THE INIMITABLE, STEVE HARDY

The original date of this post was Monday, July 23, 2012.

Steve Hardy at the Van Nuys Airport shopping for Lear Jets.  

What can I say about Steve Hardy?  Highly intelligent.  Highly ethical.  Highly entertaining.  I spent many hours with my friend, Steve, from 1998 to 2012.  We'd done a lot of things together.  Once we tried to start a restaurant counseling business where we would test a restaurant's food, gauge its customer service, take in its ambiance and then give feedback to the owners.  We did this as a free thing at a few restaurants before we tried this in a professional effort with the taco shop across the street from PCC on Colorado.

There was one episode where Steve and I went to Mandaloun in Glendale, a terrific middle eastern restaurant near the old Tony Romas. 

 And this shot. 

Steve and I used to eat at The Grapevine Restaurant in La Verne at least once a week often times two nights a week.  I always got a chicken kabob.  But they had the best ashtalieh, which is a kind of cream cheese made with honey or corn syrup and pistachio.  Some places use rosewater to enhance the flavor--that's what Grapevine did.  It was memorable.  

Eden Garden in Glendora was the last place that Steve and I used to hang out at.  Again, we'd eat here at least twice a week.  He enjoyed lots of terrific friends here.  I really enjoyed this place, and so did he.  The food was fantastic.  

 We always received remarkable service from Vartan and Marvin.  Those guys, in fact, the whole restaurant, really indulged us in large part due to Steve's grace and charm.  Steve was often invited by the owners to stay after hours and enjoy tea, conversation, and an occasional game of cards.  Steve was, is, loved by everyone.  

He brings valuable and interesting insights into every topic and every conversation bar none. 

The dancing and advancing, Steve Hardy.

Though I am not certain what and how Steve spends his valuable time these days, you might be able to spot him occasionally in Sierra Madre where he is loved by all and adds a wonderful eclectic influence to the place.  Steve's talents go beyond all expectations.  Though anyone would be right to call him a talented artist, that designation doesn't capture him.  It can't.  Yes, he's produced lots of paintings, and yes, he's given away thousands of good-sized watercolors that might have taken him several hours to a couple of days.  I myself am a grateful recipient of his artistic genius.  I have one of his masterpieces fixed to a wall inside my home.  But his genius cannot be described.  It cannot be qualified or quantified, which makes him a true genius, and a rare and exceptional find.  I feel blessed to count him definitively, if anyone can count anyone as such, as my very good and dear friend.

Steve was written up by Christopher Nyerges in the Mountain View News, the local Sierra Madre paper.  It looks like other people, lots of people, are admiring Steve's work.  Good for him.  Glad that he is being appreciated and recognized for his artistic efforts.