Taix French Restaurant

Taix French Restaurant, Echo Park

The descendants of the owners of Taix Restaurant in Echo Park have sold the property. It is slated to be developed into a mixed use apartment and retail space with Taix taking up residence on the street level in a much smaller space than they now occupy. The ballroom will be gone, probably the separate banquet rooms will be gone. The bar will remain, along with some sort of remodeled dining area.

The new development will consist of two large apartment buildings with underground parking, a walk-way between the buildings, other shops and restaurants. The new design for these buildings is cookie-cutter L.A. boxy, just like all of the other nondescript buildings going up in Los Angeles. This is a far cry from the charming Country-French Revival design of the current building.

Taix will be located on the street level of one of the apartment buildings

Taix is a traditional, Country French-style restaurant with hearty food, a great bar, live music and lots of L.A. history. The original Taix was opened at 321 Commercial Street in downtown L.A. in 1927. The "new" Taix Restaurant on Sunset Blvd. was opened in 1962.

The Original Taix (demolished 1964), 321 Commercial Street, DTLA
(photos courtesy LAPL Archives)

The old Taix was in what was then called French Town., close to Union Station It was my Grandfather's favorite place to eat. We sat at long communal tables (very much like The Pantry and Philippe's). Dinner was served family style, large plates of bread, carrots/celery/radishes on a big chunk of ice, a large stainless steel bowl of soup w/ladle, green vegies, mashed potatoes. I do remember them bringing our main dish on a separate plate.

The interior of downtown Taix's was slightly dreary...greenish walls, linoleum...yup, just like Philippe's. Once in awhile we went to the fancy version of Taix's on Sunset, but that was for special occasions only. The downtown Taix was demolished to make way for a parking structure for the new Federal Building in 1964. Sigh. The current Taix on Sunset Boulevard was a much fancier restaurant with chandeliers, smoked mirrors, plush booths, many banquet rooms and a large bar. Also, the carpet, draperies and plush booths serve to dampen the sound, so you can hear your friends speak during dinner. How quaint!  This Taix was built in 1962. For two years, you could visit the old-fashioned Taix downtown or the classy Taix on Sunset Boulevard.

Plush booths, fancy chandeliers and swag draperies at Taix on Sunset 

Charming Banquet Room, Taix Sunset 

Hallway leading to banquet rooms and bar

The food at Taix is simple, French-inspired country fare. The servings are large. The service staff are most attentive. I love their French Onion Soup! We've never had a bad meal at Taix and I've been going there most of my life!

Classic, Iceberg Wedge with Bleu Cheese Dressing

French Onion Soup with yummy, gloppy cheese 

Grilled Shrimp w/lime and chili and ratatouille, beurre blanc

On the weekends there is music in the bar. It is usually filled with people from the neighborhood and local hipsters, along with families celebrating special occasions. EVERYONE eats at Taix!

I will be sad to see the old building go. Taix is offering curbside special dinners during the pandemic. Check out their Instagram site for daily menus. I do hope to dine at Taix a few more times before they close for demolition. Sigh.

I predict that the new Taix in this boxy development will last for, maybe, one year and then will be replaced by a chain restaurant. Double Sigh.

Historic Taix photos, menus and advertisements

The Mask Dilemma

Purchased Disposable Surgical Masks 

Do we want to stay safe or do we want to be stylish? That is the question. How about BOTH? 

Since this pandemic is going to last a long time and the wearing of masks will be with us for awhile, Larry and I purchased a box of surgical masks. They are light-weight, fairly comfortable to wear and make us look like essential workers at the grocery store. They are fine. HOWEVER, there are circumstances when you want to dress up a bit and have some fun.

I've been experimenting with various crocheted face masks.  Naturally, a crocheted mask needs to have a liner so the germs don't get inside. This is accomplished by placing a folded paper towel or a coffee filter inside the mask. This works pretty well.

My friend Suzette made a FAB crocheted mask with appliquéd lips on the front. WOW! I had to duplicate that! So, I crocheted another mask from this PATTERN. I found a random crochet lip pattern online and appliquéd it to my mask!

Suzette's Glamour Mask. It's Lip-Tastic!

Ellen's Crocheted Mask with Lip Appliqué

Boy oh boy! Did I get comments on that mask! It was a hit! Thanks for the prompt Suzette! 

WELL, after Mr. Larry saw our stylish masks he wanted one too, but with a mustache and/or goatee!  I checked out some mustache charts.

Mustache/Goatee Style Charts 

Crocheting a mustache is not all that easy, especially as an appliqué!  I tried a few different versions. The first one I made with a goatee attached just didn't come out well at all!

FAILED Goatee Version of Face Mask. Larry looks a bit like Hannibal Lecter here.

My next attempt was just to crochet the mustache. This worked out OK, but there is still room for improvement!

Larry's Straw Boater works well with this mask!

I shall continue my quest for the perfectly stylish and protective face mask!

Sock-It-To-Me!

Aretha Franklin covered Otis Redding's song, "R-E-S-P-E-C-T"

Where did that phrase, "Sock-It-To-Me" originate?  I remember it from Aretha Franklin's cover of the song, "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" written in 1967 by Otis Redding. Otis recorded the song first, but Aretha made it famous, featuring a chorus repeating "sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me" really fast in the background. 

Judy Carne, The Sock-It-To-Me-Girl" on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In"

Of course, we all remember when the TV show, "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" used the phrase. Judy Carne was known as the Sock-It-To-Me Girl. She would come into view and recite the phrase over and over, usually while dancing, until something awful happened to her, typically a bucket of water poured on her head or a pie in the face.

So, after much Googling and net research, I found out that this is an old slang phrase for "give it to me." All sorts of connotations and situations where this phrase may be used come to my imagination! LOL!

I'm supposing that the Sock-It-To-Me Cake was named because it was SO delicious you just had to have a slice....give it to me, give it to me, sock it to me! The recipe seems to appear around 1972. One of my Facebook friends showed a photo of her Sock-It-To-Me cake online the other day. I just couldn't get that cake outta my head! I used to order slices of it at Pann's Coffee Shop...so delicious!

Basically, it's a yellow pound cake with streusel, pecan filling, topped with thick vanilla frosting. Oh yum!  Below is what the cake is SUPPOSED to look like.

This is what the perfect Sock-It-To-Me Cake should look like

I didn't grease my bundt pan properly, so the cake stuck a bit. Also, my frosting is not as thick as the photo above. Even though my cake isn't picture-perfect, it's disappearing really fast!

Sock-It-To-Me Cake. SO delicious!

Here's a LINK to the online recipe I found. There are many to choose from!

Inspiration

In this time of Quarantine, I find that I'm on my computer A LOT during the day! I love to peruse the patterns on Ravelry for new yarny project inspiration. Below are a few patterns I'd like to make. Click on the caption link for the pattern.

Barbie Dress

My Barbie needs a cute little number like this one.

Knock Knock Knock Penny by Anke Spilker

We're All God's Children by C.L. Halvorson

This reminds me of an old-fashioned quilt.

Baby ABC's Afghan by Coats and Clarke
Love the corner granny squares.

Brain Hat by Alana Noritake

I call this the Brain Beanie!

Which projects inspire you? I've been seriously going through my yarn stash. I have so much yarn and could probably work up ALL of these projects without ever ordering more yarn. I do miss going to the yarn shop...not so much to purchase yarn, but to speak to like-minded yarny people.  Sigh.