Philippe S Restaurant

When Philippe Mathieu of Aix-en-Provence arrived in Los Angeles in 1903, Angelenos were living in startling culinary isolation -- some would say desolation. Mathieu would change all that. He launched a frontier version of French cuisine, inventing the French dip sandwich (with a little push from an angry customer) and founded Philippe the Original, a downtown landmark.

When Philippe Mathieu of Aix-en-Provence arrived in Los Angeles in 1903, Angelenos were living in startling culinary isolation -- some would say desolation. Mathieu would change all that. He launched a frontier version of French cuisine, inventing the French dip sandwich (with a little push from an angry customer) and founded Philippe the Original, a downtown landmark.

There was the time a naked man ran into the phone booth. And the time Mickey Rooney, impatient for his lamb sandwich, began pounding on the counter. And the time when someone collapsed from a heart attack and the other customers, reluctant to lose their places in line, stepped over the victim and kept heading for the counter.

There was the time a naked man ran into the phone booth. And the time Mickey Rooney, impatient for his lamb sandwich, began pounding on the counter. And the time when someone collapsed from a heart attack and the other customers, reluctant to lose their places in line, stepped over the victim and kept heading for the counter.

At Philippe's, the 10-cent cup of coffee was a trademark--just like the sawdust on the floor and the long tables crowded with Chinatown merchants, blue-collar workers and downtown bureaucrats. But no more. An era is over. Because of the new state sales tax, the last dime cup of java in Los Angeles has skyrocketed to . . . 11 cents.

At Philippe's, the 10-cent cup of coffee was a trademark--just like the sawdust on the floor and the long tables crowded with Chinatown merchants, blue-collar workers and downtown bureaucrats. But no more. An era is over. Because of the new state sales tax, the last dime cup of java in Los Angeles has skyrocketed to . . . 11 cents.