Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/13146
GrandPubs ofHollywood The there’s a majestic connection to the Cat & Fiddle, a local landmark that’s celebrating its 25th Anniver- sary, explained Ashlee Gardner: “My father named it after one of his favorite I pubs in Hillingdon in the west of London, where he was brought up, but it’s said that the name was first inspired by Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII, who was affectionately nick- named “Catherine La Fidèle” (Te Faithful).” It originally opened in Laurel Canyon in 1982 after Kim Gardner and his wife Paula de- cided that since there was no decent pub around, they’d open one up themselves! Kim was a musician who came over as part of the 1960's “British Invasion”, and he and Paula brought the show to Sunset Boulevard in 1985. Tough Kim passed away in 2001, it’s as much of a family business as ever, with daughters Ashlee, Eva and Camille in- volved too: “We’ve been family-owned from the beginning, and I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve been here so long, despite lots of competition. We have plenty of regulars, a lovely patio, and we haven’t changed too many things over the years.” Based in the Tompson Building, one of the earliest designed in the Spanish/Mediterranean style, it’s part of a complex that has been a warehouse for studio make-up and costumes, and home to the Gourmet Hollywood, a restaurant much loved by Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. Inside, the walls are covered with English paraphernalia; English pub signs, trays and bar towels, train timetables, maps, a Union Jack flag and even some antique Vanity Fair sketches. If you become addicted to a game of darts, you can buy your own “arrows”. 46 DISCOVER HOLLYWOOD / SUMMER 2010 n 965 AD, King Edgar “Te Peaceful” de- creed that there could only be one public house per village. Over 1000 years later Lovely patio area at The Cat & Fiddle