The Tick Tock Tea Room: Comfort Food From An Uncomfortable Era
The tea room scene was already in full swing when Art and Helen Johnson, a Norwegian auto mechanic and a waitress from Minneapolis, drove their old Model A Ford into Los Angeles in 1930. They quickly sold the car for $500 and bought the Laurel Crest Tea Room at New Hampshire and Beverly Boulevard. When the former owner took back the restaurant’s sign, claiming it was not part of the purchase, Art and Helen needed a new name. In honor of the last café they had eaten at in Minnesota, they rechristened the small space the “Tick Tock Tea Room” and hung a cuckoo clock, a family heirloom, on the wall.
…It was slow going at first. But once the couple took out an ad touting a 65-cent turkey dinner they saw their business jump from 30 to 100 meals a day. The Tick Tock grew exponentially from there, moving four times in five years. In 1934, they settled into a large colonial at 1716 Cahuenga, just off Hollywood Boulevard. The fully air-conditioned new space sat 300 and featured fluted glass chandeliers, a fireplace, sturdy early American furnishings, banquet rooms, and fresh flowers on every table. Helen acted as the friendly hostess, and there was one waitress for every three tables, creating a system so efficient that one columnist claimed that he sat down at 8:00 and was back in his car by 8:35. By the mid-1930s the Tick-Tock claimed to serve around 2,000 meals a day.
Read more about the Los Angeles legend here.
Weekend Recipe: Guacamole Salad
This recipe from Cook’s Country isn’t exactly traditional, but it’s actually easier than a straightforward guacamole recipe: no mashing necessary! We think it’d make an excellent side dish to these carnitas.
See the recipe here.
Young couple cuddling as they sit down in a hole in the sand while others lie around behind them on a hot Independence Day at the beach. Photo by Ralph Crane, 1949.
Haha okay bye
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