4 parking spots were coned off in front of the Malibu Kitchen restaurant, longtime customer Spike Feresten has texted to say he needs those for himself, Paul Zuckerman, an attorney and Feresten’s partner in his podcast, “Spike’s Car Radio,” Jay Leno, and Bruce Meyer.
Who is Feresten? He was was a writer for Seinfeld’s TV show, and friend of Jerry, “Spike Feresten and I invented driving to Malibu Kitchen in a cool car to get coffee 20 years ago,” says Seinfeld, who created Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee on Crackle, before moving to Netflix. “I’m not surprised the idea has taken over the entire city.”
Matt Farah, host of the “Smoking Tire” podcast, showed up with a Vespa and said: “They are selectively enforcing these rules, at a whim, closing off parking lots because of the type of people going there,” he complains when he arrives. Given the difficulty in parking, he’s decided not to bring one of the many exotic cars he’s always testing.
“On Saturdays, these lots are even more slammed, but with people who have surfboards instead of sports cars. They aren’t keeping them out,” he says.
City officials say the stepped-up enforcement is needed to protect average citizens from a horde of hot-rodders — not the celebrities, but the people who follow them, says Malibu Mayor Paul Grisanti.
In time, Feresten’s four- or five-car meet-up became a scene, with 200 to 300 cars rolling in on busy Sundays.
“I was asked to look into it by the mayor,” says Lt. James Braden, the veteran Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officer who watches over Malibu. Braden called Feresten, Farah and other perceived leaders of the car scene and either warned or threatened them, depending on who is telling the story.
So sheriff’s motor patrols started showing up. Malibu Village landlords hired private security, who erected barricades, which stay up from 7 a.m. until 10 or 11.
The unintended result: Rather than go away, car enthusiasts started arriving later in the day. The fancy-car frenzy that once started at 8 a.m. and fizzled out by 10 now began at 10 and went on well into midday.
“I was asked to look into it by the mayor,” says Lt. James Braden, the veteran Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officer who watches over Malibu. Braden called Feresten, Farah and other perceived leaders of the car scene and either warned or threatened them, depending on who is telling the story.
So sheriff’s motor patrols started showing up. Malibu Village landlords hired private security, who erected barricades, which stay up from 7 a.m. until 10 or 11.
The unintended result: Rather than go away, car enthusiasts started arriving later in the day. The fancy-car frenzy that once started at 8 a.m. and fizzled out by 10 now began at 10 and went on well into midday.
At 10 a.m. the barricades come down. It’s like a dam breaking. The parking lot, almost empty at 9:45, is full by 10:10. A rush of remarkable cars — hot rods, vintage European sports cars, souped-up Japanese “tuners” and more — stream off PCH, angling for the best parking places.
“The landlords complained that there was no parking for their customers or even their employees,” Forbes says. “So we were called in to assist.”
“They have ruined our business,” says Avital Stone, who identifies herself as manager on duty at the Marmalade Cafe, across the parking lot from Miller’s restaurant.
“Before 10 o’clock, our customers can’t get into the parking lot, and after 10, they can’t find anywhere to park. The car show — it’s been made clear they are not wanted here. But I truly believe that if they didn’t block off the parking lot, they’d all be gone by 10. If there was no blockade, it would be better.”
The police and the mayor blame the car guys. The car guys blame the landlords. The shopkeepers blame both. Everyone says the Lamborghini drivers are the worst. And everyone also seems to agree that the current solution — barricading the lots until mid-morning in the hopes that the car fanciers will get bored and start going someplace else — is a failure.
The only person who expresses any enthusiasm for the late-morning schedule is Leno.
“I like it better this way,” he jokes. “I used to have to get up at 6 o’clock to get here. Now I can sleep in and still not miss anything.”
I find this fascinating, and certainly why the LA Times is the best news paper on the west coast.
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