Original Spanish Kitchen (Los Angeles, California) | restaurant, landmark, place with historical importance

 restaurant, landmark, place with historical importance

The restaurant, opened in 1932, became a favorite of Hollywood stars such as Bob Hope, Linda Darnell and John Barrymore.
Closing up one night in 1961, workers at the Original Spanish Kitchen set out silverware, saltshakers and napkins at each table and neatly stacked the chairs, and there the settings and chairs remained, unmoved for more than a quarter of a century.
A "Closed for Vacation" sign, hung outside that night, gave no clue that the restaurant would never re-open.
In time, local legend grew up around the place. So many people began wandering by peering into the windows and asking questions, that one neighboring businessman put a sign in his front window, A DOLLAR FOR INFORMATION REGARDING NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR.
The actual story is as follows:
The woman who owned the seemingly abandoned restaurant was Pearl Caretto. She and her husband, Johnny Caretto, had opened the restaurant in 1932, and it became a favorite of stars such as Mary Pickford, who had a special booth near the door, and who would bring in recipes.
Then the husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Johnny Caretto was devoted both to the restaurant and his wife. In later years, everyone remembered his warmth. Customers came into the Spanish Kitchen as much for that as for his enchiladas. When Parkinson’s disease forced him into the convalescent home, the less gregarious Pearl tried to fill in for him. Eventually Pearl closed the restaurant without notice, to take care of him in their residence on the second floor.
In Pearl’s mind, the closing was temporary. She was sure Johnny would recover, sure he’d come back to the restaurant he’d built and loved, but he didn’t recover, and Pearl kept the place intact and ready for business right up until his death in 1967. After that she just couldn’t let go. Too much time had passed, too many emotions had been invested. By then she couldn’t let anyone else change what had once been Johnny’s. So she did nothing.
Pearl Caretto eventually died and the family sold the property in the late 1990s, yet the restaurant's mystique lives on.
Its sign is still standing, though it's partly covered so that only the "Spa" in "Spanish" can be seen. Perfect for the current upstairs occupant, Ona Spa.
"The neighbors wanted it left up," explained Fabienne Dufourg, co-owner of Ona Spa as well as the Privé hair salon, which now occupies the former Spanish Kitchen space on the ground floor.
Meanwhile, a new "Spanish Kitchen" restaurant has opened, over on La Cienega Boulevard.
"I wanted to capture some of the romance of Old Hollywood," explains owner Greg Morris, who is not otherwise related to the Carettos.

Photos above show the Original Spanish Kitchen as it appeared in 1979.