When I left to walk to Canter’s at 7:30 this morning (I live in convienient late-night-drunken/early-morning-half-awake-staggering distance) the streets were uncommonly quiet and peaceful, and when I got to Canter’s things seemed unusually quiet, too. Now it’s 9:15 and things are picking up a bit. Julia and I chatted with a few of the regulars, and we saw a cart loaded with giant bins of pickles (so many pickles!) wheel by, and now I’m here on my own, on my third cup of coffee.

I just came back from a quick visit to the bakery counter, which is one of my favorite things about Canter’s. I love the pastries. I love the black and white cookies. I love the rugelach and the hamentaschen and the dude who works behind the counter listening to hip hop. And something that I have always admired from afar but never dared try are the cakes with their names written on them in icing. They sit enticingly in the window, labeled “rum” or “banana” in pretty admirable frosting penmanship. And I’ve never bought one because it always seemed kind of excessive, but today, in the interests of telling you, dear internet, all about it, I am taking one home with me. I’d eat it now, but I’m too full of blintz, so expect a full report later today once I’ve digested. But for now, behold: has there ever existed a cake more glorious? The chocolate sprinkles, the yellow writing, the weird single maraschino cherry. It is not just banana bread: it is art!

Just got here and joined Julia, who was still chatting with Jeanie. I’ve been planning my breakfast since last night – coffee and a fruit cup and blintzes, which I’m having with strawberry jelly, on the recommmendation of the lovely Jeanie.

And breakfast has arrived! And it looks amazing.

Eggs with potato pancakes.

Bagel with lox and cream cheese and onion.

Jean and Mel

At the back of Canter’s, on the far left side, there is a wall of photos with stars, personalities, regular customers, family and friends. This is one of those pictures (Taken by Kev-O). That’s Jeanie with Mel Brooks.

Jeanie has worked here for 54 years.

I’ll give you a minute to comprehend that.

54 years.

(Quick interruption here: it is now 7:19 and there are 3 patrons, not including me.)

Jeanie moved here with her husband and kids from Chicago a long time back. Her parents had already moved out here and they lived on Robertson and Cadillac which she called “West LA.” She had two babies at the time and needed to work so she started at Canter’s. Her husband (who passed away 13 years ago) had been a taxi driver in Chicago but got a job as a mail man here on LA. Both her kids and grandkids live in other states now.

Jeanie says the secret to her success is that she’s very friendly. “It takes a lot to make me angry.” She’s built quite a following and loves to kibitz around with her customers. She’s become good friends with many people you may have heard of, Michael Mann and Shotgun Kelly, as a couple of for-examples.

Her birthday was last Thursday and she worked on Wednesday night, which is when Shotgun (she calls him Shotgun) usually comes in. The Canter’s family got a big cake for her and Shotgun got up, grabbed a ketchup bottle and serenaded her with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.

Everybody loves Jeanie. She’s famous and she says that everything she’s done, tv shows, documentaries, movies, newspaper and magazine articles, it’s all because she’s been here at Canter’s.

I hope some day I can say I’ve done something I love for 54 years.

If you want to meet Jeanie, she’ll be here until about 1pm today. We’ll be here until noon, blogging and collecting canned food and cash for the LA Foodbank.

Breakfast is my favorite meal. I’ve been here almost an hour and still can’t decide what I want to eat. I love pancakes. I love bacon. I love french toast. I love eggs. I love toast. I love biscuits. I love bagels. I love almond croissants.

What to do, what to do!

This just in: Mr. Canter has arrived!

Good Morning! Driving to Canter’s from West LA is a dream at 5:30 am on a Sunday. I counted 10 cars eastbound on the 10 from Overland to Fairfax. It was like driving in a dystopian future, but with bagels and coffee waiting for me.

Kev-O and RobNoxious are still here, picking at a bag of chocolate rugelah while the staff cleans up around us. There is one older couple having breakfast though another younger couple was just finishing up as I got here. Otherwise, it is quiet as a church. Or temple, as the case may be.

I’ve met Jeanie, the famous Jeanie, but more about her in a bit.

Kev-O and RobNoxious have made their good-byes as I’ve sat here typing. The place is “filling” up. Okay, okay, there are six people here now, not just two. More importantly, I have to decide what to eat for breakfast.

When I said that the hot chocolate you ordered was “a man’s drink,” I totally totally meant it. I’m a huge fan of hot chocolate and admire any man who can order it without pause. I know it sounded sarcastic. But that’s just how my voice sounds.

Thank you for not beating me up.

Every Saturday night for the past three weeks, Bethanne and her friend (who asked not to be named) have gone to the Butterfly Lounge in Costa Mesa, then come to Canter’s for breakfast. Then they go home and go to sleep.

“It’s kind of sleazy,” says Bethanne. “Well, not sleazy.”

This morning they have the annex dining room all to themselves. Bethanne wasn’t successful at the Butterfly, but her friend was — a guy asked her to dance and bought her a beer. Bethanne says she’s too shy. Note: Bethanne is not shy.

She volunteers the following information: She loves Canter’s, partially because she sees celebrities here, though she cannot remember their names. There was a big guy, a comedian, that she sat next to once. But this was 20 or 30 years ago and she can’t remember his name. John Candy? No. Louis Anderson? Oh, no. She’s not sure why Canter’s doesn’t advertise the celebrity connection more than the rock-and-roll connection.

“Like, there’s a poster for Guns n’ Roses,” she says.

“Who’s Guns n’ Roses?” her friend asks.

“I don’t know. Heavy metal?” Bethanne asks me.

Also: Bethanne used to work in a hospice for Japanese-Americans, and many of her co-workers were Hiroshima survivors (Bethanne is fiftyish). One aide had a husband who survived because he was in a bank vault when the bomb went off. And when he came up, she said, the city was gone. I do not ask if this man was played by Burgess Meredith in a Twilight Zone episode, because this would be in bad taste.

They ask me questions, about blogging, about restaurants in Los Angeles, about what I think of Pasadena (where Bethanne is from). They ask me if a restaurant I’ve never heard of will be reopening. I tell them I’ve never heard of it. Things start to get weird and I excuse myself, thanking them for their time.

So: This is Canter’s at Four in the morning. I frikkin’ love it.

Looks like the half-drunks, the half-assed, and the half-drugged are all trickling out.  My turn to turn the shift over to Kev-O here.  It’s definitely quieter and less rowdy than before, and most of the hat people are gone.  Someone will be here until noon – so stay tuned for the early morning dwellers, the late morning brunchers, and the half-drunks, half-assed, and half-drugged who will return for Canter’s redux.  Gnite for now!

Number of plates dropped: 1

Number of times “Happy Birthday” has been sung: 4

Number of red jello cups (cubed, visible in case): 4

Number of cantaloupes (visible in case): 5

Number of watermelons (visible in case): 5

Number of members of the Circle Jerks dining: 1

Number of mugs of decaf coffee (RobNoxious): 3

Number of mugs of regular coffee (Queequeeg): 1 (only!)

Number of random strangers that RobNoxious talked to between 2am and 4am: 7

Number of the above random strangers with whom RobNoxious might become Facebook friends with: 1 (see number of Circle Jerk members dining tonight, above).

Number of pink-haired girls: 1

Number of girls who have written love notes to me (Queequeg) tonight: 2

Number of love notes received by me (Queequeg): 1

Number of people with hats, fedora or otherwise: at least 7

Asked to RobNoxious, by a Canter’s diner.

Answered by RobNoxious, to the Canter’s customer: “It might look like a Muppet.”  Also: “How ironic would it be if, at a traditional Jewish deli, your matzo ball looked like the Virgin Mary?”

The two are unrelated.

Driving over here after power napping between 12:45 and 1:45, I thought two things: 1) signing up to live blog for the 2am to 4am shift was one of those Things That Sound Great When I Planned It But Not So Much Now; and 2) my, there are many cars out and about at 1:45am.  Now that I’m here, taking over for Janna, the first thought is totally gone, and the second one is replaced with: my, there are many 20somethings and 70somethings out and about at 2:15am.

Just ordered lox and eggs.  Can’t wait to eat.  Can’t wait to see who else walks in.

I somehow failed to find this earlier when I was searching for it, but believe it or not, Canter’s does have a Twitter account! Hey, @CantersDeli, I just Tweeted at you!

Well, the drunks and people dressed up for goin’ out are starting to trickle in (our server seems entertained by them) and Queequeeg has arrived, so I must bid you adieu for the evening. But don’t forget, we are still here until noon, so if you happen to stop by for some breakfast or brunch, be sure to drop some cash or foodstuffs in our donation box while you’re here!

So I forgot to take a picture of my food until it was halfway eaten, but you get the general idea:

My chocolate milk came in the fanciest little glass. I’m actually going to get one of those Jell-O cups Julia blogged about earlier next.

The crowd has quieted down a little bit since I got here; it’s not much emptier, there’s just fewer rowdy tables. And maybe it’s just cause I am still waiting for my “second wind” to kick in and I’m projecting my sleepiness onto everyone else. But you wouldn’t guess it by how excited I (and Lucinda) were to take a picture with the prom kids!!!

The best is the girl sporting the classic “Date’s Tuxedo Jacket Over Prom Dress” look.