Lawry's
Beverly Hills
Dec. 7, 2013
Somewhere deep in the recesses of memory, back when Lawry's sat on the west side of La Cienega, I have a memory of being there the night after the Queen Elizabeth liner had sunk and lay on its side in Hong Kong harbor.
Another time, Jerry had scraped off most of one cheek in a fall from his flexi-flyer as he turned too tightly into the Payse's driveway, and he had to endure dinner with a white gauze bandage on his cheek-- garnering extra, unwanted attention from the server.
For many years -- decades, perhaps? -- our server was usually Miss Featherstone. I am not sure whether this was always the same woman, or a title that different waitresses assumed once they had reached a certain level of grace and gravitas, in the way that different men take on the mantle of Santa in that series of movies.
Now Lawry's represents a tie not only to my family's decades long past with this prime rib house, but also our ties to CC Brown's the old sundae parlor that once sat next to the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd, where we would sometimes go for hot fudge sundaes. Now CC Brown's is gone, and Lawry's is the only place licensed to serve authentic CC Brown hot fudge sundaes.
And although we were quite full of prime rib, creamed spinach, yorkshire pudding, and tossed green salad, we had saved just enough room to make short work on a single CC Brown's hot fudge sundae in the center of the table, silver spoons spread around for each of us.
