Forget the chains: excellent coffeehouses and cafes abound all around us

Think of Pacific Palisades as a lofty castle, perched high on a hill’ Surrounding that castle is a moat of tasty, pungent mud that’ll perk you up in the morning and provide an animating charge at night. OK, so my analogy may be weak, but the aroma of good java and ambiance is strong, as some of the West Coast’s most colorful, hospitable, and, well, novel coffeehouses and sidewalk cafes are just a short drive away. Coffee chains’feh! Bean there, done that’ Personally, I coronate CORAL TREE CAF’ in neighboring Brentwood (at San Vicente Blvd. just east of Barrington) the king of all coffee spots. Awash with UCLA undergrads studying their brains out and aspiring screenwriters trying to look cool while Paul Haggis bangs out another Oscar-magnet screenplay in the corner, Coral Tree serves up yummy banana and caramel caf’s au lait, and out-bakes Kate Mantilini’s macaroni and cheese at half the price. Even their house coffee tastes good (buy a size small, it’s refillable anyway). The Coral Tree has charm to spare”bright and airy indoors with high ceilings, woodsy decor, and pale yellow walls; an expansive patio outside with a crackling fire pit (which I’ve dubbed the ‘Lord of the Rings’ table); and a covered section that will suffice even in the heaviest downpour. Animated and social, Coral Tree delivers the best combination of tasty beans and delicious eye candy on the Westside. One minor caveat: beware of the Sunday night Persian (meat) market, a tsunami-of-a-social scene when the Tree is over-packed. You’ll feel like a sardine crashing a private wedding, and your chances of finding a seat may be Olsen twin-thin. Slick yet accessible, the local URTH CAFFE chain is hotter than Kristi and Mark on “Dancing With the Stars.” Urth delivers excels in merging Euro-ambiance with solid service and product. Unlike, say, a Coffee Bean, each of the three Urths is distinct. But neither of them trumps the original West Hollywood location (8565 Melrose Avenue, near La Cienega), where the greatest complaint about the warm wooden interior and the ample terrace is that each area is usually packed with attractive people, and seating often takes a while. Santa Monica’s Urth (2327 Main St.) ups the Italiano ante with its slick patio. I used to believe that the downtown Beverly Hills location (267 S. Beverly Dr.) seemed haunted, but the BH Urth has grown on me and I frequent it often, armed with a sketch book or some writing to edit. My preferred spot: the elevated rear patio. The women who work here are spectacularly nice. Tell Al’ that Michael sent ya! If ever there were a Most Original Coffeehouse Award, I’d present it to the NOVEL CAF’ (212 Pier Ave., off Main Street) on the Santa Monica/Venice border. Two rooms, two levels of cozy furniture, home-grown artwork, 30 types of herbal tea, noshes that include bagels and wedding cookies, and shelves and shelves of fiction books (hence the name). The Novel started out as a rare bookshop. Original owner Richard Karno would put out a couple pots of coffee for his patrons. Then he added pastries. Before long, the storefront evolved into a full-steam java-serving enterprise with kitchen, and the bookshop went from rare to extinct. When current owner John Chung bought the Novel from Karno (who went on to create the local Groundwork chain), he expanded on ‘the vibe, the environment,’ says Novel general manager Miguel Garcia. ‘I’ve seen so many places that tried to duplicate this place, but they can’t copy the coziness.’ This literary lounge may not be where all of the beautiful people gather, but it’s where the interesting people congregate. The screenwriters are busy working here while the actors are just up Main schmoozing their agents at Urth. At the sidewalk tables, painters debate art, politics’just about anything late into the night. Located on the funkiest street in Venice””the Greenwich Village-esque Abbot Kinney Boulevard (home to a clutch of fun annual festivals)”ABBOT’S HABIT (1401 Abbot Kinney Blvd.) grabs the Most Original Name Award. This modest little java joint bristles like the Lower East Side between two savory holes-in-the-wall: Abbot’s Pizza (home of the bagel-crust pie), and the cheap, generous and tasty Tortilla Grill. UN-URBAN CAF’ (3301 Pico Blvd.), a multi-room scene teeming with local art, remains a popular destination for ‘caf-fiends’ jonesing for open mike jams. Further west, THE TALKING STICK (1630 Ocean Park Blvd.), a compact haven located on a poorly lit Santa Monica block, offers a snug, grass roots space enlivened by towering oil paintings and live music. Patrons here are so loyal that many stop in every morning and wordlessly place and pay for their orders with nary a word exchanged with the barista: she already knows what her regulars want! Unfortunately, the fun ends in July, when apparently the block’s landlords will force its closure. But there is a happy ending”make that a happy new beginning”for the Stick. ‘In August 2008, we are planning to reopen at 1411c Lincoln Blvd in Venice,’ owner Rich Braaksma informs the Palisadian-Post. ‘We’ve always aimed to have a living room kind of environment and to be a place for artists as well as musicians to thrive. ‘In fact, that’s where the name ‘The Talking Stick’ comes from – a talking stick was a Native American icon – everyone gets a chance to hold the stick and speak from the heart who they are and where they’re coming from. We see the community vibe and music and art all contributing to a place where everyone is welcome and gets to speak and participate.’ At the end of Washington Boulevard in Marina del Rey, you’ll find the micro-roasting, bovine-boasting COW’S END. This is the (Holstein) spot to hit after that late afternoon walk with the ducks along the Venice canals. Cow’s End stays open until midnight, so no need to rush. If you’re looking for a quiet place to chat up a friend, the most low-key spot is Silver Lake’s COFFEE TABLE (2930 Rowena Ave.). My buddy Jamie used to call it ‘The Coffee Morgue’ because of its lack of face time, but I appreciate the Table’s placidity. Spacious, colorful, with an excellent patio out front. In June 2004, Tom Trellis, inspired by his domestic partner, Mark Gunsky (owner of the Studio City digs Aroma Coffee and Tea Company) turned an escrow office into the whimsical ALCOVE CAF’ & BAKERY (1929 Hillhurst Ave., Los Feliz). ‘Atmosphere was important to me,’ Trellis says. ‘We often hear they’re transported somewhere else’Northern California, New England, Napa, Paris.’ Try Wonderland. Like a Lewis Carroll fever dream, this establishment is prefaced by a massive patio garden with illuminated twisting trees and a side patio on which you can plop down in big chairs forged from wooden doors, with knobs on the arm rests, that completes the Mad Hatter air. Surprisingly, not all of it was preplanned. The distinctive armchairs, designed by a furniture-making customer, came later. While imported beans, hand-roasted weekly by Fonte, a noted Seattle-based micro-roaster, gives the joint street cred, sweetening the pot is the fact that Alcove is a card-carrying Green Restaurant Association member with a comprehensive recycling program (top that, Starbucks!). Don’t bother flying to Paris this weekend for French press coffee. Hot Santa Monica brunch spot BREAD AND PORRIDGE (2315 Wilshire Blvd.) has it, as does two excellent gourmet pancake destinations on the fringes of the Fairfax District: CAFFE LATTE (6254 Wilshire Blvd. at Crescent Heights), home of cappuccino pancakes; and THE GRIDDLE (7916 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood), which”in addition to micro-roasts, lattes and mochas’crafts an ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ breakfast item (a shot of espresso and semisweet chocolate chips injected into its buttermilk flapjacks). By now, you’re screaming, ‘Hey! What about the Palisades?!’ Frankly, this town could use a real coffeehouse. Although better known for its al fresco grounds than for its coffee grounds, CAF’ VIDA has some items to accompany its sidewalk caf’ atmosphere. The Sunset/Swarthmore shop is better designed than most STARBUCKS locations with its charming patio. That COFFEE BEAN & TEA LEAF just catty-corner is kind of cozy. But if you’re off to work and you’re craving flavorful, no-nonsense coffee, ix-nay on the fu-fu and hit the NOAH’S BAGELS. Cheaper, less sugary, more bite.

Malibu isn’t quite Ireland’s rugged west coast, but the Malibu Stage Company’s staging of ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ is nonetheless enhanced by the theater’s remote location, enveloped in the fragrance of the Santa Monica Mountains’ chaparral and salty ocean air. The first play in Martin McDonagh’s Leenane trilogy, ‘Beauty Queen’ explores the fishing village of Connemara, ‘a wild mountainous country populated by misfits and miscreants,’ where ‘it seems like God has no jurisdiction.’ The time is uncertain, the story unfurls against the misery of this small Irish village, crippled by an exportation of opportunity and a slack economy. We are thrust into the quiet, but seething, vortex of a mother and daughter, whose lives plays out, with no relief, within the confines of their stultifying living room, as toxic as a slow gas leak. Maureen, a lonely and sexually starved spinster, paces out her life, spoonful by spoonful, caring for her elderly mother, who is soured by self-loathing and bitterness. As the play opens, we are witness to the caustic routine of these women’s lives. Mag (Joan Beendict Steiger) awaits her daughter’s return so she can resume her relentless demands’a cup of tea, a dish of porridge–chased by a litany of complaints. Maureen (Linda DeMetrick) comes in from the outside, removes her mud boots and foul weather gear–her shoulders slumped, her hair matted–and sags into a chair at the small kitchen table. She braces herself. The arc of the play ascends with the news that Maureen’s one-time sweetheart, Pato Dooley (Ty Power), has returned from London for a visit. There will be a party, which brings Maureen above sea level, buoyed by hope. She buys a new dress. Playwright McDonagh, an Irishman who grew up in England, is expertly equipped to convey the contempt the Irish have for the English. The conflict in Northern Ireland entered its bloodiest phase during McDonagh’s childhood. As a result, he writes in an English that uses Gaelic syntax, producing the convoluted sentences of Connemara, as exemplified in the following excerpt from ‘Beauty Queen’: Maureen’s would-be lover describes his life as a construction worker in England: ‘And when I’m over there in London and working in rain and it’s more or less cattle I am, and the young fellas cursing over cards and drunk and sick, and the foul digs over there, all pee-stained mattresses and nothing to do but watch the clock.’ Notwithstanding the dour landscape of McDonagh’s fictional world, his Irishman’s mastery of irony and capacity to live fully in the moment provide much welcomed comic relief. Leenane is a place where memories resemble grudges, where love struggles to stay rooted, and where dreams replace reality. While McDonagh is a master at the mechanics of dramatic narrative, Carmen Milito’s direction and the superb ensemble acting bring this production to a fine point. Designer Jeff Robinson’s one-room set conspires to enflame the emotional kindling that lies beneath these hopeless characters’ lives. ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ plays through June 15 at the Malibu Stage Company, 29243 Pacific Coast Hwy. For tickets ($20), call (310) 589-1998.

Last week, we kicked off our Summer Tab comics-related choice picks with a look at the movies (‘A Superhero’s Welcome,’ May 15). And now, we present a round-up of the comic book-related in other media to indulge in…including comics themselves! Here’s some summer fun, whether you’re baking on the sands of Will Rogers State Beach or keeping cool inside your Highlands digs. DVDs If movie theaters make you (and your wallet) itch, bring the action home. Transcending expectations, ‘Transformers,’ based on the popular 1980s morphing robots of toys and comics, turns out to be (surprise!) a good Michael Bay film, marked by a star-making performance by Shia La Beouf (who co-stars with Harrison Ford in ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls’ opening this weekend). ‘Spider-Man 3’ and ‘Rise of the Silver Surfer: Fantastic Four’ offer solid Marvel Comics fun, but ‘Ghost Rider’ falls well short of being as cool as its eponymous hotheaded character. For those seeking mature, ‘grounded in reality’ superhero fare, ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ may well be the best of the Jason Bourne trilogy, while ‘Casino Royale’ does for James Bond what ‘Batman Begins’ did for the Caped Crusader: puts the menace back into its protagonist. Caustic and sardonic, the black humor-singed ‘Art School Confidential’ improves on ‘Ghost World,’ both with screenplays written by and based on comic strips by Oscar-nominated writer and cartoonist Dan Clowes. ‘Confidential’ plays best in its first two acts, as art college satire, before its forced whodunit denouement arrives. On a lighter note, independent filmmaker Allen Freeman shot ‘Dean LeCrone vs. the Mutants of Comic-Con’ at the 2006 San Diego convention. ‘Mutants”’with LeCrone’s Letterman-esque man-on-the-street mocking Comic-Con’s costumed freaks”pithily sums up the mega-convention and its inherent absurdities. This two-disc DVD is available at www.fanaticpress.com. MANGA Via imports or influence, Japanese comics have all but taken over the imagination of American comic book readers. The Tokyo noir of ‘Oldboy’ follows a recently freed man on a lurid odyssey to get the gangsters who imprisoned him for a decade, as well as some answers as to why. This year, the 1997 series by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi wrapped up an eight-book English translation on the Dark Horse imprint. But be warned: the 2003 Korean-made film adaptation falls short of the source material. Also just published: the conclusion of the 12-digest ‘The Drifting Classroom’ (Viz) ” Kazuo Umezo’s sci-fi-ish yarn about a classroom separated by a mysterious sinkhole. Either series makes for solid travel reading. And if you happen to road trip up to the Bay Area, continue your Japanese comics fix with sushi dinner at Manga-Manga in Berkeley (2399 Shattuck Ave.; 510-704-8224), where you can leaf through manga and Superman comics while waiting for another round of sake. GRAPHIC NOVELS, COMICS, & COMICS HISTORY Just because they’re comics doesn’t mean they’re for the kids, folks. The following graphic novels offer mature themes meant to engage older readers. Let’s begin with the most acclaimed graphic novel of 2007. ‘Exit Wounds’ (Drawn & Quarterly), by Israeli cartoonist Rutu Modan, uses the Middle East conflict only as a backdrop to a slice-of-life story about a man learning to fall in love while on a quest to investigate his estranged father’s death. Drawn in a style that evokes the “clear line” aesthetic of European master cartoonist Herg’ (whose iconic ‘Tintin’ comics will soon be the basis of a Steven Spielberg- and Peter Jackson-directed movie trilogy), Modan organically and masterfully shepherds her compelling story to its open-ended conclusion. A thoroughly satisfying read. Many moviegoers may not realize that recent critically acclaimed films ‘The Road to Perdition’ and ‘A History of Violence’ came from graphic novels. If you haven’t checked out the original material, these book-length comics still hold up. Inspired by manga classic ‘Lone Wolf and Cub,’ ‘The Road to Perdition’ (Paradox Press) may not be as well known as its tamer movie counterpart, the 2002 Sam Mendes film starring the Palisadian Tom Hanks, but it deserves to be. This action-packed John Woo-violent period piece, as conceived by writer Max Allan Comics with gritty, illustrative art by Richard Piers Rayner, puts the ‘graphic’ back into graphic novels as ‘Perdition’ explores the contradiction between devout Catholic mob hitman Michael O’Sullivan and his love for his namesake son. O’Sullivan involves the junior Michael in his criminal activity as he hides from and hunts down members of the Irish mob who murdered his family (be sure to seek out the original and not the redundant sequel-prequel, ‘On the Road to Perdition’). The 2005 movie ‘A History of Violence’ was originally a 1997 Paradox Press book illustrated by Vincent Locke and written by British scribe John Wagner, creator of England’s nihilistic future shock comic, ‘Judge Dredd.’ While not as stellar as ‘Perdition,’ ‘History’ is its hard-boiled first cousin, courtesy of Locke’s loose, sketchy style. Worth a gander. Charles Burns returns with his teen plague saga ‘The Black Hole’ (Pantheon), a beautifully warped metaphorical take on mid-1970s adolescence inspired by ’50s sci-fi and paranoia B-movies (and soon to be a film). Incidentally, Burns illustrated the cover to the much buzzed about non-fiction book by David Hajdu, ‘The Ten-Cent Plague’ (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), an in-depth focus on the 1950s debates, spearheaded by Fredric Wertham, that accused comics of corrupting America’s youth and led to the establishment of the Comics Code censorship system. For further comic-book-history reading, ‘Men of Tomorrow’Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book’ (Perseus Books Group), a 2005 release by Gerald Jones, offers a fascinating look at Golden Age pioneers, including the tragic story of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. As for the kiddies, guess who’s making a comeback? Hint: a certain oblong-headed star of 1950s and ’60s claymation toons. Expect myriad Gumby-related projects this summer, including a documentary on creator Art Clokey, and a director’s-cut DVD of ‘Gumby: The Movie’ (with a sequel due in 2010). In March, WildCard Ink, official Gumby comics publisher, collected the first three issues of Bob Burden and Rick Geary’s award-winning series in a ‘Gumby’ trade paperback. This July, a spin-off comic book miniseries launches with Gumby’s pony pal sidekick in ‘Gumby’s Gang Featuring Pokey,’ written by yours truly with art by Rafael Navarro. HAPPENINGS Comic books shop events will keep you social and stocked on reading material all summer long. Get on the e-list of Hi De Ho Comics in Santa Monica (525 Santa Monica Blvd.; 310-394-2820) or The Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach (1807 Manhattan Beach Blvd.; 310-372-6704) to keep abreast of this summer’s comic book action. The Golden Apple (7018 Melrose Ave., Hollywood; 323-658-6047), conveniently located nearby Pink’s Hot Dogs, throws the most exciting in-store events. Recent happenings have included an ‘Iron Man-A-Palooza’ that invited visitors to arrive in home-made costumes. Meltdown Comics & Collectables (7522 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; 323-851-7223) has a gallery space that plays host every three months to the alternative comics mini-convention Super*MARKET (www.supermarketla.com), where local cartoonists sell and sign their wares. Started in 2003 by Jessica Gao, a writer on the Nickelodeon cartoon ‘The Mighty B,’ back when she attended UCLA, Super*Market (fondly named after The Clash song ‘Lost in the Supermarket’) will center on anime/manga on August 31, running from noon to 6 p.m. Of course, any avid comics fan knows that the mother of all happenings is the 39th Annual Comic-Con International (www.comic-con.org), a five-day pop culture orgy from July 23-27 at San Diego’s Convention Center that attracts 100,000 attendees each year. Never a dull moment, but RSVP early: the convention and area hotels sell out fast. Young, old, or in between, there’s plenty of comics-related fun out there to make your summer of 2008 great.

His ranch house transformed the American landscape, and it also ushered in an era of unstuffy, laid-back living

Though he never formally studied architecture, Cliff May (1908-1989) stands out as a major player in 20th-century residential design. His unpretentious ranch-style houses have come to epitomize the postwar American Dream of easy living. A new book by Daniel P. Gregory titled ‘Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House’ (Rizzoli, 2008) shines a brighter light than ever before on May’s influence by showcasing in text and color photos 20 prime examples of his work. May, a longtime resident of Brentwood, designed many homes in Mandeville and Sullivan canyons, including his own home, Mandalay, built in 1954 (the last of three homes he built for himself in this community; it was demolished in 1994). Several of these residences, part of May’s Riviera Ranch development, are featured in the book. A sixth-generation Californian, May first conceived and developed the ranch style in the 1930s. He set out to build homes that suited an informal lifestyle while taking advantage of the state’s temperate climate. Eventually, the ranch-house trend’one he helped spearhead–swept the nation and became the dominant architectural style of suburban houses sprouting up everywhere during the postwar boom. Based loosely on early Spanish adobe houses, May’s classic California ranch house took a radical departure from the formal upstairs-downstairs norm in residential home design. He favored rambling one-story structures with large windows and a low-pitched roof. The main goal of these ground-hugging homes was to allow easy access to the outdoors, where patios, gardens, courtyards and covered terraces could abound. Privacy mattered, too. May sometimes took this to an extreme, designing street-facing facades entirely absent of windows. In an interview in 1936, he explained: ‘The early Californians had the right idea. They built for the seclusion and comfort of their families, for the enjoyment of relaxation in their homes. We want to perpetuate these ideas of home building.’ That same year, May met up with the editors of Sunset magazine. From the start, his style carried with it the promise of the mythic West, something Sunset found irresistible. ‘The editors discovered him in the mid-1930s and it was love at first sight,’ Gregory, himself a former senior home editor at Sunset, said during a recent interview. ‘He was both progressive and Western.’ At the time, houses built specifically for Western living were hard to find. May’a skilled builder and promoter as well as a designer’had already made a name for himself building small ranch homes in San Diego and Los Angeles, projects that meshed perfectly with Sunset’s mission to provide ‘Western solutions to Western problems.’ His houses were functionally modern yet warmly romantic. The magazine published two best-selling books devoted to May’s vision. The first, ‘Western Ranch Houses,’ was published in 1946; a second version, illustrating how May’s architecture was moving in new directions, came out in 1958. May’s flair for self-promotion led to a friendship with another major booster, Elizabeth Gordon, the influential editor of House Beautiful. The magazine zoomed in on May’s life in a reality TV-style way, headlining an April 1946 issue ‘Meet a Family Who Really Knows How to Live.’ The article provided an intimate, behind-the-scenes portrait of the May household and their easygoing Western lifestyle. ‘To readers in the East, this new and distinctly California way of living seemed so exotic,’ says Gregory. ‘It was a huge article, with whole sections written by the Mays themselves, describing all the gizmos incorporated in the house along with recipes and details about where they ate.’ Among the new concepts introduced to a national audience was May’s endorsement of a concrete slab and no basement. He famously proclaimed: ‘If you can’t walk out of the living room onto the ground, why, you’re not living like a real Californian.’ In many ways, the multi-talented May personified the rugged individualism of the West. He started out as a furniture builder before teaching himself how to design and build houses. Many other pursuits’as horseman, pilot, jazz musician, and collector of automobiles and antiques’contributed to his larger-than-life persona. When it came to design, livability trumped form and fa’ade in May’s mind. While he incorporated many modernist aspects in his designs’large expanses of glass, open and flexible floor plans, up-to-date conveniences’he always softened the edges by using board-and-batten siding or adding rustic elements such as split-rail fences and wood grilles. ‘He was more interested in ways to connect the inside to the outside than any theory about modernism,’ Gregory says. ‘While others talked about abstraction, Cliff was really working it out, making a house more functional.’ Still, Gregory regards the daring of May’s 1949 ‘Skylight House’ as on par with the great movers and shakers of the day (that same year, Philip Johnson unveiled his iconic ‘Glass House’; Mies van der Rohe’s ‘Farnsworth House’ came two years later). May’s house features a huge operable skylight and moveable cabinetry amid an enormous open plan. ‘He was first and foremost an inventor,’ notes Gregory. ‘He wasn’t constrained by theory. That gave him the freedom to work out his ranch house and take it to its logical end.’