Philippe's 110th Anniversary

WOW! 110 years in business in Los Angeles. That's a very long time for any restaurant in this fickle town! Philippe The Original opened in Los Angeles in 1908. This home of the French dip sandwich has been in it's current location since 1951. I've been visiting here ALL of my life! Sometimes, I make a special trip downtown just to purchase jars of their fab mustard for gifts!

On Saturday night, artist, producer, writer and all-around great guy Gregg Gibbs hosted his art show, "Sandwiches & Carvers" in the upstairs dining area at Philippe's. 

Ellen with artist, Gregg Gibbs

The show continues through October 6th. There are 70 oil paintings by Gregg of sandwiches sides, and pies, and portraits of the carvers who serve them. The show is a delicious homage to this L.A. institution. 

Photo and Painting by Gregg Gibbs

This looks like the turkey sandwich

"Rosina," a carver at Philippe's

We attended with our friends Audrey and Jeff. We saw many friends and lots of familiar faces from the downtown L.A. art world.

Audrey with carver

Panorama photo, courtesy of Gregg Gibbs. The DTLA art brain trust, including Larry Underhill, Henry S. Rosenthal, Suzanne Williams, Mat Gleason, Anthony Ausgang, Robert Williams and James Scott

Our usual meal at Philippe's consists of either a dipped beef or lamb sandwich, 2 lemonades each, sometimes we have cole slaw, and ALWAYS have a baked apple for dessert! Naturally, we slather that hot mustard all over our sandwiches.

Ellen's and Larry's go-to meal at Philippe's

I was MOST attracted to the exhibition area that featured the sides and pies paintings by Gregg. Someone had already purchased the hot mustard painting, but the baked apple was still available. It is now mine!

Sides and Pies paintings by Gregg Gibbs. Photo by Gregg Gibbs. I rather like those pickled, hard-boiled egg slices too!

My "Baked Apple"

If you have a chance, do stop by Philippe's for a sandwich and take a look at the paintings upstairs. There are still some wonderful choices for sale!