The year 2025 marks the centennial of The Los Angeles Breakfast Club, the storied social club of which I've been a proud member ("Ham-and-Egger," as it were) since April 2017.
The actual birthday is in March—when the club held a special breakfast fête to commemorate the occasion. But this past weekend, we had a big nighttime party to celebrate 100 years of friendship.
It was held at Friendship Auditorium on Riverside Drive, located on the selfsame site where The Breakfast Club (before "Los Angeles" had to be added to its name for legal reasons) was founded in 1925. But this particular clubhouse building is much more recent—dating back to 1965, built after the club returned to the sacred land after spending a stint at the Ambassador Hotel (now demolished) and an even longer stint at a clubhouse on Los Feliz Boulevard (also demolished). So, it was a double celebration of sorts—the 100th for the club, and the 60th for the auditorium (which is actually owned by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks).
The club could've celebrated offsite—but it's here that guests could party under horseshoe-adorned chandeliers (an artifact brought over from the Los Feliz Boulevard clubhouse) and don eggy top hats at the photo booth.
Of course, the table centerpieces were fabricated from bacon and eggs...
...and the cocktail napkins bore a cryptogram that still baffles some breakfasters and visitors alike.
Yes, there were cocktails—including "Golden Rule"-themed one that surely didn't help these early risers stay awake past the 8 p.m. last call.
It usually takes a pitcher (or four) of coffee to pep everyone up at 7 a.m.
On this evening, this momentous evening, there were no Powerpoint presentations or cryptic recitations...
...but instead, a dancefloor and the celebratory sounds of Lil' Mo and the Dynaflos (above) and Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys.
It was a rare after-dark gathering at Friendship, where early morning sunbeam was replaced by strings of twinkly lights...
...and the only illuminated window was the stained glass gifted to the club by artist Julian Pollack.
Party-goers braved the night to partake of the dinner buffet on the patio...
...and remembered just some of the Hams and Eggs the club has lost, a great many of whom have passed during my tenure of nearly nine years.
With my fellow April 2017 initiate, Joanna Linkchorst, on November 8, 2025
The festivities won't end here, of course—as the centennial will culminate with the release of the history book I've written, which I hope will be released before The Los Angeles Breakfast Club turns 101 years old (which it does in March 2026).
I've celebrated a few centennials in Los Angeles over the last couple of years—the Egyptian Theatre, The Huntington, the Los Angeles Aqueduct, and the city of El Segundo, just to name a few. A lot happened in Southern California in the 1920s.
But it feels somehow different for an organization—a living, breathing collective full of human imperfections—to last 100 years. There's no playbook for preservation. No single path forward.
That makes every birthday worth celebrating. But this one is really special.
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