‘Golden Girls’ LA Pop-up Restaurant Has the Golden Touch

Cheesecake dessert items are pictured in front of a portrait of "The Golden Girls" cast at the Golden Girls Kitchen pop-up restaurant, Monday, July 25, 2022, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
Cheesecake dessert items are pictured in front of a portrait of "The Golden Girls" cast at the Golden Girls Kitchen pop-up restaurant, Monday, July 25, 2022, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
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‘Golden Girls’ LA Pop-up Restaurant Has the Golden Touch

Cheesecake dessert items are pictured in front of a portrait of "The Golden Girls" cast at the Golden Girls Kitchen pop-up restaurant, Monday, July 25, 2022, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
Cheesecake dessert items are pictured in front of a portrait of "The Golden Girls" cast at the Golden Girls Kitchen pop-up restaurant, Monday, July 25, 2022, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)

Picture it: A vacant Beverly Hills bistro has been transformed into the set of a 1980s sitcom about four women living in Miami — but it’s also a working restaurant.

Reservations have been going fast at the newly opened The Golden Girls Kitchen. Some patrons have come from out of state to see the pop-up eatery.

Joe Saunders, of Cranston, Rhode Island, his two teenage children and their mother were visiting Northern California when they learned about the pop-up. So they made a special trip south just to see it.

“I was a little hesitant about coming but my kids’ mom really wanted to come,” said Saunders, who was wearing a T-shirt referencing the sitcom’s fictitious Shady Pines retirement home. “It’s been a good time... the lasagna, the strawberry daiquiri and I’m going to have a piece of cake with ice cream, too.”

Thirty years after “The Golden Girls” ended on NBC, fans still can’t let go of the sitcom about four housemates — Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia — bonding over aging, dating and cheesecake. The first month of reservations sold out before the pop-up opened July 30, which the internet deems National Golden Girls Day. It’s just the latest example of the comedy rising to pop culture relevancy again. In just the past few months, the first ever Golden-Con fan convention was held in Chicago and a pilot for an animated, futuristic “Golden Girls” series is being shopped around.

Bucket Listers, an online events company, organized the pop-up. It had the blessing of Disney, which owns the rights to “Golden Girls.” So, organizers were free to put Easter Egg references in the decor and the menu. Upon walking in, fans are immediately greeted by a bartender at the Shady Pines bar. Further inside is a replica of the women’s kitchen counter, complete with a yellow wall phone. Behind the dining room is a recreation of Blanche’s bedroom, including the iconic banana leaf bedspread and wallpaper.

“It has been so heartwarming to see my mom light up. I know that she’s watched the show at least 50 times each season,” said A.J. Maloney, 23, who came from San Diego with her mother, Shellee, 45.

Derek Berry, Bucket Listers’ director of experiences, has plenty of experience staging pop-ups. Since 2016, he has overseen half-a-dozen restaurant tributes starting with a “Saved By the Bell” diner in Chicago. “Breaking Bad,” “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Good Burger” have also inspired fast-casual diners. Berry’s criteria for the pop-up treatment is if a show has “staying power” and people are constantly quoting it. “Golden Girls” was inevitable.

“Every time we announce a pop-up, we look at the comments. People are like ‘I love it, but you should have done this!’ And it’s always ‘Golden Girls,’” said Berry, who worked with a 45-member team.

One of the most fun aspects was working with executive chef Royce Burke to devise menu items and to name them. The choices of course include lasagna — which the Sicilian-born Sophia often cooked — and various flavors of cheesecake. There are also references to Scandinavian delicacies mentioned by Rose in her stories about her hometown of St. Olaf, Minnesota.

“I like all the St. Olaf items where you never knew if they were real or not,” Berry said. “We threw a couple on there. It’s so fun to see my staff and myself try to pronounce them.”

The pop-up only has reservations through late October. But its popularity has been beyond expectations. So much so that there are plans to take it on the road to New York, Chicago, San Francisco and, of course, Miami, Berry added.

“The Golden Girls” premiered in 1985. None of the four stars are alive. Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty all died in the late 2000s and Betty White died last December at age 99. Yet, because of cable reruns and streaming availability on Hulu, the show keeps finding new life and new, younger fans. The widely varying demographics of the restaurant’s patrons are proof of that.

Moses Nicholas and his girlfriend, Johanna James, both 18 and from Los Angeles, had a date over vegan lasagna and vegan cheesecake. Their reservation was a surprise gift from James’ mother, who knew both of them grew up watching “Golden Girls” in syndication and still catch it on Hulu.

“There’s something so relatable to the show for me for some reason,” Nicholas said. “I just find it really funny and it’s very comforting to watch.”

The couple’s ages is just proof the show “never dies,” James added.

Shirley Lyon and her three girlfriends, all of whom are senior citizens, came from Palos Verdes, California, with their own drinkware. The quartet, who call themselves “golden girls,” brought “Golden Girls” mugs they made but with their faces superimposed over the characters. Just being in the restaurant brought back the joy they feel when watching the sitcom.

“People here I think all love them,” Lyon said. “I don’t think anybody comes who hasn’t experienced how precious they are. I just love their friendship.”



Billy Idol on His First Album in over a Decade, the Rock Hall and More

Billy Idol performs during the Vive Latino music festival in Mexico City, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP)
Billy Idol performs during the Vive Latino music festival in Mexico City, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP)
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Billy Idol on His First Album in over a Decade, the Rock Hall and More

Billy Idol performs during the Vive Latino music festival in Mexico City, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP)
Billy Idol performs during the Vive Latino music festival in Mexico City, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP)

When Billy Idol first entered American consciousness in the early '80s, leather-clad and bleached hair in tow, he not only brought a punk rock sound to the mainstream. The Englishman brought a new attitude, a new, rebellious way of being.

In the time since, songs like “White Wedding,” “Rebel Yell” and “Eyes Without a Face” have become instant classics — for those who've worn a spiky jacket and those who've only imagined what it might be like.

Now, over four decades later, he's got the wisdom to reflect. It's led to a new documentary about his life, “Billy Idol Should Be Dead,” which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival — and a new album, the polished punk-pop of “Dream Into It.”

“It was a gradual process, really,” he said of the 11-year span between albums. “It wasn’t so much that we didn’t want to make an album, it was more like we were building up to doing this.”

Idol discussed with The Associated Press this week his new album and forthcoming documentary, his past struggles with addiction, his first-ever Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination and more.

Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.

AP: You've described “Dream Into It” as autobiographical. I thought your last album, 2014's “Kings & Queens of the Underground,” pulled from your life as well.

IDOL: Being this age, in particular, 69, when you look back, you can really see your whole life, how it plays out. And maybe it’s also having grandchildren. My children are having children.

You sort of reach this vantage point where you can really look back and see all the sort of different eras of my life. And you can sing about it. And I think I didn’t go deep enough with the songs I did on “Kings and Queens.” I thought lyrically I could go deeper. That’s one of those regrets I had about the last album. So I really went for it, and I went for more imagery, (on ‘Dream Into It,’ in the) way of talking about my life. I’m not spelling it out exactly.

AP: There are a lot of rock ‘n’ roll women on the album. Joan Jett, Avril Lavigne and The Kills' Alison Mosshart are all featured.

IDOL: (Mosshart's) voice is just incredible. And of course, Joan Jett, I’ve known since 1978 after a Germs/Dead Kennedys concert. We hung out in Los Angeles. I was on a Generation X promotion tour for the first album. And then Avril, I mean, I’ve just been watching her career forever and she’s fantastic. So, it was just great.

AP: The documentary has an evocative title, “Billy Idol Should Be Dead.” It sounds like it may dive into your past struggles with addiction.

IDOL: There was a point in my life when I was living like every day, like, “Live every day as if it’s your last.” One day, you’re going to be right.

In the '70s, in England, you know, young people, we had this feeling that we were being completely ignored. You were even being told that you had no future. And so, we just didn’t think beyond the day-to-day existence. It was probably only when I really started having children and stuff like that, I really starting to realize I (should) try start to give up drugs and things.

I’ve always flirted with death, in a way. Even riding motorcycles, you’re staring at the concrete. It’s right there, you can come off that thing and get horribly messed up. And I’ve done it. It’s horrible. You find out how human you are, how vulnerable. There’s lots of things about my life that, yeah, I did kind of call death at times. Not really mean to, but you just were living like that.

Imagine if it was today. If I was doing what I was back then today, I would be dead because I would have run into fentanyl.

AP: You're nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. Do you think your younger punk rock self would be excited?

IDOL: I do sort of think about Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry and Little Richard. “And what? Are you going to be in something with those guys?” You know, Buddy Holly. These are some of the seminal people who turned on the people that turned me on, you know? Somewhere down the road, it led to punk rock.

Also, my motorcycle has been in the Rock & Roll of Fame for like five years. So I might as well be in it, too.