I used to write here about a place down on 6th Street in Los Angeles called Cassell's which served one of the world's great hamburgers. Though inconvenient as to location, parking and hours (they closed at 4 PM), I went there often, starting way back in the era when Mr. Cassell still owned and operated the place. He invented a unique grill and all sorts of grand recipes for mayo and potato salad and really wonderful lemonade and a few other items and it all made Cassell's a special dining experience. It wasn't just another hamburger place. At lunchtime, he literally had a line out the door.
The hamburgers were cheap and delicious. A lot of people called them the best in L.A. and while something like that could never be unanimous, people didn't look at you like you were crazy if you said that.
Some folks went for the potato salad which looked like mashed potatoes and which had a special "kick" to it. The big controversy was whether it was from horseradish or hot mustard. I don't know how many of them are still up but there used to be hysterical arguments on restaurant review websites over this with people swearing they knew the secret and calling anyone an idiot should they believe otherwise. One guy would say Mr. Cassell had personally told him it was horseradish and shown him the vegetables themselves…and then some other guy who hit him with every synonym there is for "liar" and insist that he'd worked there for a time and personally added the Coleman's Hot Mustard. The debates about Obamacare, Gay Marriage and Abortion are minor squabbles compared to that discussion.
I decided to remain agnostic on the subject lest someone take a swing at me. But then I never liked the potato salad as much as others did. To me, it was okay if you didn't get an overly-volcanic batch.
Over the years, the area changed — fewer companies full of employees who needed a place to lunch — and Cassell's did less and less business. Not long before he passed, Mr. Cassell sold out to a Korean family that kept the same location, facilities, menu and even the same guy manning the grill and cooking the burgers. Everything was the same…but it wasn't. Somehow — and I sure couldn't explain what it was — the place seemed less wonderful. The burgers were occasionally just as good and they hadn't changed the signature potato salad. But it all felt less special…like it was turning into just another hamburger place. A few years later, it closed and what remained of Cassell's was purchased by the company that was then refurbishing the nearby Normandie Hotel. They announced that Cassell's would be reborn as part of the Normandie.
And then we waited. For a lot longer than they said it would take.
Late last year, Cassell's reopened at the Normandie. Well, it's called Cassell's and they proudly display a lot of the old signage in what is a much nicer, newer room. They have the same potato salad and the burgers, we're told, are made with the same recipe using the same grinder and the same grill, though served on a different bun. But much is different.
The old place was set up cafeteria-style. You waited for your burger to be cooked, then moved down the line to dress it at a little mini salad bar of condiments and a few side dishes like cottage cheese, pineapple slices and — of course — the potato salad. The new place is all server-style. You order it, they bring it to you…so no all-you-can-eat side dishes. The menu and hours have been expanded so Cassell's can serve as the hotel's coffee shop. They now have milkshakes, cocktails, a lot more other menu items and even serve breakfast.
A week or two ago, my friend Paul Dini and I ventured down there to check it out and see how much of the old Cassell's remained. It turned out for me to be (a) the name, (b) the old signs placed around the new space, (c) the potato salad and (d) really nothing else. Paul had a lemonade that he thought was as good as what Mr. Cassell used to make. I believe his secret ingredient was actual lemons.
The hamburger I had was a decent one but I did not recognize a connection to the Cassell's burger of yore. It's a nice place that seems to serve decent chow but it is just another hamburger place. That's not to say I won't go back but if I do, I'm going to do it smart and not expect the old Cassell's. To do so would be to do a disservice to a nice new restaurant and also to myself. As I get older, I have to keep reminding myself that the world changes and if you expect it not to, you're setting yourself up for a lot of disappointment.