Holiday cure
Porto’s and ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Glendale Center Theatre offer a fine prescription for hope in troubled times
By Erica Wayne 12/03/2009
“A Christmas Carol,” Dickens’ 1843 warning on the wages of miserly, covetous and self-centered living, has been a holiday staple in my family since I was small. We were reared on the 1951 Alistair Sim movie, which played on TV almost as frequently as the 1983 film version of Jean Shepherd’s “A Christmas Story” does now.
These days we watch them both on DVD, and I especially like to sit my husband down in front of the Dickens film while we make out end-of-year checks to charity. My mate, facetiously complaining about the amount donated, quotes Scrooge: “Are there no prisons? ... And the union workhouses?
... Are they still in operation?”
In response, I fast-forward to the scene where the ghost of Christmas Present identifies the two “ragged … wolfish” children under his robe as Want and Ignorance. They belong to Man, he advises, and warns Scrooge to beware of both, but especially Ignorance “for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.” Wow! How’s that for a prediction that spans the centuries?
At any rate, my husband and I of late find ourselves the elders of a family consisting of three married children and five-and-a-half grandchildren; so I thought it might be time to introduce the little ones (not to mention the second generation) to the Dickens homily. After all, everybody in the family who was eligible voted for Obama and so may be assumed to be susceptible to hope, even in these troubled times.
What better way to do it than, instead of toys and trinkets, giving them all a pre-Christmas outing that includes the Glendale Centre Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol,” playing until Dec. 23 ($21-$28) and a pre-performance meal at Porto’s, which shares the same parking lot as the theater? We’re pretty sure they’ll remember the experience a lot longer than the mountain of “stuff” they usually sate themselves upon on Christmas morning.
Porto’s is as much of a favorite with my stepdaughters (I was a child bride, by the way) as “A Christmas Carol” is with me. They’re open till 7 every evening but Sunday, when they close at 4) and occupy a huge space (bakery adjacent to café) filled year-round with the fragrances of yeast, sugar, butter and spice. Porto’s lavish pastry displays are always a feast for the eyes but, as Dickens observed, during holiday time “everything [is]…in its Christmas dress.”
We’ve booked tickets for a Sunday matinee. There are two shows that day, but we chose the earlier one (at 1) and are making our meal at Porto’s a leisurely brunch. If we get there before 11, we can order omelets on croissants or Cuban bread. But, not to worry if we’re a bit later — I always focus on their empanadas (beef, chicken or chorizo) and the fried ham croquettes, available all day.
Porto’s sandwiches are fine; including many standards (tuna or turkey croissants, hot pastrami, Italian sub). But you can get more unusual fillings as well: e.g., feta, basil, tomato, red onion and olive oil; potato ball (stuffed with ground beef, breaded and fried) and Swiss; roasted pork with mojo garlic sauce and grilled onions; steak, guacamole, black beans, cotija cheese; or roasted eggplant, peppers and zucchini with Havarti, cheese and hummus, to name a few.
When the kids are through with their entrees, we’ll head over to the bakery counter to let them choose desserts. I don’t think they’re likely to pick a refugiado (Guava and cheese pastry), pineapple empanada, caramel cream horn or flan (my favorites, but easy for a 7- or 8-year-old to overlook. My guess is Napoleon or chocolate éclair, or a slice of chocolate mousse cheesecake, carrot cake or strawberry shortcake.
The adults will finish off the meal with some cappuccino, dulce de leche latte, or chai latte with aromatic spices that fit the season while the kids beg eagerly for us to be off to the show. (Seating’s open, so it’s a good idea to get there early.) A leisurely two-minute stroll from Porto’s back door across the parking lot to the theater’s entrance on Orange Street (stowing the baked goods we couldn’t resist in the trunk on the way), and it’ll be time for the performance. With any luck, by day’s end, our family’s tummies will be stuffed full of wonderful goodies while their heads dance not with visions of sugarplums but, instead, new insights about the benefits of kindness and generosity.
And, as for us, I figure we’ll max out at about $35 per kid (a real savings over what we usually spend on chatchkes, trinkets and knick-knacks and plain ol’ junk); and we get to avoid the malls to boot. What a deal! (Of course, in keeping with the moral of the story, we’ll turn over what we’ve saved to Toys for Tots.) If we’re fortunate, we might be able to turn the Porto’s/GCT excursion into a holiday tradition. And, to paraphrase Dickens a last time: May it be truly said of all of us that we know how to keep Christmas well. Happy Holidays!
Glendale Centre Theatre, 324 N. Orange St., Glendale. Call (818) 244-8481. Porto’s, 315 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Call (818) 956-5996.
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