It’s the Real Deal in Tinseltown

The Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop hasn’t put on any airs since getting national press as a celebrity hangout. It’s still a boxy cafe crowded with industry wannabes, theatrical posters and red vinyl booths. The waiters still wear faded jeans and sneakers, water is still served in thrift-store-quality plastic tumblers. Oh yes--the food is still terrific.

I’m not implying that celebrity hounds should stop coming, either. The cashier whispered that Brad Pitt, Vince Vaughn and Michelle Phillips eat here, though my closest brush with greatness in four visits was overhearing two screenwriters discussing their scripts in development. (Don’t worry, guys: A nondisclosure agreement won’t be necessary.)

But the HHCS average customer is pretty sure to be glam . . . or at least decoratively Bohemian. (The restaurant itself is located on the ground level of a distinctively un-glam Best Western Hotel. Maybe this is the ultimate in glamour; I’m not sure.)

Peak time for tables is around 1 p.m. on weekends, the hour when party animals rouse themselves for brunch. At that hour, you’ll put your name on a list and be asked to wait outside the front door.

But who knows? You might share the sidewalk with Pitt. When we got seated, my party of three did share a table with Vaughn, but only in the sense that we were seated directly under a “Swingers” poster.

Though the restaurant was extremely busy, the waiter came by almost immediately. And soon after, I was sipping one of the best drinks in town, the coffee cooler--a thick espresso milk shake topped with whipped cream. If that sounds like too rich a start, have the frothy cappuccino, itself one of the best in the city. There is also fresh orange juice, squeezed to order, and you can really taste the difference.

HHCS’s stock in trade is calories-be-damned American comfort food, most of it quite delicious. Credit for that goes to owner Susan Fine Moore, an L.A. food scene veteran who once worked at L’Ermitage. Moore’s formal training in classic French cooking isn’t overkill when applied to an American coffee shop menu. As always, good ingredients are the essence of a good kitchen.

Take cowboy chili, one of my very favorite chilies anywhere. This dish is almost all meat--freshly ground lean beef and, I’m willing to bet, sweet Italian sausage--in a rich, spicy broth laden with chopped tomatoes. With the shredded cheese and chopped onion served on the side, this is one of the most satisfying dishes in town.

Breakfast appears to be the meal of choice here, regardless of the hour. There is very crisp golden waffle (pale yellow in color, probably from a touch of corn in the batter). The delicious cinnamon French toast is made from leftover croissants, a stroke of genius.

One breakfast I can recommend is pasta a la papa, which is fresh fettuccine tossed with bacon, cheese, scrambled eggs and basil. Another good way to start the day is the Benedict Arnold, basically eggs Benedict in a great hollandaise sauce with smoked salmon in place of Canadian bacon.

Among the fresh, well-conceived salads are a classic Cobb (chock-full of bacon,) and a tasty Texas barbecue chicken salad, made with surprise ingredients like corn, beans, cabbage and avocado.

The best sandwich is the Abigail: grilled eggplant, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and arugula dressed with balsamic vinaigrette and piled into Italian country white bread smeared with pungent olive paste. But beware the Not So Far East wrap, a Chinese chicken salad inside a tortilla. It’s a mess to eat--the stuffing falls out as soon as you bite in.

The heartier dishes are worth their salt as well. Baked garlic chicken is perfectly roasted and studded with tiny bits of crisp, sweet garlic, with ultra-buttery mashed potatoes and giant florets of broccoli on the side. The meat loaf marinara-style is a huge, flavorful slab, and you’ll need to party hard on your Nordic Trak after tackling a piece.

As for dessert, I can’t say enough about the baked hot chocolate with cream, essentially a cross between a pudding and a souffle, or the eggy, homemade chocolate layer cake, with a pale, creamy milk chocolate frosting.

Try stopping by Erewhon Natural Foods if you want to spy on celebrities. But if it’s cowboy chili or chocolate cake you crave, this is the place, with or without your SAG card.

BE THERE

Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop, 6145 Franklin Ave., Hollywood, (323) 467-7678. Open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Parking in lot. Beer and wine. Takeout. All major cards. Lunch for two, $13 to $25.

What to get: waffle, the Abigail sandwich, cowboy chili with cheese and onions, chocolate layer cake, coffee cooler.