‘Golden Girls’ back with a meal, a selfie
A pop-up eatery offers the look and dishes of the 1985-92 NBC sitcom
It’s been 30 years since Dorothy, Sophia, Rose and Blanche last hung out in their Miami kitchen while chatting about life, sometimes bickering and often playfully burning each other with memorable zingers.
While NBC’s Emmy Award-winning show “The Golden Girls” has long been off the air, the ladies’ famous kitchen is cooking again as a new themed pop-up restaurant opening in Beverly Hills this summer.
“It’s a completely immersive experience that makes you feel like you’re in the kitchen of ‘The Golden Girls,’ eating Sophia’s lasagna and cheesecake just like the girls,” said Andy Lederman, founder of Bucket Listers, the online events company behind the The Golden Girls Kitchen! pop-up restaurant.
The 75-seat eatery opens Saturday, and aside from serving some of the dishes the girls loved to eat on the show — including Sophia’s lasagna al forno, the Lanai Miami-style Cuban Sandwich and Blanche’s Georgia Style Cookies — it’s also providing a spot for photo ops, with meticulously re-created sets from the sitcom.
“No detail was spared,” Lederman said as he walked around the pop-up a few days before it opened to the public. “If you look at the kitchen, every little detail makes you feel like you’re in the show — all of the decorations, all of the knickknacks.”
The kitchen is certainly Instagram-worthy. As on the show, it’s covered in yellow plant-patterned wallpaper and dark wood, from the
Andy Lederman, left, and Derek Berry walk through The Golden Girls Kitchen! The pop-up restaurant aims to evoke nostalgia for a place that existed only in Hollywood’s mind: the settings of sitcom “The Golden Girls,” which followed the doings of four female roommates for eight seasons.
When: 3-9:45p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays starting Saturday Where: 369 N. Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills
Tickets: $39-$79at bucketlisters.com/event/golden-girls-kitchen
cabinets to the faux wood paneling on the refrigerator doors. Yellow curtains hang above the sink, while copper and ceramic cookware decorates the walls above the cabinets.
Just don’t try to turn the water on or open the fridge doors because it’s a nonworking replica. But that’s not the only selfie hot spot in the building. There’s also a replica of Blanche’s bedroom, complete with the green banana leafpatterned
curtains, bedspread and headboard along with a fluffy pink carpet.
Behind the actual working restaurant kitchen is the pop-up’s executive chef, Royce Burke, who will be serving up dishes like The Rose Marie Soup and Salad Combo and bacon, lettuce and potato sandwiches. Since the girls always had their heart-to-heart talks over desserts, there’ll be plenty of those on the menu, including cheesecakes
in flavors like chocolate, strawberry, pumpkin and Oreo.
In keeping with the show’s 1980s Miami setting, the restaurant portion glows with bright yellow walls and small tables covered by pink tablecloths, with tackybut-cool flower curtains hanging on the windows.
The pop-up is a ticketed event with a 90-minute seating limit. Ticket price includes a main dish and a slice of cheesecake, while other sides and drinks are available at additional cost. The pop-up will also feature a Drag Brunch on select dates. Those tickets are currently sold out, but event producers said more will be added starting in October. The pop-up is expected to
Raspberry cheesecake is among desserts you can have a heart-toheart with your girlfriends over. Maybe after downing a bacon, lettuce and potato sandwich.
There are plenty of spots at The Golden Girls Kitchen! where you can stop for a selfie or a snapshot of your friends.
be open through at least January.
The show, which ran from 19851992, starred Bea Arthur as the sarcastic Dorothy Zbornak; Estelle Getty as her mother, straight talker Sophia Petrillo; Betty White as the naive but sweet Rose Nylund; and Rue McClanahan as the flirty Blanche Devereaux. New generations continue to discover the show in syndication and on streaming platforms. It has also gone on to inspire a myriad of merchandise, themed cruises and convention events.
“This show is just one of those timeless American treasures that has really stood the test of time,” Lederman said. “And this will take you back to those nostalgic times.”