Whether or not it was the first organic restaurant of the post-WWII era, it is clear that Los Angeles’ Aware Inn significantly predated the late ’60s beginnings of the natural food movement in restaurants. When Jim and Elaine Baker (pictured below in 1955) opened it in 1957 they were dedicated to providing meals using fruits, vegetables, and meats produced without pesticides, artificial fertilizers, and hormones.
Jim Baker, a decorated WWII marine who trained soldiers in jujitsu during the war, came to southern California in 1951 to audition for Tarzan movies. When his film career failed to materialize, he joined the Nature Boys, a small cult of body-building health devotees who ate organic foods. Over the next two decades, he transferred his knowledge of organic food and cooking to a number of Los Angeles restaurants that he and Elaine started, including two Aware Inns, The Old World, and The Source.
Soon after its opening, the original Aware Inn, at 8828 Sunset Boulevard on the Strip (shown above ca. 1981), became a magnet for Hollywood stars concerned with their health and beauty. Although the menu at the Aware Inn was organic it was pretty standard in other regards. True, it included fresh-squeezed carrot juice and brown rice, but the menu was also filled with organic versions of popular dishes such as burgers, beef stroganoff, and veal Marsala. Baker insisted in 1959 that he was no extremist. He aimed to serve “well rounded meals, but without the fats, carbohydrates and adulterants that you get in most restaurant food.” However in 1969, after his divorce from Elaine, he established The Source, a vegetarian restaurant where raw foods were served almost exclusively.
The Inn’s most famous dish was a hamburger interestingly named “The Swinger” which combined ground beef with cheese and chopped vegetables (see Recipe page). What inspired the name is uncertain but Jim was notably attractive to women. He reciprocated. It was at an apartment above the Aware Inn where in 1963 an irate husband came for revenge. A black belt in judo, Jim disabled his attacker, then used his foe’s gun to kill him (marking the second time he had killed a man in a dispute). His amorous career was just beginning – at the time of his hang-gliding death in 1975 Jim lived in Hawaii with 13 young women.
Following the divorce, Elaine carried on at the Aware Inn on Sunset (the second Aware Inn, in Sherman Oaks, had been sold to Al Kaiser in 1961). She kept the restaurant’s organic foods emphasis but cultivated the flavor of a European café rather than following Jim’s path at The Source which would lead him to develop a cult following and start a commune. A 1969 restaurant review praised the Aware Inn for dishes that were “consistently good and sometimes superb.” In addition to the Swinger, some of the restaurant’s signature items were chicken molé, roast brisket and kasha, and, for dessert, créme de Cassis over blueberry ice cream.
By 1970 the Aware Inn was one of a growing number of health food restaurants thriving in Los Angeles, but at the end of the decade it was getting poor reviews and went up for sale. In 1981 it was rechristened La Petite Maison. Later it became Rama Garden, a Thai restaurant.
© Jan Whitaker, 2011
It's great to hear from readers and I take time to answer queries. I can't always find what you are looking for, but I do appreciate getting thank yous no matter what the outcome.
Restaurant-ing through history 
His lawyer Maurice Harwick always overlooked. He’s the guy that got Jim Baker‘s conviction for Voluntary manslaughter reversed, tossed out on Habeas Corpus. Baker to avoid retrial said he would plead no contest for time served. Deal was made. Baker freed from courtroom.
When I was a teenager, on special occasions my family would treat ourselves to dinner there. It’s still my favorite restaurant ever. I especially loved the upstairs room with the lovely view of the city. I still have the recipe for Chocolate Creme Supreme from when it was published in the LA Times. For those of you who miss it, the recipe is here. Enjoy!
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102344152/chocolate-creme-supreme/
Dose anyone remember the Butterscotch Pie? No mention, it was great with fresh cream. I worked the upstairs dining room in 1973 as a waiter, great times. I opened my own restaurant in 1979 and is still operating in Santa Monica. My time at the Aware Inn was terrific. In about 1990 I crossed paths again with Elaine when we shared a catering client. Elaine prepared dinner meals for their everyday dinners and I catered all their large events at the house; it was wonderful to meet up with Elaine. She and I worked on a pasta dish when I was a waiter that she named past Deni and when I opened my restaurant I added that dish to my menu and called it Pasta Elaine.
I really doubt that the restaurant had poor reviews in 1981. The owner of Aware Inn in Sherman Oaks probably retired when the restaurant went up for sale.
Paul Trinka, one of the actors of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea held down a second job as maître d’ at the hip Sherman Oaks natural foods restaurant, The Aware Inn. He died diving down in dangerous waters and hitting his head while working on Voyage. The film business has been very lax about actors’ safety. They falsely state that he had brain cancer, but I remember Al Kaiser, the owner of Aware Inn, telling us how Paul died.
The series ended in 1968 but he died in 1973.
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Parked cars at Aware Inn on Sunset Blvd. 1965/66 — have a million stories to share — ph. 559-260-4986 — worked on Sunset thru 1973, as my peers used to say it was amazing how much money we made for putting shorts in their slots — would like to write the book anyone interested in helping?
Hope you find someone!
Jack LaLane after having dinner at the Aware Inn turned left out the door and ran home.
Does anyone have a photo of The Old World?
What ever happened to Bart their son? What ever happened to Elaine?
Wow! Amazing story. AND you opened The Mint! I LOVE LA history.
My boyfriend, Mike Vargas worked at the Aware Inn in 1964 and 1965. Once in awhile, he would bring me a delicious sandwich made of crab and cheese. That sandwich was unforgettable and today I’m so sorry I never asked him how it was made or even what kind of cheese was used.
Does ANYONE out there have the Aware Inn’s CHEESECAKE recipe? It was like no other and I still crave it, even after all these years. The L.A. Times can’t find it. HELLLLPPPP!
When I first met Jim Baker I had just finished his cheesecake and said how great it was he replied, I know. He tried out 50 recipes for his Belgian waffle machine purchased in New York. He catered a dinner of Beef Strogonoff at my home for my forty guests. Fabulous. Elaine Baker designed the Old World on Sunset boulevard! Jim sold his half for 8 grand and left Town!
I purchased a bag of matchbooks and boxes at a yard sale. One of them is a box from The Aware Inn on Sunset Strip. Thanks for the great article!
Any cookbooks based on those restaurants? I was a kid back then and recall how delicious the soups, sandwiches and salads were! That bread was amazing!
No one has mentioned the fabulous Chocolate Cream Supreme! You can call it a cheesecake if you like, but it was amazing. The recipe for it and Eggplant Olympus were published in the Food section of the L.A. Times and I made them several times. They seem to have disappeared and I would love to have them again. I have wonderful memories of sitting upstairs with friends and looking out over the brilliance of an LA night. I’ve been a vegetarian all my life and it was the first time I “ate out” with a meal that wasn’t pizza or spaghetti. The also served the wonderful Lehr’s, the delicious German grape juices that were heaven to a non-drinker!
I was just going to write a comment asking if anyone remembered the chocolate cream supreme and then I read yours. It was the most amazing dessert I’ve ever tasted. George Hamilton and I used to go there all the time. I think we went there on our first date. We probably ate dinner there twice a week at least. I would give anything to find that recipe.
I also worked, as a waiter, at the Aware Inn. 1962-1967. I worked the upstairs “Room With A View.” It overlooked sparkling South L.A. I served Sir Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Natalie Wood, Phyllis Diller and many others. Elaine trained me. I’ll never forget what she said. “You are a servant and the people you serve are kings and queens. Serve them well and they will tip you handsomely.” She also taught me how to carry a bottle of wine, “Gently, as if it were a baby.” They had a son, Thomas, who couldn’t speak. Some people blamed natural childbirth. I had to constantly run up and down those stars so I wore my apron like a mini-skirt. The other waiters wore theirs below the knee. One night I was standing on a step-stool to fetch a bottle of wine which were kept in a wine rack up near the wooden ceiling. Elaine said, “Vince. Your skirt is too short.” I did not notice it mentioned that, early each morning, Jim Baker made the ice cream with honey. At 5 PM Jim would show up and taste everything on the stoves. There was another waiter named Joe Jenks who had great parties. The Bakers always attended. The Bakers encouraged us to taste all food on the menu, so we could describe it perfectly to their guests. They were the best people to work for and they served the best food possible. It was a loving, caring environment. We earned a small fortune. In 1964 I opened a club on Pico and Crescent Heights. The Mint. I worked both jobs.
Thanks — I love to hear from the people who were there!
Remember Marty Tunic, a waiter at the aware, and who opened up his own terrific restaurant or Jose Alvarez who also later opened his own great restaurant?
Wonderful man wonderful restaurant.
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I used to work at a restaurant that Elaine Baker started in the mid 70s called McNaturals. It was located on the Sunset Strip between the Old World and the Aware Inn accross from Tower Records. It served a health food menu modeled after fast food chains.
Aware Inn surely is interesting! Great article, by the way 🙂
Does anyone remember the eggplant olimpis? and also the host Elmer?
The Aware Inn was one of the most interesting and cool restaurants of it’s day. (I enjoyed many dinners there and parties upstairs; Once Elaine sat me with Jim’s sometime workout buddy Jack LaLaine who was in a suit and tie; Jack crushed my pack of cigarettes and threw them across the restaurant and when I came out on Sunset Blvd, to get into my car, I watched Jack sprinting up the street, no car needed)
Jim Baker was charged with murder and on the way to a justifiable homicide acquittal but the Santa Monica judge over strenuous objections, allowed his earlier encounter and killing (in self-defense) to be brought before the jury. He won his freedom from murder charges and the conviction of voluntary manslaughter, after I prepared and argued a Writ of Habeas Corpus in San Bernadino. He did not want to go back to court for the re-trial and he happily agreed to a nolo plea to Voluntary manslaughter time served and was immediately released. Elaine was the happiest woman on the planet that day.
There was so much more to do with the Old World Restaurant being designed by Elaine Baker and Jim’s great Swinger Burger, then his Brotherhood of the Source and becoming a religious leader.
I often think of Elaine and her children and the great guys that worked at the Aware Inn, some opening their own restaurants like Marty Tunick and Jose Alvarez. Those were the days….
Wow! Incredible story. I used to eat there all of the time when I was a teen. Amazing food and way ahead of their time
Cheese and walnut loaf — yum!
I forgot about that. Yes. Yum.
I’ll have the swinger, please.
Does anyone have any review on the SOURCE FROM THE DAY?
ISIS
can you email me?
charlene_yhvh@hotmail.com
I really miss that restaurant!
love love love the article
it is so hard to find anything on THE AWARE INN AND EVEN JIM BAKERS OTHER RESTAURANT THE OLD WORLD.
would love to connect
isis aquarian
source family historian
facebook: isis aquarian
Isis — How great to hear from someone from “the source.” There will be others.
I have a stained glass window that has “the aware inn” engraved in it and I was told that it was very old and came from an inn in California. Do you know anything else about the restaurant?
I believe the Aware Inn did have a stained glass window so it’s likely yours is authentic.
pam i would like to know about the window pls…:)) isis aquarian
Oh my, I remember that window from when I was a kid, maybe around 1970.
As a kid at the time, the main thing I of course remember is that if you read along the ribbon on the stained glass window it says “Aware The Inn”. The part of the ribbon that has “the” is in the middle but it is drawn as folded up and higher than the other two words so you are supposed to read it as “The Aware Inn” by reading top to bottom left to right rather than along the ribbon. That’s the kind of thing a six year old focuses on I guess. Also remember that my mom was super excited about the chocolate cream supreme and also the cheesecake.