Do you know what Jerry Lewis, Walter Matthau, Ted Knight, Chevy Case, Bob Saget, Martin Short, Anthony Hopkins and Steve Guttenberg all have in common? They were all honorary mayors of Pacific Palisades.
I’ll never forget something Mayor Steve Guttenberg said during our local 4th of July parade in 2002. He reminded everyone, “If you’re rich, you live in Beverly Hills. If you’re famous, you live in Malibu. If you’re lucky, you live in Pacific Palisades!”
Mr. Guttenberg is so right. My wife was born here, and we could not feel luckier to have raised our kids in Pacific Palisades. I grew up in a similar small community in northeastern Ohio where if you stupidly forget your wallet one day, the shop owner would simply wave his hand at you and say, “don’t worry about it! You can pay me tomorrow.”
One of many, reasons I feel lucky living in The Palisades is a new pizzeria in town called, Flour (it used to be Estate Coffee).
My wife and I walk our dog to Flour every morning to enjoy their delicious coffee and pastries. My personal favorite is Flour’s cinnamon coffee cake and Chai Latte.
Later in the day, or early evening, we also love sitting on the patio at Flour eating the best pizza we’ve ever had. Because Flour is the only pizza shop in town to offer pizza (New York style) by the slice, I wasn’t surprised to see former honorary co-mayors Billy Crystal and his lovely wife Janice at Flour enjoying their individual slices.
It recently came to my attention that Flour had announced new business hours, saying that they would open at 11 a.m. daily. When I inquired why, the owners shared that the lunch and evening business was robust and thriving, but the morning coffee and pastry business did not make financial sense.
As a result of the announcements that Flour would not be open in the mornings, customers and neighbors started a petition.
It warmed my heart to see a petition started by the 50 or so morning patrons of Flour. The petition requested that the owners reconsider closing during the morning hours.
To their credit, the owners of Flour have responded in the best way possible. They said, “thank you for caring! We will try to stay open during the morning. What would make this financially possible for us would be for our community to consider supporting our morning business. We have fantastic coffee, tea and fresh baked pastries and a wonderful patio for neighbors to sit and catch up.”
I’d love to ask those reading this letter to consider patronizing Flour between 7:30 and 11 a.m. and bring a friend. It’s my humble opinion that you won’t regret it.
Faithfully yours,
Philip Giffin
(Editor’s note: Flour owner Robert Flutie said they would be open for espressos, lattes, coffee and pastries starting at 7:30 a.m.)
Flour owner Robert Flutie listened to customers and changed store hours. Now, he needs residents’ support.