of "Gentleman" turned up at Bookfellows in Glendale maybe three years ago. (I've also owned an '80s Ace paperback of "Gentleman" for more than 25 years, unread. Nice to finally cross this off my list.)

These constitute books 39 to 42 in my quest to again read at least 50 this year. Next month I expect to focus on books with an F in the title. Should be, dare I say it, fun.

Enough about me. Have you read any of these? What are you reading?

There's no official P-Nuttles stand at the L.A. County Fair anymore, although at least one stand does sell the nuts among other products. The stand across from the Clock Tower, the one people remember, didn't return for the 2009 and 2010 fairs. Some fairgoers fondly recall how employees standing in front of the stand would put a scoop of the toffee-coated peanuts in your hand.

Jean Nist worked at the stand for years going back to the 1970s. Her son Jon Nist and daughter-in-law Ruthie Baudoin sent me the following two snapshots. Jean Nist is behind the counter at left (dig the '70s threads, man) and being hugged below by a radio newsman whose copter had landed by the stand.

P-Nuttles, introduced to the world in 1946, are still made by Adams & Brooks and can be found in stores. As well as at the Fair, if you know where to look.

"There are two sisters (Kim and Corey) who still give out these samples at one of the fruit smoothie stands which offers P-Nuttles," Baudoin writes. "The sisters worked with Ms. Jean and Jon back in the day. Long live P-Nuttles and the old stand!"

Friday's column is about "Our Body, the Universe Within," an unusual exhibit at the L.A. County Fair in which preserved organs and actual cadavers are on display for what are said to be educational and scientific purposes. It's quite a sight.

You can read more about the exhibit at the official website. Most of the photos that cycle through on the home page are of figures on display at the Fair. The "News, Media and FAQs" section explains how the figures are prepared and where the cadavers come from (which turns out to be China).

Have you seen the exhibit? What did you think? Or what do you think of the whole concept?

Photo courtesy L.A. County Fair