Editor,
Recent LGBT pride events reminded me of four friends from the past that made a difference in Laguna Beach.
Art Frink and Harry Moon opened the Cottage restaurant in the 1960s. It had been a breakfast place and originally a residence built in the early 1900s at Coast Highway and Aster Street.
Harry found the original front door (still here in the Urth café) in the old garage on the alley behind the home. Inside, rooms had been walled off for living spaces. They installed the door, opened the rooms inside, made improvements and opened the Cottage. It became so popular that on some weekends it was open ‘til late at night and without a patio, served 900 plus patrons each Saturday and Sunday. In 1970, it had 24 refrigerators and freezers, the original small kitchen and on weekends served complimentary coffee to waiting crowds. Omelets by the hundreds were served and often the tiny kitchen had a hard time keeping up.
There was no wine or beer because Art and Harry felt it would slow down the turnover of tables. The actor Richard Benjamin and comedien Paul Lynde and other stars ate there and later the kitchen was enlarged and a patio was added. It was a fabulous place and destination point for many.
Rick and Shannon, a young couple from Seattle, established Dizz’s As Is in the 1970s at Coast Highway and Nyes Place. Rick looked over the dining room and Shannon managed the kitchen. A bowl of Italian fish soup was $5.95. Complimentary liver pate and vermouth were served with dinner. In the early days, they had limited funds so bought silver ware and china at garage sales. Friends loaned or donated pieces from the ‘30s and ‘40s. From time to time they had wonderful parties at their modest apartment for all of their customers, rich and poor. Shannon loved baking salmon along with racks of lamb. The ambiance was real, especially later in the evenings when even O.J. Simpson could be heard above the roar of the crowd. We have them to thank for today’s Dizz’s, still going strong.
From before the days of Richard Halliburton, who built his concrete house 400 feet above the ocean and Aliso Canyon, gays have made a difference in Laguna Beach and they still do today.
Roger Carter, Laguna Beach
Roger Carter’s informative article certainly hit the mark concerning LGBT contributions to Laguna history and the nostalgic gathering places they created for others to enjoy. One might also throw in “Mona’s” where Paul Mooney, Richard Halliburton’s close companion, spent time imbibing (too much time) according to Bill Levy Alexander, architect and builder of Halliburton’s Hangover House. Some years ago, I reveled in spending 3-4 days in the Hollywood Hills house Alexander designed. It was built in the form of a ship and was perched on several steel I-beams impaled into the side of a steep hill. Bill rambled on enthusiastically and endlessly about his Laguna days, re-living for me and my book, “A Shooting Star Meets the Well of Death, Why and How Richard Halliburton Conquered the World.” He recounted in detail the year and a half or so he battled the elements, contractors, Mooney, and Halliburton too, while creating the symphony in concrete which even today is regarded by some in the architectural world as a classic and a singular triumph. About 15 years ago I gave a talk before an enthusiastic capacity crowd in Laguna for the Laguna Beach Historical Society about Halliburton and Hangover after which many in the crowd regaled me with their own personal stories about Hangover. My blog on http://www.rhalliburtonstar.com contains many details about Hangover and those “fellow travelers” whose lives, accomplishments, and contributions are forever identified with Laguna. William R. Taylor.