Deli

The guys around the table call Sid Caesar "The King. " They're seated in a back room of Factor's Famous Deli on Pico Boulevard, a boisterous group of longtime Hollywood funnymen, enjoying their lunch, which is somewhere between a meal and a ritual. The legendary Caesar still has a place of honor even though he's frail and rarely speaks. As his friend and lunch pal Monty Hall - of "Let's Make a Deal" fame - notes, the 90-year-old Caesar wouldn't miss these lunches. "You know when he walks in we say, 'The King is here,'" said Hall, 91. "He loves that.

Marvin Saul was a uranium miner who had gone bust when he flipped a coin in the late 1950s to decide where to strike out next from Utah. Heads meant Los Angeles; tails Dallas. Heads, and generations of future deli-goers on the Westside, won out. With 35 cents in his pocket, Saul arrived in Los Angeles, did odd jobs and by 1957 had cobbled together $300 to open a small sandwich shop. Two years later, he established Junior's, an eight-table delicatessen that grew "into a sort of IBM of the bagel and blintz world," the Wall Street Journal reported in 1990.

Rock 'n' roll is to the Kibitz Room at Canter's what onions are to chopped liver. The two have been closely aligned since the little bar opened just off the beloved Fairfax Avenue deli's annex dining room in 1961. Only now, instead of a bunch of hippies and musicians like Frank Zappa and Jim Morrison hanging out there for the cheap booze and meaty sandwiches, you'll find a bunch of hipsters and indie rock musicians hanging out there for the cheap booze and meaty sandwiches. So things have changed, but not that much.

Umami Burger, the California burger chain with a modern spin and cross-cultural vibe, has struck a chord with Angelenos and now has the potential to join McDonald's, Fatburger, In-N-Out and Tommy's Hamburgers as one of California's best-known exports. To celebrate, Umami founder Adam Fleischman is building the chain's flagship location in a 3,000-square-foot former spa at the Grove, scheduled to open in late fall. With indoor-outdoor seating for 175, this will be the biggest Umami Burger yet. This summer Fleischman got the financial backing he needed to move fast when Sam Nazarian's massive SBE hospitality group and his brother David's investment firm, Nimes Capital, became 50-50 partners in all of Fleischman's future endeavors, including yet more Umami Burger restaurants, a ritzy downtown deli called Umamicatessan and an environmentally conscious fast-food place called U-Ko.

You want new? You want trendy? You want fancy food? Then maybe, says Gary Canter, you don't want Canter's, his family's deli, which doesn't do change. "People don't need pheasant under glass, with grilled asparagus and 19 sauces," says Canter, 52, who started working behind the bakery counter at 13. "Just give them simple food. Just give them a sandwich. " The Canter's menu is, in fact, long and diverse. You can order blintzes, hot roast tongue, a quesadilla, tortellini, fried kippers.

  Dear Noelle: My husband and I love the mushroom barley soup at Junior's Deli in West L.A. Could you possibly get the recipe so we can make it at home? Thanks. Sharon Pearline Pacific Palisades Dear Sharon: Junior's was happy to share the recipe for this hearty soup, which we've adapted below. Junior's mushroom barley soup Total time: 2 1/2 hours Servings: 4 to 6 Note: Adapted from Junior's Deli in West Los Angeles.

Abbot Kinney Boulevard, with its specialty shops and galleries in Venice, can be a frantic spot this time of year. But on Christmas morning, it's likely that hardly a creature will be stirring. Except at 3 Square Cafe and Bakery, which will be open for lunch. "It's a very cool atmosphere because the street is so quiet," said Wolfgang Gussmack, executive chef and partner at 3 Square, which has been open on Christmas for several years. The restaurant's wait staff and cooks will arrive at 7 a.m. on the holiday morning.

Peek inside Antojitos Latinos, a tiny Colombian deli and market in Van Nuys, and there's little inkling of its status as a treasured comfort food institution. Over the last 16 years, under owner Patricia Blancheteau's guidance, this tidy but plain shop has blossomed into the go-to Valley spot for traditional baked goods, steamy soups crowded with meats and vegetables, and home-style bargain lunches. Longtime customers mostly phone in orders for take-away, but diners can also try their luck at landing one of the tiny tables next to the shop's tightly packed grocery shelves.