Back to School - The Ivy League of the West, Claremont, California

It’s only 40 minutes away in good traffic but riding the train out here seems like you’re on the east coast, taking  the  Metro North out of the city. The streets are lined with leafy, mature trees…many that drop their leaves in late fall…the coffee bars filled with bearded college professors and students trying to get a degree within this lifetime.

Known as the “Ivy League of the West,” the handful of universities that make up the Claremont Colleges are names that regularly appear on each year’s list of the best… Claremont-McKenna, Pomona College, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Scripps.

There’s money, talent, and knowledge wandering around here. It’s also a good reason why so many people fall in love with the Inland Empire town of Claremont separated by two sets of hills, a valley, and four freeways from Los Angeles and bumps up right against the San Bernardino County line.

The heart of Claremont is a 10 square block area halfway between the 10 and 210 freeways along Indian Hill Boulevard known at The Village. It’s here where you’ll find the best of what the town offers.

Possibly the most transit-enabled town in the Inland Empire, Claremont is served well by Metrolink commuter rail from Union Station in Los Angeles and the buses of Foothill Transit. The trains and buses converge on the beautifully restored train depot at the south end of The Village making everything within walking distance and eliminating the need for a car.

If you do want to drive, that’s okay too. There’s plenty of parking and the area is bracketed by two major freeways.

Arriving in the morning, you can grab a quick breakfast at Crepes de Paris at the new addition to The Village, the Packing House, on the west side of Indian Hill Boulevard. The Packing House is an old citrus packing shed that’s be redesigned into a space for shops, restaurants, and nightclubs.  Night owls will want to visit the Hip Kitty jazz club here or the comedy club upstairs.

Walking off breakfast, head east to Yale Avenue…one block east of Indian Hill…where The Village’s “downtown” is.  The last Rhino Records shop exists here along with the world famous Claremont Folk Music Center. This little music shop, crammed with every instrument you can imagine, and many you can’t, is a popular stop for some of the world’s top musicians to stop by and give impromptu concerts.

Going a couple of blocks further east you come across the campuses of the colleges, all kind of mixed together.  Check bulletin boards…you can catch some free entertainment such as concerts or plays. The colleges are associated with SCIAC, a NCAA athletic conference, and you can catch some college sports there too such as football, basketball, and baseball.  The stadium where the Claremont-McKenna-Scripps Stags play…located in a little pine forest…is one of the prettiest you’ll ever see.

If you’re hungry for lunch, stop in one of the several cafeterias on campus or Café Sagehen, a full-service sit down restaurant serving upscale meals with wine and beer available. Back in The Village, a number of restaurants serve a great lunch too.  Pizza ‘n Such, Village Diner, and Espiau’s  are suitable for a nice midday meal.

After lunch, options include going to Bert and Rocky’s at the north end of Yale Avenue for ice cream and dessert; going up to the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens a few blocks north on Foothill for some great wheelchair accessible hiking trails; or taking in a matinee at the Laemmle Theatre on Indian Hill and Bonita Avenue.

If you’re still around at dinner time, Claremont has two of the gourmet burger places in Southern California. The Back Abbey (in the alley behind the Laemmle) serves its signature burger…a large patty with aged gouda, mustard aoli, carmelized onions bacon, and fresh greens served on brioche… along with a nice selection of Belgian beers.

Just around the corner, back at the Packing House, is Eureka!...serving a range of gourmet burgers that is as good as the Back Abbey…along with their selection of local craft brews.

Looking for something more than burgers? Aruffo’s serves quality Italian fare in a relaxed atmosphere back over on Yale.

Some people fall in love enough to spend the night. Casa 425, across from the Packing House, is the area’s trendy boutique hotel.

If you’re in Southern California, save a day to visit this pretty college town just a short drive…or train ride…east of Los Angeles.

For more information, visit The Village's website: http://thevillageclaremont.com/

-Darryl

Copyright 2012 – Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved

ADVENTURES CLOSE TO HOME: Exploring Without a Car

 

While we had fun in Baja, the bumpy dirt roads to the beach weren't to kind to our wheelchair lift.  Not long after we returned home, it began to make all sorts of awful noises before quitting altogether.  The local mobility dealer said they could fix it but they had to order parts and we had to wait (it would eventually take over 3 weeks).

Being stuck in the house is no adventure, even for a homebody like Tim.  The only decent restaurant within walking distance to our house is a pizza parlor (which we walked to the first week) but after 2 weeks, with cabin fever setting in and our anniversary date arriving, we had to do something.

Consulting our local bus company's web page, we found that the line by our house would easily take us to Pasadena or Claremont, both fun places to kill time. We chose Claremont and walked to the bus stop.

It's about an hour ride to the Metrolink Train Depot in Claremont, where the bus drops us off.

It's a very pretty college town. If you saw our earlier report on Claremont or it's doppleganger...Davis, in northern California...you can get a glimpse of what we're in store for.

Browsing the shops, Letty gets some custom made lotion at one of the shops and I get this mini Hohner harmonica at one of the world's best music stores, the Claremont Folk Music Center.

Hungry for dinner, we end up at the Press for some vegetarian lasagna and drinks. It's OK, but Letty is not happy with the lazy service or the bread that comes out with the hardness of a hockey puck.

She declares we will not be darkening the door of this establishment again.  No worries, we've still got Eureka!, Union on Yale, Aruffo's, and many more restaurants we've still yet to try here.

After dinner, we go with something much more reliable, dessert at Bert and Rocky's ice cream parlor.

Grabbing some candy to go, we head over to the nearby bus stop to catch our ride home.

 

Darryl

Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved

TRIP REPORT: The Inland Empire, Southern California - Part 2

In Part 1 of this report, we did a little exploration of the area in the neighborhood of Ontario International Aiport (ONT).  Now, we're going to explore beyond and see what the rest of the Inland Empire has to offer...

As complete and busy as Ontario is, I think I’d still prefer to stay somewhere else.  Just to the west of Ontario is the college town of Claremont.  A shady, tree lined and beautiful suburb nestled at the junction of superb transit connections surrounded by great shops, restaurants, and campuses that’ll make you think you’re in the Ivy League.  My choice here would be to stay at the DoubleTree Hotel on the corner of Foothill and Indian Hill Boulevards. 

This large hotel with expansive grounds sits right on Route 66.  The adjacent shopping center has a Trader Joe’s, a Buca de Beppo, and a nice Mexican restaurant with a patio to sip margaritas on.

A few easy blocks to the south is the Village, the heart of Claremont.  An upscale collection of shops and restaurants surround the Laemmle Theatre, where art films are shown alongside the latest blockbusters.  Before the movie, have some artisan bread at Le Pain Quotidien.  Afterwards have the awesome and expensive Back Abbey burger along with some great Belgian brew and fries in the alley behind the theater but for a more reasonable, and equally good, place for burgers and microbrews, head south a hundred yards to Eureka! Gourmet Burgers and Beer for what we consider the best burgers in Southern California.

For dessert, wander a block east to have one of the custom creations at Bert & Rocky’s Ice Cream parlor.
 

If you need to work off those calories, the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden offers miles of trails through beautiful gardens that are planted with 100% California native plant.  Those trails are also wheelchair accessible and the entrance is located at an easy-to-get-to spot on Foothill Bl., just east of Indian Hill Bl.
 

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Oakshade under CC-BY-SA license

Getting out of town is easy here, at the south end of the Village is the historic train depot, now served by Metrolink.  Wheelchair accessible commuter trains run through here seven days a week, providing easy access to downtown Los Angeles to the west and San Bernardino to the east.  In front of the station, the accessible buses of Foothill Transit offer more connections to points like Old Pasadena, Los Angeles, and the cities along route 66.
 

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Eeekster under CC-BY license

If you’re a skier, a 30 minute drive north up Mills Avenue will put you at the slopes of Mt. Baldy, the closest ski area to Los Angeles.  Water sports lovers will be a little confined at Puddingstone Lake at Bonelli Park, just a little southwest of here between La Verne and Pomona.  Gamblers might like to take in the action of horse races at the Finish Line Sports Grill in the White Avenue parking lot any time of the year for off-track betting.  It's located along the border of La Verne and Pomona.

Speaking of La Verne, locals know that this is one of the best pizza towns around. College students like to hang out at Warehouse Pizza on the corner of Bonita and D Street.  Great pizza, sandwiches, and beer can be consumed on their excellent outdoor patio.  North on D, at the corner of Foothill Blvd., is The Pizza Barn where another delicious pizza awaits you in the drafty dining hall.  For a more sit-down experience, Pizza ‘n Stuff serves another great pie in the Von’s center at the corner of Foothill and Wheeler Avenue.

While many locals have their favorite spots, for me all the La Verne pizza places are good but one rises above the rest, Joey’s Red Devil Pizza in the CVS shopping center on the north side of Foothill and Wheeler (directly across from Pizza ‘n Stuff).
 

Starting off with their worn but comfortable dining room surrounded by Mafia and rock 'n roll knick knacks, we start off with a pitcher of great Hefeweizen while watching sports on one of the five flat screens.  Not on the menu is their cheese and jalapeno breadsticks that will just melt in your mouth with the cup of ranch dressing they bring on the side.  It’s topped off with the best pepperoni, sausage, and American bacon pizza you’re likely to ever have.  The pasta carbonara is also among the best we’ve had. 

The dining room is small but there are 3 or 4 tables that a wheelchair can squeeze into.
 

At the other end of the IE, Riverside is like a faded jewel waiting for its comeback.  Centered around the magnificent Mission Inn Hotel, downtown Riverside has great restaurants sitting beside homeless encampments, government buildings and the county jail.  Not quite ready for its closeup but getting close.  One sign is that the beautiful Fox Theater has just been restored and is now hosting great events just up the block from the Mission Inn.

Heading back west from Riverside on the 60 freeway at the intersection of the 15, amid all the industrial buildings just south of the freeway is a slice of old California.  Galleano Winery still makes wine from local zinfandel grapes.

Cucamonga Valley is one of the state’s oldest wine making areas.  Developmental pressures from nearby Los Angeles has all but wiped out the local industry just leaving a couple of hardy, never-say-die old school winemakers left.

One of those is Don Galleano, who runs his family’s wine making operation.  50 acres of grapes on one side and the warehouses and factories of Riverside County on the other.  In between is the old farm with its barns, houses, and a small zoo.  The little tasting room offers plenty of great tasting wine.  We like to buy a bottle and relax under the trees at their little picnic area next to the animals.
 

It’s also helpful to pick up a coupon here and take it over to Centro Basco, about 5 miles east of here in Chino.  Another relic of the past, this Basque restaurant serves hearty European fare in their dining rooms.  Give the waiter your coupon and receive a free glass of Galleano wine.  Then sit back as course after course of delicious food is brought to your table…soup, salad, bread, pasta, pickled tongue, cheese, steak, vegetables, and French fries.
 

After this hearty and delicious dinner, we head back home to think about what we’ll do next in this unknown but fun and historic area of Southern California.

Darryl

Copyright 2010 - Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved

Best of 2012 - Food

Since Los Tacos de Huicho in Bakersfield is still the best place we know of, we're going to make them ineligible for the "Best of" honors here at The World on Wheels and let them become the first member of our Hall of Fame.  Yes. They are that good. Make it a point to stop there whenever you're in Bakersfield.

Moving on, we had plenty of other food highlights this year.  Best overall restaurant we went to would have to be the wonderful restaurant my friend Peter Francis Battaglia recommended to me, Cafe Benelux in the great city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Anchoring the Third Ward, across the street from the Milwaukee Public Market, this meshing of European low-country inspired dishes, served with a literal bible of great beers, made us want to come back again and again.  Just not enough time in this world to fully explore their menus and deli but we'll certainly try. Favorite dish...the Pannenkoeken.

I love a good burger and the best burger I've ever had is right here at home. It's not cheap at $16, with $1 extra for bacon or cheese, but it is supremely delicious and comes with multi-million dollar views.

The Nelson's Burger, named after the restaurant that serves it, is a big 1/3 pound patty topped with arugula, red onions, black bean mayo, and sweet pickle chips. It's all served with fries.  I also like to add bacon and bleu cheese, which brings the price up to $18 but it's such a good burger and I'm eating it outdoors, next to a warm firepit, on top of a cliff looking out over the Pacific Ocean. Doesn't get any better than this.

Almost as good but at just a little over half the price are the burgers at Eureka! with around a half dozen locations around California. Our local location is in Claremont and the burgers are nothing short of fantastic. My favorite is the one pictured above, the Cowboy Burger served with onion straws, bacon, and an in-house made beer barbecue sauce - priced at $10.95. They also have an extensive selection of locally sourced microbrews on tap.

The best pizza continues to be Joey's Red Devil in La Verne, California. It's so good, we put it on the cover of our book, Golden State Eating: Nine Tales of California Food Destinations. Come on by and let the Monaco family show you how good it can be...don't forget to ask for the secret Roland's Sauce too.

Let's finish up with dessert...also in Claremont is Crepes de Paris, next door to the previously mentioned Eureka!, which makes the best crepes I've had. My favorite is the Dulce de Leche beauty, pictured above, soaked with warm caramel with some Chantilly cream on the side.

Darryl
Copyright 2012 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved