birthday dinner in old hollywood

Today I am officially old. So to celebrate I decided to go to the oldest restaurant in Hollywood for my birthday dinner with the 'rents. Musso and Frank Grill has been around since 1919 and is about as old-school as you can get. Old red leather booths complete with coat hooks on the aisle, two old wooden phone booths in the back where movie deals were probably made in the '50s, and employees who have been working there longer than I've been alive (so they're really old ;)

Musso and Frank claims to have the world's greatest martinis. So of course that's what we ordered. However, since I don't like to taste my alcohol, I ordered the fruity version, aka a Cosmo. True to their old-school-ness, the martinis come in tiny glasses, with the overflow in a vase on ice for you to pour when you're done with the first tiny glass. 

I was tempted to order spaghetti and meatballs (I think it was because the red leather booths also invoke that Italian restaurant vibe...) but since I'm old, I decided to go with the more mature meal of Filet Mignon, medium. It was good but could have been a little less pink... or I suppose I could have asked for it medium-well. Oh well...potato/potatoe... which reminds me, I had it with french fries instead of a baked potato because it's my birthday and that's what I wanted :P

My dad had the New York steak -- with a baked potato. It photographs better than my filet did. Dad enjoyed it... then proceeded to eat my fries. 

Mom had one of the specials: roast duckling. I don't eat duck. I have a very strict "no eating baby animals (veal or lamb) or cute animals (rabbit, duck, deer)" policy. Tonight at Musso and Frank I learned that I, therefore, could never have eaten dinner with Charlie Chaplin. His fave meal on the Musso and Frank menu was Grilled Lamb Kidney with Bacon. No thanks. And no thanks to roast duckling too, although Mom said it was yummy.

So the entrees all got a thumbs up. But the desserts left something to be desired. For one thing, they don't have creme brule. I therefore had to order pie (because I didn't want cake, ice cream, pudding or tiramasu). My apple pie was cold -- I would have preferred it warmed -- and the crust was thick and not at all flakey. In fact between the thickness and the cold, it was kind of hard to cut. The 'rents split New York Cheesecake. I don't eat cheesecake either, so no taste-test for me. They seemed to enjoy it, although Mom said the layer on top was "interesting."