{"product_id":"levys-cafe-los-angeles-1906-12x12-archival-print-3000","title":"Levy's Cafe, Los Angeles 1906 12x12\" Archival Print $30.00","description":"\u003cp\u003e12x12\" Archival print. Unframed. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur oldest Los Angeles menu is dated 1906 and is from the city’s first fine-dining restaurant Levy’s Café, located at West 3rd Street.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe front cover of the menu shows an elegant lady in a corseted red dress, complete with hat, gloves and be-ribboned shoes, standing above a semi deserted beach.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn in Liverpool, England, but raised in Ireland, proprietor Al Levy moved to San Francisco in 1876 and worked in many of the city’s restaurants including the famous Techau Tavern, learning how to cater to a high society crowd. He moved to the mushrooming young city of Los Angeles in 1886, which had no quality restaurants at the time. He operated a small cart selling oyster cocktails at 10c each and soon earned enough money to take over a plumber’s shop at 3rd and Main for his first restaurant, which seated 14.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 1897 he rented all three adjoining buildings on the street and, a few years later, he tore them down to build the three-storey Levy’s Café. by 1906, it had become the centre of fashionable LA nightlife. The second floor featured three dining rooms decorated in English, French and German styles,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDishes included imported Russian caviar, pickled pigs’ feet and Spanish hamburger steak. Fish and seafood dishes were cooked by a female chef called Mrs Solomon, who had the distinction of being named on the interior menu, which featured a delicate Art Nouveau design.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe café was an early Hollywood hangout with the stars of silent movies flocking there. Charlie Chaplin married an Al Levy checkout girl called Mildred Harris.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLevy suffered several career drawbacks. He built a luxury restaurant in Watts, then a small farming town, that flopped. Prohibition dealt a big blow. Levy worked as a caterer on luxury liners plying the coast of California for a while but was soon back on dry land.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe opened a new downtown restaurant called Al Levy’s Grill on Spring Street in the 1930s and became one of LA’s best-known restaurateurs. The pioneering LA restaurateur died in 1941.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCourtesy Private Collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGallery quality Giclée print on natural white, matte, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free archival paper using Epson K3 archival inks. Custom printed with border for matting and framing.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eAll printed in USA.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb style=\"line-height: 1.2;\"\u003eEach print is accompanied by a copy of the interior menu or cover.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Love Menu Art","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57491702808742,"sku":"qmk1790051835280","price":19.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/9133\/8662\/files\/levys-cafe-los-angeles-1906-12x12-archival-print-3000_1.webp?v=1790051839","url":"https:\/\/coffeetamper.shop\/products\/levys-cafe-los-angeles-1906-12x12-archival-print-3000","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}