When I video call Lisa Ann Walter, she is preparing a banana cake to accompany the curry she will soon make for Sunday dinner, a continuing tradition in her home.
On Sunday Funday, Angelenos share step-by-step instructions on what their ideal Sunday in the city would look like. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat, and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
“Very often, there is a rotation of something with red sauce,” Walter says of his menu. “Sunday red sauce is Nana’s recipe, it’s a tradition. It really touches me when my kids come to the house and as soon as they open the door, they say, ‘Ah, it smells like Sunday.’”
For the actress, comedian and mother of four, this is her “favorite day of the week,” a day when she gets to watch NFL football, run errands and spend time with “whatever kids are in town.” And it’s a brief respite from work: She plays second-grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti on ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and is currently on tour performing her comedy show. Here’s a blow-by-blow account of her ideal day in Los Angeles.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for brevity and clarity.
7 am: 'Sleep'
When stand-up comedy was my main job, I would get home from my gigs in Manhattan at 4 in the morning. [young] I had kids, so I would wake up early, but then I would nap all afternoon. Since I did a TV show where I'm usually sitting in the Warner Bros. chair at 5 a.m., I sleep a little bit longer, but I'm usually up at 7, maybe 8. I've always been a night person, even as a kid. I was late for school very often. It drove my mom crazy.
7:fifteen am: Get up with a cup of coffee
Every day starts with a full pot of Starbucks decaf espresso. I love drinking coffee, I love the taste of it. Even as a kid, coffee ice cream was my favorite flavor. [take it] Black, I don't even put cream or sugar in it. If I do, it's like a dessert. I drink it a lot because I like to keep drinking something. [throughout the day] And I don't like water. I just don't like it. People in Los Angeles drink a lot of water. I don't like it.
10 am: It's time to play
If the NFL is in season, then I'm parked in front of the TV. [L.A. is] An industrial city that attracts people from all over the country, so when people come here, they don't give up on their team. If I'm not rooting for Washington or Philadelphia, I'm rooting for the Rams. I love the Rams. There were like three or four places I would go, [including] Barney's Havana and Black dog coffeewhere they knew that because I'm from DC, [they] I had to put the name of the Washington team in front of me and then I would be happy. But many places don't open until 10 am, so they only gave me the NFL [streaming] And then Stan, William Stanford Davis, who plays Mr. Johnson on the show, is coming to watch the game with me. That gives me an excuse to cook. I'll make a big feast to watch the game.
If we're going to have a second game of the day, my friends, the Chiklises, are also huge sports addicts. Cemetery Bistro and they bring it there, or they order it and they bring it, and we watch the second game. They usually organize big parties to watch football with lots of people. I only have Stan.
13:05 hours: About Game #2
If I am in So-FiI'm going to make a stop at From Randy Because I love donuts. I think Los Angeles is really good at two things that other places don't do so well: one is donuts and the other is burgers. I think Los Angeles has the best burgers anywhere. In fact, I've done a study now of all the ones that you have to try. [burgers]. Like, “Oh, haven't you tried Burger She Wrote?” There's always a new burger.
But I never stray Randy's DonutsThey're the best. One time when I went to So-Fi for the game, I brought a big box of Randy's and all the security guards saw it and said, “Can I have one?” Randy's donuts just speak to people. I don't know if it's the giant donut, I don't know what it is. It's an L.A. thing.
3 pm: Head to the Korean spa
If there is no game, it is usually something with the family. Either we all go to an escape room, which I love, or if I go with my girls, I go to the Hugh SpaHugh Spa is my favorite Korean spa. I once took Sheryl Lee Ralph there.
When I first went to a Korean spa, it was the giant, the Spa Wi-FiAnd I was like, “This is crazy.” There are entire families hanging out here eating bibimbap. People are having fun and the whole place smells like Korean food.
I like Hugh Spa because it's for women only. So I feel comfortable going from the sauna to the ice room to the clay pit to the robe. Everyone is naked. It's okay, not weird. And the spa is just as nice, but it's not as big. It offers great services and the people are great.
If I go to the spa, it's usually late in the afternoon, because you don't want to put makeup on again. Your hair is fine, your face feels bright and clean. They have weird masks that they use there, like the snail trail. They always put a weird mask on me when I go. When else am I going to get a Korean snail trail mask? Nowhere else, except here. You just go late enough to go home, have dinner, and go to bed. That's when I like to do it.
17:00 hours: The event that is Sunday dinner.
Dinner can be chicken Marsala, it can be a roast, it can be a curry. I like to cook everything, I don't care.
I was recently talking to someone who told me that she made the sauce in her grandmother's Revere Ware pot. They brought it with them to Los Angeles. Back then, they used to sell it piece by piece, door to door, and this week, you'd buy the pot and the next week, you'd buy the skillet because everyone could afford to buy one at a time. So my grandmother kept two of these pots. My mother kept one of them. She gave it to me because I became a cook when I was 13, and I still have it to this day.
8:00 p.m.: Compete in family game night
When the kids come over, our favorite game, the one we default to, is Cards Against Humanity. It's always a good time. At one point, someone gave a really, really mean answer and one of the twins jumped up from the table and said, “I hate this family.” It's something we laugh about to this day. It was hilarious. And there was nothing like my mom playing that game because she was always trying to get on people's nerves. [inappropriate cards]Then we just laughed.
10pm: Relaxation
Once everyone leaves and the kids go off or go back to playing or whatever they’re doing, my ex-husband, who comes over every week, usually spends the night with us on Sunday. And we put on the recorded version of “90 Day Fiance.” Sometimes I fall asleep on the couch, depending on how long my days have been, but I usually try to watch it and go to bed in enough time to get at least five hours of sleep. So usually at midnight. And then I fall asleep on the couch at 5 a.m. the next day.
