56-Year-Old Man Out Walking His Dog Is Shot To Death On 42nd Street and 7th Avenue

Every evening Larise Smith would  take his Lacasapoo dog Toby out for a five-block walk from his home on 3rd Avenue near 42nd Street where he lived for 50 years. Monday on that walk, the 56-year-old man, security guard at a Beverly Hills private school, stopped  to chat with a couple of ladies near 7th Avenue when a man approached him and asked a variant of that deadly question "Where you from?' .

A witness said the man actually said "What set are you from?", then produced a handgun and shot Smith in the head.  The shooter fled on foot south on 7th Avenue. 

Los Angeles Fire Department Rescue Ambulance 34 responded and transported Smith to California Hospital Medical Center where he  succumbed to his injuries.

At the shooting site Tuesday morning, stunned friends and relatives placed candles around a tree where Smith was shot. Among the loved ones was Larise's nephew, Anthony Smith.

"My uncle was a good, quiet guy who never bothered anyone and loved his dogs and his garden," said Smith, adding that his uncle had one daughter who lives in Georgia. 

Larise Smith, who turned 56 two weeks ago, took care of his father who passed away in March. 

Anyone with information on the killing can call LAPD Criminal Gang Homicide Division at (213) 485-4341

The Hollywood Leather Jacket Murder

PART I  -  "The Night the Crips Became Infamous"

In the week before  March 20, 1972, all you had to say on the Southside of Los Angeles was “You going?” and people would know what you were talking about. It seemed as if everyone would be "going", going to the Hollywood Palladium.  “Soul Train”, the popular Chicago-based dance show, was hosting its first Hollywood event. The buzz humming - through Watts, South Central, Compton Inglewood, Gardena - was electrified. I didn't go to the show, but, as a senior at Gardena High, I remember the excitement.

On that spring night in 1972, the Palladium’s marquee heralded Curtis Mayfield and Wilson Pickett and the promise of unrestrained soulful joy. This evening would be a groovin’, mass sing-a-long to Mayfield’s “Gypsy Woman”, “It’s All Right” and “Super Fly”. A night of hearing Pickett pound out “In the Midnight Hour”, “Land of 1,000 Dances” and “Don’t Knock My Love.” 

This was to be a concert to remembered.  And it still is. But, not for the music. 

##

The show lived up to the buildup. It was a smashing success. But, the aftermath turned out to be a tragedy of monumental proportions that still reverberates 42 years later.  

Shortly after the concert ended, on Sunset Boulevard, east of Vine Street, James “Cuzz” Cunningham saw a boy with the long black leather jacket. He told his crime partner, Judson Bacot, “I want that coat.”

The words sent a charge through Judson. He knew what was coming. He was ready. He put his hand on his Smith and Wesson .22.

The coveted leather jacket was known as a maxi coat, the type that goes nearly to the ankles, something Shaft would wear. Cuzz and Judson crossed to the south side of Sunset and zeroed in on 16-year-old concert-goer Charles Alexander Foster, whose two friends were walking slightly ahead of him. One of them was Robert Ballou, Jr.. 

In front of Mark C. Bloome Tires, Cuzz called out from about 20 feet away. “Hey dude, hey dude.”

 “Me?” said Foster.

 “Yeah. What’s up, man? I like that coat.”

 “I do too,” Foster said.

 By then, Bacot, 22, and Cunningham, 19, were on him..

 “Take it off. I want it,” said Cuzz.

Judson pulled his revolver and growled menacingly , “This is a robbery. Don’t make it a homicide.” 

Judson Bacot did not fire his gun.

The coroner’s office would summarize the death of Robert Ballou, Jr . as “Beating – Fists & Feet”

 ##

It was after midnight when the grandma entered the interview room at Hollywood Homicide, six blocks from the Palladium.  Inside waiting was her 16-year-old grandson and LAPD Detective Al Gastaldo. She told her kin "Tell him what you know."

The boy hesitated, shrugged his shoulders, tilted his head. Grandma knew he knew something. Tell him, she demanded. He said nothing. She moved in close and,without warning, slapped him hard. Then slapped him back handed. Then forehanded. All the while yelling at him in front of the stunned detective. "Tell him! Tell him what you saw!" Smack! "Tell him was happened." Smack!

Finally he did. "It was the Crips."

The Crips? What the hell is the Crips?, thought Gastaldo. He had never heard the word before. Most people in Los Angeles hadn't either. But soon, after the sun rose and the glaring headlines of the Herald Examiner and the Los Angeles Times hit the corners, the Crips, the black street gang now known the world over, were on the fast lane to infamy.

"After his grandma smacked him around and he said the Crips did it, that was the first time I had ever heard of them," recalled Gastaldo as he sipped a ice tea at a San Fernando Valley Marie Calendar's. "After the juvenile said that, everything fell into place. By the next day, we had all the suspects in custody. But, if it wasn't for that grandma, I don't know if we would have solved that killing.”

The killing was shocking. It was brutality in a tourist location. It featured an ominous gang of suspects that brought fear to the entire city. There might be gang killings in Watts and Compton, but in in the heart of Hollywood?  Was anywhere safe now? 

It became known as the Hollywood Leather Jacket Murder, the stomping of Robert Ballou, Jr. at the Palladium on Sunset near Vine.

As it turned out, It would be the paramount killing that spawned the deadliest gang war in the history of the United States - The battle of the Crips and the Bloods.  It is the sixth deadliest war in United States history after the Civil War, World War II, World War I, Vietnam and Korea wars.

In the way that the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria sparked World War I, the  war between the Crips and Bloods was ignited by the killing of Robert Ballou, Jr..

 "It was definitely a landmark killing,” said Ken Bell a retired investigator for the District Attorney’s Hard Core Gang unit. “Nobody doubts the impact of this killing.  That killing has become the status of the shot heard round the world in terms of gang killings.  We had entered into a different world.”

Lamb Chops at Athens Taverna Rated "Good Enough For Zeus"

My dining highlight during four days in Greece last week was at simple taverna in Athens  called To Steki tou Ilia in the neighborhood of Thiselo, if that means anything to you.

i savored  what I later learned had been rated by The International Panel  (TIP) as "Good Enough For Zeus" (GEFZ);  lamb chops, known here as "paidakia",  so tasty that i contemplated ordering another portion because I did not want this delicious dinner to end. 

The chops - marinated in thyme oregano. lemon juice, salt and  pepper then charcoal grilled to smoky, thin succulence   - are listed on the menu as a kilo (2.2. pounds) for 30 euro. But,  the owner/waiter he hooked me up with a single portion for nine euro!  One of the restaurant world's supreme bargains. 

I need to give credit to one Despina Trivolis who wrote an article for the excellent website Culinary Backstreets in September 28, 2012 that I luckily found.  Thank you, Despina. whoever you are. Here's her article  http://www.culinarybackstreets.com/athens/2012/paidakia/

To Steki tou Ilia (first branch) Address: Eptachalkou 5, Thiseio Telephone: +30 210 345 8052  Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8pm-midnight; Sat. noon-4pm & 8pm-midnight; Sun. noon-4pm NOTE I went on a Sunday and it was open at 9 p,m, so check 

There is a second branch nearby.

* This was the only dish I had in Greece rated GEFZ by TIP. However, TIP did give  a Good Enough For Ajax (GEFA) to a roasted lamb shoulder at a family cafe called Godfather in Corfu and a Good Enough For Agamemnon (GEFAG) to the octopus at To Kare Tou Meze in Itea, near Delphi.  https://www.facebook.com/ToKareTouMeze

** Zeus himself, who has a palace about three kilometers away, is usually at the first location on Tuesday for lunch and Friday for dinner at table 4, eating kilos of chops and deciding which worldwide calamities are worth his direct involvement. 

Lamb chops good enough for the gods

The Oracle of Delphi Explains Why Monty is Leaving Los Angeles

I was in Greece when the shocking news broke that Montgomery "Monty" Maguire,  the most charmingly disgruntled employee in the long, colorful history of Mozza - and one of my favorites - was leaving. I asked Nancy why and she said  "He's moving to the south".  

Why? I mean who would actually move to the south? I had never even heard of such a thing. The day after hearing this, I found myself in the ancient city of Delphi so I hiked up to the Temple of Apollo where the Oracle of Delphi resides, ( rent free for over 3,000 years I am told) and had a fairly extensive chat with Pythia, the oracle and a priestess of Apollo, the Sun God himself. Talk about a gig. 

I had many questions for her, including one Nancy told me to ask the oracle., ("What is the meaning of life?).  Then I asked Pythia the real reason Monty was leaving Los Angeles. She blew off the rest of a joint and told me the following. 

"The real reasons Monty is leaving are varied and complex, The following played vital roles in his decision to leave town."

9. Felt responsibility and shame for having poured Verona her first drink and leading her down a path of debauchery and pillage.

8. Could no longer work with Brian Monahan after his daughter Marlo told him, "That guy looks at me funny."

7. Grew weary of hearing the countless tales of Puerto Rican life in the South Bronx from Luis.

6. Fled after being tipped off a DEA investigation had uncovered the "tapenade" Taylor Grant would ask for during shifts was actually black tar heroin.

5. Did not want Marlo growing up surrounded by hipster douche bags who complained their chablis was not "flinty" enough

4. Got a better paying job as Tony Romo's personal masseuse.

3.. Heard that David Rosoff had sold TMZ security camera footage of Monty and Timothy Jenkins (aka "That Black Bartender") locked in an intimate embrace while "closing "

2. Re-upped with Delta Force and is going to Syria and Iraq to kill those cowardly ISIL pussies

And the Number One reason Monty is leaving? Could no longer resist the way his wife Elizabeth Few would say "You know, Montgomery, Virginia is for lovers."

I'll miss you Monty. 

The Sun God's Temple in Delphi, Greece

Meal of the Year at an Outpost of the World's Greatest Chef

A few days ago, Nancy S and I had a lunch so supreme at a hotel in Monte Carlo it easily warranted  the headline of this post. The headline is even kinda mild. I’ve had some great restaurant meals with Nancy over the past eleven years, but for sheer flavor, sheer close-your-eyes deliciousness of every bite, nothing topped this lunch at the at Joel Robuchon’s restaurant at the Hotel Metropole.

This outpost of Robuchon, at 69 still the world’s greatest chef, is not on any lists of the world’s best restaurants. And I can understand that. This is not even a flagship of  the Supernatural One, who has Michelin three star establishments in Macau, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Las Vegas. The guy has a total of something like 25 Michelin stars, two of them at this restaurant in Monte Carlo where Christopher Cussac is the head chef.

And I get why this Monaco spot is not a “Three Star’, which requires more than simply divine food. Three times plates crashed to the floor of the dining room and kitchen entrance point. And the décor, while attractive, is like a good hotel dining room. We walked in without a reservation.

But, the food, it rendered superlatives useless.  We sat at a counter with a close view of the open kitchen where the cooks moved with precision and almost never spoke. (This is in 180 degree contrast from Robuchon's mythical restaurant Jamin in Paris where he first earned acclaim and where local L.A. chefs Sang Yoon and Ludo Lefebvre worked and said they were constantly yelled at by the master's chef de cuisine Benoit Guichard to the point of cruelty)  

From a standing start, the meal took off like the 1,200 horsepower Bugatti Veyron Super Sport parked in front of the hotel; a rolling cart of eight breads and rolls and a cylinder of Bordier butter – salted to Robuchon’s specs – the size of 155 mm howitzer shell.  I started with what they called a puff pastry roll coated with the butter. I had 11 of them, all slathered, which I was later told was just two short of the world record held by Franz Klammer, the skier.

There was a platter of Iberico ham from Joselito, and some tomato bread that Nancy found full of wonder. There was this soup of  cockles, calms and chanterelles in a vermouth shellfish broth that needs to have its own category and roasted lamb, me, some shoulder and leg, Nancy, some rib chops.

The bill was 360 euro with a couple glasses of red Coteaux-d'Aix-en-Provence.

The younger generation may hear about other chefs being the top.. But, I think those chefs, most of them, at least, would agree that Joel Robuchon is the greatest chef in the world.  

Salt & Straw Shatters Ice Cream Sales Record in L.A. Debut

Salt & Straw, once Portland's little ice cream cart that could, shattered the  American record for two-day sales of ice cream at their just-opened shoppe on Larchmont Boulevard in Los Angeles, officials  announced Monday morning

When all the sales figures were tallied, Salt & Straw had  had amassed $125,988 in gross sales over this past weekend, a spokeswoman for the National Ice Cream Organization (NICO) announced during a press conference  at the Fairmont  Hotel in San Francisco.  The previous record mark had been $114,345 at the opening of the C.C. Brown's  in Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California during the infamous 1969 heat wave. 

Unfortunately for Salt & Straw's owners, first cousins Kim and Tyler Malek, the actual net profits this past weekend were a paltry $457, as much of the gross was spent on the high quality ingredients of the ice creams and on "excessive"  samples. 

An independent report by NICO states that a "very large portion" of the record gross sales was lost in the "ridiculously high number of free samples" the Salt & Straw staff gave away to the thousands of customers. NICO estimated for every $5 dollars a customer spent , they received $4.89 in samples. 

"That's no way to run a business," said Richard Goldman of Goldman Sachs. "It'd be like buying a Porsche Turbo S and the salesman throws in  a Carrera 4S for free." 

The lines along Larchmont were like nothing the street has ever seen, longtime residents said.  At 10:15 p.m. on Saturday night, there were 42 people lined up outside the shoppe.  At 2:30 p.m. Sunday, there were 50 people in line.  The lines seemed to move along without major incident and the people seemed happy to be in the line.  The LAPD, bought in to control the lines,  said no "serious" arrests were made

Many in line had heard of the generosity of Kim, Tyler and the staff.

"I don't have any money," said one man in line who refused to give his name. "But, i heard i can have four or five  samples.  Shit, i look dumb to you? Salt & Straw is the best deal in town."

Salt & Straw is at 240 N. Larchmont Boulevard ( about five stores south of Beverly Blvd.) near the magazine rack. They are open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.  See the photo below for ice cream flavors.

NOTE : Salt & Straw's feisty "Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons", one of the favorites,  was featured in this  Feb. 12, 2014 article :  http://krikorianwrites.com/blog/2014/2/11/t167qq7z49nwphlnqc9y6y4bdlmsot

"Wanna sample something good?" is a statement Kim Malek, co owner of Salt & Straw says a lot.

Tyler Malek and his menu.

Two Men Shot to Death at "Dinosaur Car Wash" in South Central

Two carloads of furious people yelling at each Labor Day afternoon along Florence Avenue  in South Central whipped into the Green Forrest Car Wash and  continued their verbal rage until one man pulled out a handgun and shot two men to death.

The apparent road rage was in full swing as the cars drove west along Florence past Hoover Street around 2:15 p..m and pulled into the moderately busy car wash, authorities and a witness said.  One of shot men, ages 29 and 26, died at the scene, the other was transported  to California Hospital and pronounced.  

"It does not at this time appear to be gang-related," said Lt. Jeff Nolte , the officer-in-charge of LAPD's South Bureau Homicide, adding that several males fled on foot from the scene after the shooting.   

Minutes after the shooting at the car wash, a few blocks away, bystanders saw a man flee a blue SUV and jump over a fence. As of 7 p.m. tonight, no arrest had been.

The Green Forrest CarWash where two men were shot to death on Labor day.

Villa Roncalli Officially Declared Best Restaurant in Umbria

Villa Roncalli, chef Maria Luisa Scolastra's  sublime shrine of  Italian home cooking taken to a stratospheric level,  was officially declared the best restaurant in Umbria by the Panicale Panthers. the elite dining commando unit of Team Italy 2014.

The Panthers, aka Le Pantere, dined at Villa Roncalli in the eastern  Umbrian city of Folgino three times this season, never having the same dish twice and never not proclaiming a dish to be ."Delicious!".

"Villa Roncalli is one of my favorite restaurants, not just in Umbria, but anywhere," said capitana Pantera  Nancy Silverton   

The last meal began at nine, ended after midnight, and, like the other feasts,  lived up.  I won't do justice to the courses we ate, other than to say we relished most bites in silence for several seconds,  taste buds overwhelming spoken words, until a simple nod or, as noted above. a superlative, proper in this case, was uttered. (The term "so good" was said so many times during our meal II here - a Sunday lunch - that the owner of the property came to our table (of six) and told us if we said that one more time we would be asked to leave.) 

Each meal included a soup that was thick and green and . deep in flavor* and  based on what chef Luisa had pulled from the garden that evening. Yes, not that day, that evening. The first time I saw her, was about 8:30 at night, and she was walking back from her garden, her arms full of onions and fennel and other vegetables destined for soup. This weren't soup that had been simmering for hours. They were just made..

As for risotto,  here's was I stated in a previous article. that Grizzly bears repeating. "That porcini risotto could drive to a risotto convention and there'd be a reserved parking space for it right by the entrance."    For that review  http://krikorianwrites.com/blog/2014/7/27/pks5wt8xkb500xfkuwu7d6ca4u9ica

2014 Italy is about over, but I know next year we are destined to go back to Villa Roncalli.

If you are in a hurry, don't come here. Go somewhere else. And if you are in a hurry and want a fast, easy read, don't read "Goldfinch".. And if you are in a hurry and want no curves,  don't take Highway One or the Nurburgring..  

* An effort was made - and successfully so - not to add the word "Staggeringly" in front of "deep". 

 .  .   

Chicken President Is Thrilled Silverton's Omelet Elected to EGAM

An emotional president of the World Chicken Organization said that "all the pain, suffering, humiliation, all the horrible living conditions and jokes that we chickens have endured for centuries because we lay eggs has been wiped out" after learning that a three-egg omelet made by Nancy Silverton for lunch Thursday was immediately inducted into the Earth's Greatest Accomplishments Museum, (EGAM) in London on  old Piccadilly Road..

"Today I speak to you not as a chicken, not as an egg layer, not even as a potential two-piece combo at Willie Mae's Scotch House  in New Orleans, but rather as simply a team member of Earth who has tried to make a positive impact," said chicken Sir Bradford Gronzyoof. "We got into EGAM Talk about it!!"

At an impromptu press conference in Rio, tears were held back several times by President Gronzyoof who grew up penny-less in a ramshackle farm in Chechnya and went on to lead the United Chicken Front in Glasgow,Scotland  before being elected World Chicken Organization President in 2010. "To say I am proud is like saying Senna could work a corner at the Nurburgring," Gronzyoof  joked, playing to the fervent pro-Aryton Senna crowd in Brazil

All the celebration was brought on by a simple lunch prepared Nancy Silverton. the 2014 James Beard Award winner for Outstanding Chef in America  

"Let's just stay home tomorrow and I'll make you an omelet," Silverton told Michael Krikorian early Wednesday evening. Krikorian, having had eggs made by Silverton in Panicale for several years running, knew what to say ."Sounds good."

Moments after the church bells of the old hilltop town rang once. Silverton began making the historic EGAM -bound omelet.

The three eggs were assisted by prosciutto cotto, parmigiano reggiano. sheep's milk ricotta,  mint and thyme - two varietals - from Nancy's garden. slivers of Cannara red onion. fennel,  salt, pepper and a pebble of butter.

Was it the best three egg omelet in recorded history? I just said they got into EGAM .  

President Gronzyoof, a multi-billionaire, said that he would pay for the ticket of any chicken visiting the EGAM in London during the next 12 months. "it's on me! ducks, too."

Note; The actual omelet will not be on display at EGAM as they have been eaten. However, the photograph below will be there. positioned between the saxophone used by John Coltrane to play the solo on "My One and Only Love" and the spats Louis Armstrong used when he first stepped on the moon.

Final note ; We ate outside on a small porch. It was a glorious day. Neil Young was singing "Lotta Love". Two nights ago, at Pelicanos, our local pizzeria, Nicolette Larson was on the big screen singing the same song.  Here's Neil's live version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELakJxPiieU

"it's gonna take a lotta love, to change the way things are. It's gonna take a lotta love or we won't get too far."

Did the song make the eggs taste better? Yes