George Geary Takes Us on a Tasty Trip down Memory Lane

“When you are in Love’s, the whole world’s delicious!”

This famous slogan brought back decades-old memories of my favorite barbecue sauce and wonderful family dinners at the old Pico Boulevard restaurant. It was a full house as George Geary spoke to members of the Friends about his latest book Made in California: The California-Born Diners, Burger Joints, Restaurants & Fast Food that Changed America.

Eloquent and dapper as ever, Geary, the former pastry chef and best-selling author, charmed us during his second engagement at the Gardens by helping us to remember those restaurants that formed our first experiences as children and the ones that became our favorite haunts in our adult years. We learned about the origins of legendary Southern California restaurants, which ones have survived and how they have changed with the times. There were a bevy of questions, a clear indication of a successful talk and an enraptured audience.

The Education Committee, consisting of Clare Wagner, Suz Landay, and Ann Petersen, outdid themselves with their décor and preparation for this fabulous event. The morning started with a tempting display of Randy’s Donuts (think of the giant donut on the roof of the drive-in Inglewood establishment on the way to the airport), fresh coffee, and mimosas. Beautiful bouquets of orange cosmos cut from Suz’s meadow graced every table. For lunch, we were served Pink’s chili cheese dogs, French fries (a favorite of Julia Child’s), In-N-Out Burgers, onion rings, and a Dupar’s green salad. Servers wore caps from the famous burger stand as they served frothy A & W root beer floats made with genuine McConnell’s ice cream.

We learned that See’s Candies’ original location was saved from the wrecking ball and still exists on La Cienega Boulevard as a retail shop and for guided tours. And as our final decadence for the event, the famous chocolates were given as favors. I doubt that many of these delicious chocolates made it all the way home.