Skyline Chili and Major Celebrity Spotting

Clearly it is not a stretch for me to have lots to say and, forgive me for not blogging lately. Our Melting Pot has been stirring up so much, I haven't opted for the pure pleasure lately of telling stories here...but oh, we had fabulous tours this last Friday and Saturday so kindly settle in for some yummy tales!

On Friday we welcomed a lovely family of 3 from Cincinnati and herein I learned of the Cincinnati chili company - which food signature Lisa and I are well familiar both from our birth family (my cousin is married to a wonderful man from Cincy), and our extended family which would be the Robertos. LuAnn Roberto is our company's Art Director, Creative Genius, and all-around savior at times...and Cincinnati is her hometown.

The granddaughter of the Skyline Chili's founder was my guest, visiting LA for the week with her husband and son. Here is a little about this grand company that was started 60 years ago, by a humble Greek immigrant family!

"In 1949, on a hilltop overlooking Cincinnati, Ohio, Nicholas Lambrinides and his sons opened a small restaurant and began serving what would soon become a Cincinnati icon--Skyline Chili. The name came from the impressive view of the city's outline against the sky and has since become synonymous with a unique dish known as Cincinnati-style chili. Today, there are more than 100 Skyline Chili restaurants in four states, a credit to the vision of Nicholas Lambrinides and his sons--men who had the determination to perfect a truly new dining experience way back in 1949."

Today this company is said to be a $100 million enterprise so, how humbled and honored was I to host its lovely people! Their Cincinnati chili (which secret recipe is said to live in a locked vault!) does have cinnamon, but not chocolate (rumored to be used in others' recipes). The influence of spices in a savory recipe makes perfect sense to me now that I know a Greek family had something to do with the tradition!

Also on Friday, the grand prize winner of our Facebook "Amazing Foodie Race" contest, Antoine Maury, and his lovely girlfriend joined us for the tour. Since Antoine is from France and the Meyer family has traveled extensively through France and once bought a Paris-St Germain (Antoine's team) football jersey, there was lots of lively conversation for the duration!

On Saturday, we had another 12 perfect tour guests, one in particular of whom was an excellent celebrity spotter...thank you, considering, as we know, I am very lame on that count. So, may we have a drumroll please, it was a big stargazing day! Hanging right in and around Joan's on Third was:

Zach Braff of "Scrubs" fame
Tabatha of BRAVO's "Tabatha's Salon Takeover" fame and,
Bridget Marquardt of "Girls Next Door" fame

And no paparrazzi!! Which was a big tipoff (for me), a few weeks ago when Jessica Alba stepped out of an SUV in front of Little Next Door and, my guests had to tell me who she was.

I will leave you with that, and a big thank you for reading yet another compelling post from...

Your faithful Tour Maestra,
Diane Scalia