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| A 1957 advertisement. (Click on image to zoom in) |
The French Cafe was demolished in 2007. The building sat at the corner of Whittier and 22nd Street for decades. Its demise upset the Montebello community. Some hoped that the old structure would find re-use as a community theater. The following pictures were taken yesterday on my pilgrimage to the site. (Click on image to zoom in)
This was my favorite restaurant as a kid growing up in Monterey Park. For every birthday or special occasion, my brother and I would ask to go to the French Restaurant to celebrate. I was so saddened to discover it had been demolished. So many fond memories. I wish I could have seen it once more or gotten a menu as a memento. Time marches on but not always for the better...
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It was also my favorite restaurant growing up in Monterey Park during the 60s. I wonder if we knew each other? Diane
DeleteI remember some guy would walk around making small talk with all the customers, a really sweet man! He used to mention "The Litle le chicken!" All the time!
DeleteThat would have been Marcel.
DeleteMy Family would eat there often. It would usually be a gathering of more than 10 Italian people .My father is now passed on but I remember better days in that place.
DeleteMy Grandpa used to take us there. I loved the onion soup with delicious bread and butter. Marcel was very charming and would bring me a cherries jubilee. Good people and great memories
DeleteThis was DEFINITELY my favorite restaurant back in the 50's and 60's while growing up in East L.A. My Mom worked there before I started school. I got to go in there while she worked and the staff shoved great French Fries and other great food in my face. I even sat at the bar and Marcel made me Hopalong Cassidy's (Shirley Temple's). How in the world can they tear this place down??? "Ay Ca rumba"! As Bart Simpson would say!
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother worked there during that time and my aunt was named Jeanne probably after the owner. We used to go there when I was a kid in the sixties every time there was a first communion or special occasion
DeleteDo you have any recipes
DeleteThanks for posting my above comments. In case anyone reading this would be interested the French Cafe was actually a Basque style restaurant. You ordered your main course usually roast beef or chicken then soup, salad, french fries, etc were all brought out family style in huge amounts. Marcel and Jeanne (she liked being called Jennette) were Basque from the northern area of France. OK, enough history!
ReplyDeleteHi, I visited Jeanne in 1987 when I was in California, the French Cafe was closed but she lived there. I'm so sorry to know that Marcel and Jeanne's restaurant was desmolished !
Deleteand for information, Jeanne was born in Béarn (not in "Pays Basque")in the southwest of France.
Sorry but Jeanne was my second niece, one of my grandmother's sisters. They were from the south of France My Grandmother was born in Ogre de Bain about five miles from where my Grandfather was born. Another sister "Grace," and her son Marcel worked at the restaurant. "Little Marcel" wanted to keep the restaurant when "Big Marcel" passed but Jeanne wouldn't allow it. "Little Marcel" and his wife Petra, opened a French Restaurant in Pico Rivera On Lakewood Blvd. next to, I believe what was called The Turf Club. Unfortunately, Little Marcel passed in the early 1990's at a very young age.
DeleteWe had many great meals at both restaurants. I truly miss Marcel and Jeanne and Marcel and Petra. We used to fill up on soup, fresh sour dough french bread and Chicken livers in Pate shells, before the main course even got there.
If anyone has the recipe for their soup, please post it, it was great.
Hi Steve,
DeleteI'm not sure how you were related to Jeanne but she only had one sister, my Grandmother Grace. You are correct, Jeanne was from a small town called Ogeu les Bains located in the southern part of France. After my uncle died, my aunt Jeanne said "that they build it together they would end it together". My father "little Marcel" had no urge nor intentions to ever open the French Cafe as he respected my aunt's wishes. Having been in the restaurant business for the majority of his life, he decided to open his own years later. You are are right in the fact that many wonderful memories were made in both the French Cafe and the Chateau Briand and I thank you for sharing yours. I know that my family would have been very happy to know that so many people thought so fondly of them as well as their restaurant. Merci, Michelle
P.S. My grandmother was the one who made the soup at the French Cafe:-)
Having just spent 2 days in Oloron, Ogeu-les-Bains, and Pau visiting my cousins (of the Lauberge side of the family) I'm sad that I missed visiting this place as an adult. Alexandrine was my great-grandmother, Grace Catharine was my grandmother, and Richard (Reilly) was my father. And I'm Jonathan Reilly. Living the good life in Reseda.
DeleteThe world, she is pretty big.
Hi Michelle seen your post from 2013, wondering if you have the French Cafe soup recipe, noticed you mentioned your Grandmother made the soup
DeleteHi Michelle read your old post about the French Cafe, wondering if you have the recipe for the soup that your Grandma made there. Would really love to make some & bring back great memories. Thanks
DeleteI have tried in vain for 43 years to come close to the incomparable Vegetable Soup!! Today was no exception: Vegetable Stock attempt #516! I’m fairly certain all the soups began with homemade stock! I used fresh herbs parsley, chervil and thyme. Peppercorns and kosher salt. I used the typical, onion, garlic, celery and very little carrot regarding veg. Still not quite right😫
DeleteWould I be close if I tried adding either a turnip or a fennel bulb or both to the stock on the next try?? Also, maybe celery root instead of celery ribs?? As you can tell I’ve given this extensive thought and experimentation! If I ever get it right, I’ll spend the next 43 years figuring out the spaghetti!! I’m 62 yrs old😂😂😂
Hello Michelle
Deletewhy didnt you guys fix the restaurant up I think it would of been such a great establishment. I use to be scare to pass by that restaurant my grandma would always talk about the owner and would tells that the owner was such a sweet lady.
Hi Michelle, my mother Antonietta Infusino has so many wonderful memories of your Grandmother Grace. She and my mom had many special times together.
DeleteMy family loved the soup so much.... One ingredient that wasn't mentioned above in the comments is Leeks.... Someone told my Mom that was one ingredient... It makes sense
DeleteMy Mother was told by A waiter that Leeks were one ingredient in the soup
DeleteI have two jugs bottled exclusively for Marcel & Jeanne's French Restaurant anyone have an idea what they're worth now?
ReplyDeleteUsed to the French Cafe while growing up in Montebello . Actually , had great spaghetti , and the dishes that had a bisquit type of item with gravy !
ReplyDeleteWonder what ever happened to Johnny , the waiter ?
Sounds like the Chicken livers in Pate shells. They were Great.
DeleteI remember Johnny the waiter! A rather petite portly fellow with a high voice. My parents took me there as a 7? year old. I said something in a high voice to him and he had a sharp retort for my smartass self!
DeleteI went to the French Cafe with my girlfriend and her family in the 60's. MY fav was the French Vegetable Soup. If anyone knows the recipe that would be great! We would drive there from Norwalk.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the pics. Makes me want to cry. They had the best food I ever tasted. We used to go there all the time from the time I was a baby. I was hoping one of the family members opened a restaurant in the area. We moved away years ago but would come back if I knew I could get food like that. I wonder about Johnny & Fifi too. We always had Fifi for our waitress. I am still trying to make the soup. The only place I've eaten that is similar is (never as good) is Woolgrowers in Bakersfield. If anyone know's of any place like the french cafe PLEASE post it.
my cousin and i were driving down whittier blvd.the other day and we were trying to remember the actual site of marcel and jeanne restaurant. We were able to pinpoint it to whittier and 22nd. Many fond memories going to dinner with my grandparents in the early 1970s.
ReplyDeletemy cousin and i distinctly remember the waiter johnny who we commonly referred to as "juanito".Does anyone out there know what happened to him?
My grandparents owned the service station at the corner of Maple and Olympic back in the late 50's to late 70's and they always went to the French Cafe on Sundays and sometimes we (as kids) were allowed to go. We didn't know what the flaky shells with sauce were as a kid but loved them. I soon discovered that if I ordered my roast beef well done, I got alot more than anyone else! Even though I now live in San Bernardino Co, I would still drive there to return to a childhood treat.
ReplyDeleteHello everyone- my family went to the "Marcel & Jean's French Café almost every Sunday after church - My Uncle Jim - Jim Matoian from People's Disposal in Santa Fe Springs- Johnny & his wife always waited on our table -we have the recipe for the soup but it never ever tastes the same as the soupt at Frenchies.. I would love to have the chopped liver in gravy recipe - it was delicious - at least let me know the name so I can look it up in a French Cook Book'- thank you Sandy Ross hyesandy @yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteHi Sandy just read your old post about the French Cafe, would love to get their famous soup recipe if possible you said you have. Thanks
DeleteYou have the Vegetable Soup recipe??!!!
DeleteIf you can’t share the exact recipe, how about an ingredient list!!!! Many thanks❤️
We went to the French cafe' every Sunday..I would love to duplicate any recipes anyone has..I have the ingredients for the soup..however would love the chicken liver in Pastry shell
Deletejust this evening I was telling my wife about the French Cafe...back in the early 70s we'd go there as kids with mom &dad...nothing like it...that chicken they used to make...i can still taste it!!Sad to see its gone...
ReplyDeleteI remember the 'vol au vents' the livers in those dishy shells, and the cherries jubilee ice cream. dad would take us there for a special treat in the sixties! i'm looking everywhere for the recipes!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-liver-vol-au-vents-431069 similar to the delicious vol au vents at marcel and jeannes!
ReplyDeleteFYI! They were actually chicken gizzards not chicken livers, but they were delicious!
DeleteThey were gizzard mushrooms and chicken liver
DeleteOh the memories of The French Cafe...my parents started going there when Marcel and Jeanette first opened - sometime in the late '30's I believe. When my sister was born in 1940 they went for dinner and upon leaving Marcel came running after them reminding them that "they forgot the baby!"...my sister sleeping in a basket carrier. We continued eating there up until its closing. Who could ever forget (or duplicate) Grace's vegetable soup? The spaghetti...the Long Island Duckling...the crusty bread (that Marcelle picked up at a French Basque bakery La Puente in his funny looking Citron car...or those wonderful beef dip sandwiches...and the bar with its cool "dial a song" juke box...Mary Blower at the organ....Angelo the bartender....and Frankie, the best waitress ever! The French Cafe was an institution and I feel so fortunate to have experienced it...if ONLY I could repeat that soup....Grace did once tell my Mom that one secret was adding a turnip, but it doesn't taste the same. Thing is, those people put their lives into their business. One more anecdote...Marcel and my Dad once went dove hunting in the hills off Garfield in Monterey Park...yes there were open spaces back in the 40's there...anyway, Marcel brought the lunch and I still remember my Dad talking about the lunch that Jeanette packed for them...he was salivating, just thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteWe always passed by this intriguing restaurant growing up in Montebello, and one day we celebrated a birthday here with our late mother. It was our first French restaurant, and the food was unfamiliar, but the portions were generous and Jeanne was gracious and nice. We never returned, but I always saw the old place whenever I returned to Montebello, until one day I didn't! Thanks for the memories. BTW, are you related to the Ms. Uyeda who taught at La Merced Intermediate in the '70s? Thanks, Calvin
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous of February 15th - I appreciate your recollections. I am not related to the teacher of Merced Intermediate.
ReplyDeleteTake care!
Used to go there mainly for special occasion. I remember the great spaghetti and bread. It seemed like they served a spaghetti course with everything. The last time I went there was memorable too. It was the day Reggie Jackson hit 3 home runs in a world series game against the dodgers.
ReplyDeleteI have very wonderful memories of this establishment from the 1960's through the early 70's. I am so sad its gone. I grew up in west Covina and left in the 70's. Came back to visit and regret not going back before it was demolished. They had these wonderful several course meals. God Bless Marcel and Jean. Wish I knew more about them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a little girl my dad would take me there along with other relatives...I so enjoyed the food my favorite was the chicken livers in the puff pastry baskets...everything was served family style with the impression you were having dinner at a family home instead of a restaurant...so sadden to see this wonderful landmark torn down and is now an empty lot (from photos)....it seems that no matter the history of a certain place a building has in LA it is torn down for no apparent reason.
ReplyDeleteWe lived in nearby Pico Rivera, and we would often take the bus up Whittier Blvd in the 60's to shop in downtown LA. The bus drove by the restaurant and no one mentioned this but I seem to remember that in front of the restaurant, as part of the landscaping, there was a miniature French village or town, with maybe even a little Eiffel Tower. Being a kid, I was enchanted with it. Unfortunately, we never got to eat there. It was one of my favorite things to see on the bus ride downtown, right up there with the building shaped like a tamal(e), which was also on Whittier Blvd, either in East LA or LA.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the memories Laurie. Have you read my latest posting on Parker Center and the Paris Inn that used to be there? They had a scene of the Eiffel Tower inside...
DeleteI'm from Downey and my parents used to takes us kids in the 60s. Johnny was an unforgettable waiter. The duck was wonderful. I still remember the soup, the bread, and the spaghetti served before the main course. The Eiffel tower in blue neon was magical. There was a doll hospital across the street. Back then there were no Chuck E. Cheeses. Children behaved in the company of adults. I remember once I told Johnny, "My compliments to the chef." He just about fell out and had to go tell the folks in the kitchen. I was all of 8 years old. That is where I would drink "Supermans," kind of like a Shirley Temple, was it grenadine syrup and 7-up? Sweet memories. My dad loved that place; I wonder if it reminded him of the French family he stayed with during WWII while in the Army Air Corps. Who knows? Though I majored in Spanish, I grew up thinking the French were pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteI used to drive down Whittier Boulevard and this closed restaurant used to get my attention I would always look for it just for its unusual architecture later on in life I always wondered about it and couldn't find it I guess that's where it ended up being demolished thank you for all the history that I always wondered about now I know
ReplyDeleteOh...the fond memories of The French Cafe from 1957-1970. Simply the best!
ReplyDeleteOne sunday back in the 70's we celebrated Father's day at the French Cafe. Good memories, great food served family style.
ReplyDeleteI just discovered this blog post and loved reminiscing with everyone about Mouliot's Restaurant in Montebello even though most posts are from 7 years ago. We lived in Chino and went to the restaurant quite often because our grandfather Domingo Mendionde's aunt Anna (Mendionde) Arrix lived in the little apartment above the kitchen. Anna was Basque from the village of Les Aldudes in France but she was married to Jean Baptiste Arrix from Arudy in the Bearn, where the Mouliots were from. Not sure how Anna started working there or their connection with the Mouliots. Also not sure whether she cooked or was a waitress but for us she always lived in that apartment above the restaurant from the early 60s until about 1980 when she was in her 80s. That's when she went to a nursing home in Alhambra until she died at 95 in 1988. I remember Johnny like everyone one else a lovable little waiter with the shrill voice and his wife was always there by his side. I last saw both of them at our aunt's funeral in 1988. So many great memories of this wonderful restaurant.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Mitch, for your rich memories. To date, out of my 100+ blog posts, this one has garnered the most comments.
ReplyDeleteI have decades of memories from French Cafe. My folks started taking me there as a young child. Young Marcel waited on us from that time until I was in college. I loved the salad, especially with the little macaroni pasta in it, the soup, spaghetti, then roast beef was always the main entree. My father was a translator during WWII, so I decided to take French in school, wanting to teach it. At that point I spoke it fluently enough to order our meals in French from Marcel. I will always remember him saying, "She sounds like she just came off the boat". It was a great compliment. It is sad to see one of my favorite restaurants gone, leaving a bare lot. Perhaps by now, something has taken it's place, but nothing will ever compare to the memories I have. I first had Shirley Temples there as a youngster, & can still see the bar where we sat, waiting for our table. Fond memories. Au revoir.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your fond remembrances!!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a while since anyone posted but I just found this blog. Sundays at the French Cafe were always a delight as I grew up in Montebello in the 60's. My Mom spent years trying to perfect the chicken in wine that was served. I've been trying myself to find a recipe for the "vol au vents" that were served (I couldn't remember if it was chicken liver, mushrooms or both). Thanks to whoever posted a link to a recipe I am going to try it. On the soup--a year or so ago I ate at the Naples restaurant in Downtown Disney in Anaheim. I am a huge soup lover--so I of course ordered the minestrone soup and then was sharing pizzas with others. From my first sip of the soup I was transported back to the French Cafe! For my palate it is the closest I have ever come to tasting something so similar to what was served from Jeanne's kitchen!
ReplyDeleteMy aunt Martina still remembers clearly some of the recipes. She’s 90 and worked in the kitchen for 30 years
ReplyDeleteI am 67 went there as well as a kid for special occasions. Yes! The soup, I took have tried to recreate it. I think parsnips were definitely in it, as well as carrots and celery. Anyone else want to share what you think or can remember of the ingredients.
ReplyDeleteMy mother Antonietta now 87, worked there for many years. So many fond memories for her and us as a family. We were just reminiscing today and I came across this. Michelle and Yvette my mother remembers you little girls so fondly.
ReplyDeleteAnother memory was when my parents and I took Marcel and Jeanette to Los Angeles International Airport in our fairly new '54 Pontiac. We arrived, parked and went in with them all the way to their departure gate. Being about 2 hours before flight time, the head stewardess (flight attendant) took us out to the TWA Super Constellation for their flight to Paris and gave us a full tour and introduced us to the flight crew. I think I was 6 at the time, so 1955. Something I will never forget!
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