I found parking with no problem which is curious because it's tourist season for La Jolla Village and the heat makes it, as locals say, "beach weather" so parking is generally scarce this time of year. The short walk to lunch was delightful.
Oh, so where was I headed for lunch? Well, not here where Cold Stone Creamery meets Hard Rock Café. Nope.
I strode through the shopping arcade, made a left turn and headed toward the water. Along the way I passed a quirky artsy store and a beautiful flower stand.
Just ahead of me was the La Valencia Hotel.
This historic hotel opened in 1926 and has quite an impressive history. Here's a small tidbit of trivia from the hotel's website,
"The La Jolla Playhouse era was one of the hotel's most glamorous. From the start, Hollywood had claimed La Valencia as a hideaway. Now the hotel became the gathering place of choice for those who launched, and performed in the famous La Jolla Playhouse including: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, Mel Ferrer, Jose Ferrer, Joseph Cotton, Richard Basehart, Charlton Heston, Ginger Rogers, Jennifer Jones, Lorne Green, David Niven and many others to numerous to mention over that seventeen year period.
Playhouse founder, artistic director, and La Jolla resident Gregory Peck often played host to the new cast at the Whaling Bar. Even La Jolla resident Raymond Chandler, famous mystery writer of the forties and fifties, used La Valencia under a thinly disguised fictitious name as a backdrop for the thriller, "Playback."
There is something alluring about this hotel.
The cliffs and beaches within walking distance lend themselves often as television location shots as well as movie locales too. Many stars during the hotel's approximately 80 year history used and continue to use the La Valencia hotel as a hideout to escape career pressure.
It's common in La Jolla village to see TV and movie celebrities, famous athletes and rock stars strolling the quiet streets or sipping coffee at curbside eateries.
I didn't need to see any celebrities. Contentment was mine simply to dine on a meal not from my own hand. As I walked through the charming portal, I spied the outdoor eating area behind a blind of potted trees.
My dining companions offered me the option of dining indoors,
Or outdoors. When I spied the mosaic on the wall, I nodded toward the outdoors.
After a bottle of wine and intriguing conversation, my simple Club Sandwich with Fries looked luscious.
If you have a chance to visit San Diego, be sure to include a day or an extended visit to La Jolla Village and include a lunch or dinner at the La Valencia Hotel atop the Cove. You won't be disappointed. The Sky room on the 10th floor of the hotel offers a 180 degree view of the Pacific Ocean and a unique and romantic experience with only 11 intimate dining tables. Oh and let me know if you want to meet for drinks. I know some quaint spots with views over the ocean.
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Comments: 47
(Also, tell the non-Californians how to pronounce La Jolla before they try to go there so they don't get dirty looks....)
Mmmm. Club sandwich and fries... The Pants™ are hungry!
Lovely photos of your glamorous neighborhood - thanks!
(Aniko, it's pronounced "La Hoy-a")
Good ole' Richard sticks up for his friends! We women need all the beefcake we cab get!
I just looked at the cup that your fries were served in. Was it copper? It's very cool looking, whatever it was. Next time you're there, can you swipe it for me as a souvenir?
Sandy, did you say something? I can't hear you.
Marianne, thanks. It is a beautiful spot. I am keeping my lips zipped about my companions.
Aniko, we were there doing some tasting so by the time we finished, all I wanted was a reliably good, filling sandwich---and those fries!
Sherrie, thanks very much.
Dorine, the men were more "camera shy" than I am. Hah.
Nancy, thanks, but no they weren't my family. I'm beginning to think I shouldn't have mentioned them at all. Haha.
Ah, Ina, throwing in a little pitch for that visit, are ya?
Joy, That lunch was great just the way it was. I was already full from tasting fish, beef, sauces like chipotle infused Japanese mayonnaise and a host of other concoctions.
J F, it really was wonderful. The service is impressive. Each one of us was served by a different waiter simultaneously.
Thank you, david.
Duckie! You got that right. It's enough to share my food, but I do not share my men!
Richard, see my comment to Duckie up there? It really is a quaint and pleasant town with some great eateries.
Ah, Sandy, now I can hear ya! Yep, gimme a good sandwich any day!
kM, settle down there gal. I'm keeping all the men for myself.
Dorine, yes, it's the same as the Spanish "La Jolla" that means Jewel. The town is known locally as the "Jewel of the Pacific Coast." And remember we were once part of Mexico.
Jim, you crack me up. Mormon missionaries? Okie dokie. Yes, I will swipe that cup the next time I dine there! No problem because that's where we are going the next time you come out here. I'll wait till you can make it. Wear a roomy sport coat, ok? Oh and practice that "look". y'know the one where you look like you're 13 and innocent.
Katrina, thanks. It's a lovely hotel and I'm sorry I didn't have time to take more photos of the views and other dining areas. They have a great website though if you care to spy on the place and the menus.
Tonia! HI HI! If we could just get you out here, I would take you to lunch there too!
Melinda, thank you very much. It is a lovely place to dine.
Ivy, notice there are no people in any of my photos? If you pay attention, ahem, I don't ever show people I know in my photos.
(Yes, these men were quite visible which is why we had the dining room all to ourselves. Hah!)
Just thinking, Madame Donna, a matching set of mugshots (a frightened 13 year old alongside a fuming frog) would be very good material for an article. If we don't get busted for stealing the copper dinnerware, we should have a short list of achievable Class C and Class D misdemeanors prepared. Suggestions anyone?
Other Class C misdemeanors include making threats (terroristic threats is a B), running a red light, prostitution (probably covered by the 'running a red light' verbiage), impeding a federal officer, and refusing to turn off your cellphone on a plane.
A Class C misdemeanor is sufficient in some places to get you deported, Ma'am D, so make sure to bring a passport.
Hmmm.... Didn't he do something like that on Gather before? Sign into her account and post in her name?
<...growling eyetummy...>
Thanks so much for posting to All Photo Essays Here!
I know how it's pronounced--I was thinking about the little poem (I'm not sure by whom) that says something like:
People who call a
City La Jolla
Are sure to annoy ya
If you live in La Jolla.
(in the fist version, of course you pronounce it "La Jawla" with a J sound.)
I'm with Sandy I didn't read the article because there were no pics of your dining companions.
Thanks to your great review, I think I will stop the next time I am in La Jolla.