THE NIGHT THE MUSIC STOPPED BARBATA'S CLOSES DOORS AFTER 52 YEARS OF SWINGING.Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer WOODLAND HILLS - More than a half-century of San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. beef broiled broil 1 v. broiled, broil·ing, broils v.tr. 1. To cook by direct radiant heat, as over a grill or under an electric element. 2. To expose to great heat. v. down to its last bite Friday as Barbata's Steak House steak house or steak·house n. A restaurant that specializes in beefsteak dishes. closed its doors for good. Barbata's, one of the last swingin' red-booth ``joints,'' offered juicy steaks, a welcome bar and 52 years of the Chuck Barbata Quartet for hoofing and hobnobbing to generations of post-war residents. ``I can't believe it,'' said Pam Jackson, 56, of Van Nuys, who has lived in the Valley nearly four decades and dined at Barbata's for years. ``There goes another piece of Valley history.'' ``I'm devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. . I'm sad,'' added Dorothy Shirey, 54, of Woodland Hills, sitting down to eat a slab of filet mignon fi·let mi·gnon n. pl. fi·lets mi·gnons A small, round, very choice cut of beef from the loin. [French : filet, fillet + mignon, dainty.] Noun 1. at the bar on Friday. ``I'm French. I love the atmosphere. It's Old World. Where else can you see this anymore?'' Barbata's joins a legion of Valley neighborhood jazz clubs This is a list of notable venues where jazz music is played. It includes clubs, dancehalls and historic venues as well. It can or may never satisfy any objective standard for completeness. Revisions and additions of , existing articles are welcome. to perform their last set. Names like Monteleones, Shalimar Club, Rams' Horn, Chadneys, Whittinghills, Alphonse's, Samoa House, Ruddy Duck, China Trader, Money Tree, Tail o' the Cock, and Smoke House are no more. The steakhouse, home to decades of Woodland Hills Rotarians and other organizations, was also one of the last supper Last Supper, in the New Testament, meal taken by Jesus and his disciples on the eve of the passion. Jesus broke bread and passed a cup of wine among the disciples, identifying himself with the bread and the wine and linking the meal to his impending death on the clubs with a basic Midwestern menu of steak or fish, baked potatoes and pasta. And always, toasted garlic bread. A top sirloin The Top Sirloin is cut from the loin of a steer or heifer. Top Sirlon steaks differ from sirloin steaks in that the bone and the tenderlon have been removed. Some American butchers call a thick top sirloin steak a chateaubriand, although the French reserve that term for a much better cut steak in 1950 cost $4.50; on Friday, the menu for top sirloin closed at $19.95. ``We got fresh meat that goes into the broiler broiler a young (about 8 weeks old) male or female chicken weighing 3 to 3.5 lb. right away,'' said Charlie ``Chuck'' Barbata, 77. ``No garlic, no sauces, no nothin'.'' But it was the personal touch of Chuck and Sam Barbata that kept the joint jumpin'. In 1950, it opened as Barbata's Supper Club Noun 1. supper club - usually a small luxurious nightclub cabaret, night club, nightclub, nightspot, club - a spot that is open late at night and that provides entertainment (as singers or dancers) as well as dancing and food and drink; "don't expect a good meal at in Sherman Oaks. In 1955, it reopened with its yellow and white neon ``Barbata's Steak House'' sign on an undeveloped stretch of Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. at the bottom of Chalk Hill
With an elevation of 282 feet above sea level Chalk Hill is the 3rd highest point in Louisiana. . Chuck and Sam had a habit of hailing everyone - customers and staff - by their first names: Hank the bartender; Betty, Louise and Lesley the waitresses. ``Tom, you didn't stop by to say hello, for Crissakes!,'' yelled Chuck to a departing regular before laying on an Italian hug. Chuck, head of the Chuck Barbata Quartet, has sung or played his saxophone every Friday and Saturday night since 1950. ``In this town, it was a one-of-a-kind job,'' said Kenny Kotwitz, a jazz accordion and piano player who has swung at Barbata's with such tunes as ``Satin Doll,'' ``Take the A-Train'' and ``The More I See You'' for 18 years. ``It's the end of an era.'' Dancers were also perplexed by the loss. ``I'm gonna miss it. I'm gonna miss that place,'' said Elie Dulay, of Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. , who with her husband Art has danced at the Chandlier Room each weekend for nearly 10 years. ``Nobody knows any other place.'' Thus ends more than 100 years of restaurant tradition for an Italian family that escaped the coal mines of Ramey, Colo., for a hot grill and homey saloon founded by John Barbata in 1900. ``We've got 105 years and two generations in this business,'' said Sam Barbata, 83, whose nephew Greg has served as chef, and whose nephew Randy has stood behind the bar for decades, along with Gwendolyn, Chuck's wife. ``Hell, we originally started Woodland Hills. We're the grandaddy gran·dad·dy n. Variant of granddaddy. of Woodland Hills,'' he said. ``There was nothin' here when we built from the ground up. We're the last of the Mohicans.'' Entering Barbata's was like crawling into a dark red vinyl womb. Inside its colonial-style building, dark wood paneling surrounded a maze of burgundy vinyl booths and tables supported by red carpet and basked in the soft glow of a brick fireplace and 1950s recessed lights. On the walls hung floral still-life art, and such mementos as the painting of John Barbata, father of 13 children (Sam No. 11, Chuck No. 12), two shiny cuspidors, tokens of when Chuck once had to swab spittoons as a schoolboy, or a photo of a B-17 bomber, a memento of Sam's 53 missions across Europe in World War II. It was after the war that Chuck and Sam decided to move to the Valley and open a restaurant. Last week, both said it was simply time to retire. The property was sold last week for an undisclosed sum to an unnamed real estate broker. ``It's rough when you've been in business that long,'' said Chuck, surveying his and his brother's cozy handiwork. ``We've outlived a lot of our customers, ai ai ai!'' ``It's about time It's About Time may refer to:
Gone will be the Woodland Hills Rotary, which has met every Wednesday afternoon for 45 years and hung 900 flags in the eatery's Chandlier Room, along with such clubs as the Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, Republican Women's Club, Lion's Club and more. ``It's going to be a tough leave,'' said John Whitmore, president of the Woodland Hills Rotary, which is searching for a new meeting place. ``It was a clubhouse for us.'' Also to disappear will be the memories of such patrons as Judy Garland, Nancy Sinatra, Bing's brother Bob Crosby, Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay and Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley, who cut a deal with Los Angeles Mayor C. Norris Poulson to move to Chavez Ravine in a back room at Barbata's, according to Chuck. Historic preservationists said the loss of Barbata's will be a cultural loss to the Valley. ``Barbata's was one of the last of its kind in the San Fernando Valley - family-style, yet elegant steakhouse, good food, reasonable prices ... with high-quality evening entertainment,'' said Mary-Margaret Stratton, chairwoman of the Los Angeles Conservancy The Los Angeles Conservancy is the preeminent historic preservation organization in Los Angeles, California. It works to document, rescue and revitalize historic buildings, places and neighborhoods in the city. Modern Committee. ``It was a cultural treasure.'' ``The fact that it was still family-owned after all these years made it an especially valuable asset to our community,'' Stratton said. ``It was part of the postwar building boom in the Valley and an outstanding example of the classic red-booth restaurant. It was one of the last, one of the best,'' she said. ``It will truly be a loss to Valley residents who appreciate modern architecture.'' Barbata's, said Bob Courtney, 58, of Encino, was ``warmth, stability, friendship, the old Valley feeling. It was the same feeling I got from the White Horse Inn, the Fireside Inn. This is like the last of a whole era.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos, map Photo: (1 -- color) Wrapping up their last jam session are, from left, Kenny Kotwitz, Richard Maloof, Chuck Barbata and Rich DeLabio. (2) Dorothy Shirey and husband Jeff polish off one last meal at Barbata's Steak House on Friday night. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer Map: Barbata's Steak House, 20000 block Ventura Blvd. |
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