I’m out in LA for a speaking engagement with MENG. I had the chance to meet with my good friend Ruby Gualberto at Misfit in Santa Monica. The restaurant is part of a group called LGO, otherwise known as Les Grande Orange. The name was inspired by the citrus industry in Southern California:
The bar + restaurant is a throw back to the more casual 20 & 30?s. Our server Hana wore a #81 on her nametag. No name, just Misfit and a number. This was a direct reference to Prohibition she explained. Keep things hush, hush when serving.
We had a wonderful lunch. At the end of our meal, Hana came over to the table with a wonderful looking bowl of cookies. We all dove in. Chocolate chip cookies with sea salt:
Takeaway: The fourth type of Purple Goldfish is First / Last Impressions. Misfit nails it with their signature ending to the meal. What’s Your Chocolate Chip Cookie with Sea Salt? What’s Your Purple Goldfish?
Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra thrown in for good measure) – The term “86? also dates back to Prohibition:
Chumley’s is a historic pub and former speakeasy at 86 Bedford Street in New York City. It was established in 1922 by the socialist activist Leland Stanford Chumley, who converted a former blacksmith’s shop near the corner of Bedford and Barrow Streets into a Prohibition-era drinking establishment. The speakeasy became a favorite spot for influential writers, poets, playwrights, journalists, and activists.
Some features remain from Chumley’s Prohibition-era history. Notably, the Barrow Street entrance has no exterior sign, being located at the end of a nondescript courtyard (“The Garden Door”), while the Bedford Street entrance, which opens to the sidewalk, is also unmarked. Inside, Chumley’s is still equipped with the trap doors and secret stairs that composed part of its elaborate subterfuge.
It is also rumored that the term “86” originated when an unruly guest was escorted out the Bedford St. door, which held the address “86 Bedford St.” A different version referencing Chumley’s is offered in the book The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York: “When the cops would very kindly call ahead before a [prohibition-era] raid, they’d tell the bartender to ’86? his customers, meaning they should scram out the 86 Bedford door, while the police would come to the Pamela Court entrance.”
