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Dammit! Perino's is MY Place · Hooray for Hollywood

0:18
SPEAKER_00: Hello everyone and welcome to Hooray for Hollywood, a podcast all about the legendary stars, studios, and scandals that shaped Hollywood during its Golden Age.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Matthew Marlowe, big band singer, Hollywood historian, and collector.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: In each episode, we're going to be discussing a particular film, star, and even pieces of contemporary media surrounding the Golden Age of Hollywood.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: Every episode is heavily researched.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to be providing you with information with more fire and music than Eve.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: How nice for Lloyd! How nice for Eve! How nice for everybody.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: In today's episode, we're going to be discussing a landmark of Old Hollywood, Perino's Restaurant.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: What is Perinos?
1:02
SPEAKER_00: Perino's was a French-Italian restaurant which, like the Brown Derby, Chasons, and Romanoffs, was known for its celebrity clientele during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: If you're unfamiliar with these names, these were very well-known eateries in Los Angeles, which were frequented by the stars of the day.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: Each had their own identities.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: The Brown Derby was a great place to get lunch.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: The entire building was shaped like a derby hat, and its walls were lined with caricatures of its famous patrons.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: Chasen's offered more Southern-inspired cuisine.
1:34
SPEAKER_00: It was even originally named Chason's Southern Pit, and it was known for its chili.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: It was so loved, in fact, that Chasen's Chili was reportedly Cary Grant's last meal before passing away due to lung cancer, and Elizabeth Taylor had several orders of it flown to her while she was filming Cleopatra in Rome, because why wouldn't she?
1:56
SPEAKER_00: Romanoff's featured refined, masculine decor and a country club style menu.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: Its owner, known as Michael Romanoff, whose actual name was Harry F.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: Gergeson, claimed that he was a member of the Romanoff family.
2:09
SPEAKER_00: These restaurants were far from the only eateries in Los Angeles, but they did cater to stars so regularly that a large part of the experience was dining among its famous patrons.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: To quote Bob Poole at the Los Angeles Times, Alexander Perino created the restaurant's glamorous style, setting a standard that lasted for more than 50 years.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: Here, Betty Davis had a booth permanently reserved for her.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: Cole Porter wrote a song on the back of a menu.
2:37
SPEAKER_00: Frank Sinatra would perform at the Steinway in the bar, and Margaret O'Brien had a drink named after her.
2:44
SPEAKER_00: But the story of Perino's begins in 1895, with the birth of its owner.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: Alexander Perino was born in the Piemonte region of Italy.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: He was the youngest of 12 children.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: Now, I was the youngest as well, but I can't imagine having 11 older brothers and sisters.
3:03
SPEAKER_00: Imagine the grocery list.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: He idolized his father, who was a winemaker, which I think you'd have to be if he had a dozen kids.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: But sadly, his father died when he was 13.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: Of his father, Perino said in a 1969 Los Angeles Times interview that he was, quote, a good socialist.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: He saw what was wrong and tried to help.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: He loaned villagers money.
3:25
SPEAKER_00: If he didn't have it, he sold a cow or a barrel of wine and got it.
3:29
SPEAKER_00: Quote, his mother sent him to apprentice at a pastry shop on the Italian Riviera.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: He would never forget the food that he experienced as a young boy.
3:38
SPEAKER_00: Beef as strong as butter, mortadella made by hand, fine wine tuna cured in oil, tiny whole anchovies, young veal, chickens fed only on corn, polenta, rice picked fresh from the field for risotto, tiny frogs sauteed in butter and olive oil, eaten whole, bones and all, God, that sounds disgusting.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: Melon that was black inside, and peaches from a tree at the top of the vineyard.
4:06
SPEAKER_00: Alexander developed an equal passion for the opera.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: He would bribe a singing chef with cigarettes to teach him arias and give local opera singers eclairs in exchange for theater tickets.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: But when he was 15, his mother died.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: Suddenly he was an orphan, learning to navigate his adolescence.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: In February of 1914, when he was only 19 years old, Alessandro arrived at the port of New York as a steerage passenger on the SS La Lorraine.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: Now, for added perspective, in April of this year, the Titanic would sink.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: Not only was this, I think, a turbulent time in history, but also within Alexander's own life.
4:48
SPEAKER_00: Within the span of two years, he lost both of his parents.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: And even though he came from such a large family and was so deeply engulfed in the culture of Italy, he left that all behind.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: And he now found himself in a totally foreign land where people didn't even speak the same language as him.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: How alienating that must have been.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: And I I think about how difficult it would have been just to survive.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: And at only 19 years old, he did this?
5:18
SPEAKER_00: God, at 19 years old, I was still wearing plaid and I joined his Shakespeare tribe.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: What the hell did I know?
5:23
SPEAKER_00: But Alexander was able to find refuge in New York with a family that his father had helped.
5:28
SPEAKER_00: He worked hard as a busboy and pot scrubber and saved all of his wages to attend the opera.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: He later reminisced, quote, when Caruso sang, I quit my job.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: In fact, a youthful romance with a girl named Martha promptly came to a decisive end when he took her to hear Caruso sing and she fell asleep.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: You gotta give it to him.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: He knew where his standards were.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: For 11 years, he worked in the service industry, making his way through landmark New York locations such as the Delmonico's restaurant and the Plaza Hotel, but he didn't remain in New York.
6:03
SPEAKER_00: Quote, he worked his way across the continent, signing on at a variety of hotels.
6:09
SPEAKER_00: He served ice cream to General John Pershing, beef with onion juice and butter to President Harding, guinea hay and sweet potatoes to President Taft.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: In Chicago, he worked at the Congress Hotel, and he seemed to have taken after his father's socialist ideals and commitment to helping others as he made lasting and mutually beneficial connections with those whom he met there.
6:29
SPEAKER_00: Those relationships would end up playing a pivotal role in his future success.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: By 1925, Perino was living in Los Angeles.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: He, quote, came to Los Angeles in 1925 as a waiter at downtown Los Angeles' newly opened Biltmore Hotel, but was fired for dropping a tray of tea and crumpets.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: It was when he was working as a head waiter at Victor Hugo's, which was considered the best eatery in Los Angeles, that he had a revelation.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: Perino remarked, quote, I looked at Victor Hugo's and said, if this is good, I can do better.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: He turned over his car to an old friend in Chicago and received a loan of$2,000 in return, which was equivalent to$48,923.07 today.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: I'd sell my kidney for that.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: Do you want something else?
7:19
SPEAKER_00: Well, we haven't a half-off sale.
7:21
SPEAKER_00: I've got so many.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: But he used the enormous sum to open his restaurant in Los Angeles.
7:29
SPEAKER_00: And when it opened in 1932, Perinos was located at 3927 Wilshire Boulevard.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: It moved into part of the Billick Building, which was located at the northeast corner of Wilshire and Gramercy.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: And this was one large building that housed several storefronts.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: And funnily enough, the exact address that Perinos moved into had seen more than one restaurant.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: Actually, prior to Perinos taking over this location, it was housed by a branch of the Brown Derby, which I think is so funny.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: And before that, the short-lived Hi-hat restaurant originally held this space.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: Before Perino moved in, the Billock Building featured these businesses from left to right: the Bachelor's Bar, the Seder Bookshop, the Brown Derby, and the showroom of interior decorator Miriam Van Court.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: But when Perino moved into the building, he expanded the location by taking over the space of the Seder bookshop next door.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: And a year after Perinos opened here, Elizabeth Arden opened a salon in the corner space next to the Bachelor's Bar.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: This location was prime for stars wanting to go out to dinner after a filming day because it was just about 20 minutes away from each of the various studios.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Perinos offered its patrons a French-Italian cuisine, and I actually have a copy of the menu from 1942.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: In its design, the menu is very simple and chic.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: We have Perinos uh in the top left corner, but there are no graphics.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: But it's one page and the font is very small.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: I hope that people weren't coming here after the movies.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: I hope they were coming here after the opera because they'd have their opera glasses on them so they could make out what they're seeing.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: I like to say, you know, it was the 30s.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: People were different, but God, they must have had some insane eyes to be able to make out what was on this menu here.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: Very interesting to see what was offered here.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: I mean, because it's such a a glimpse into the time.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this menu has everything.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: We have, we don't have one or two hors d'oeuvre.
9:31
SPEAKER_00: We have like 10.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: And for entrees, forget about it.
9:35
SPEAKER_00: This goes on for days.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: It's extensive.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: And let's just go through some of the highlights, shall we?
9:40
SPEAKER_00: For starters, these prices are too much.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: I a crab cocktail for 70 cents.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: Who's got that kind of money?
9:47
SPEAKER_00: We have eggs florentine, Spanish omelette, eggs with bacon or ham, omelet with chicken livers, eggs mornae.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: Nothing better than some eggs in the mornay.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: Deviled sliced turkey Virginia.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: Virginia, get out of that turkey.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: Breast of Chicken Under Glass, Queen Sheba, which incidentally is my favorite Madonna album.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: I love this though.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Specials, Perinos.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: I'll have Perinos special.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: Very well.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: Wait, is it that?
10:25
SPEAKER_00: I'll have Perinos special.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: And also, what is it?
10:29
SPEAKER_00: And then you have the chef special.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: Because heaven forbid you get the two confused.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: You got the owner and the chef.
10:35
SPEAKER_00: And they each know what's best for you.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: But neither will tell you what it is.
10:41
SPEAKER_00: Zabaglion.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: Spumoni.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: Spumoni for 50 cents.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: I can't tell if this menu is more Italian than French.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: But I think it's just kinda eh, you know, it's just ish.
10:55
SPEAKER_00: You French?
10:56
SPEAKER_00: Eh, ish.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: Vermigelli Aluvo.
11:03
SPEAKER_00: Peach Melba.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: Peach Melba.
11:05
SPEAKER_00: Which drag season did she appear in?
11:08
SPEAKER_00: Lobster Thermidor.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: I don't know who he is, but he wears a turtleneck and a scarf.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's Thermidor.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: He's a theater major.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: Half-cracked crab.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: But looking at this menu, I think it's Perino who's half cracked.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Oh, what the heck?
11:27
SPEAKER_00: I'll have the chicken Jerusalem.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: If it's good enough for the Son of God, it's good enough for me.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: That's enough.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: While there are no photos which exist depicting the interior of the original restaurant, it is often said that its design was that of an European fine dining establishment.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: And pairing that with what we know about the future looks of Perino's restaurant, we can infer that the carpeting had a regal floral design, that the restaurant featured crystal chandeliers and brass wall sconces, and that the lighting was dim in order to produce a romantic atmosphere.
12:08
SPEAKER_00: The waiters were black tuxedos, the tables were likely lined with white linen tablecloths, and dishes were presented on silver serving wear.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: Right from the beginning, Perinos offered something different.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: It was bold in its choices.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: Three years into the Great Depression, Perinos was charging the exorbitant price of$1.25 per dish, which is equivalent to$33.85 today, which is pretty pricey.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: At the time in Los Angeles, one could eat a meal for five or ten cents.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: This said a lot about the restaurant and the man who was responsible for bestowing it upon the public.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: Even though it charged a small investment for one meal, and this was a brand new restaurant, untried by a market that was still firmly in the grip of the Great Depression, Perinos didn't fear bankruptcy.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: Why?
13:00
SPEAKER_00: Because Perinos offered something rarely found elsewhere, high quality.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: Alexander Perino was known to be a man who didn't cut corners.
13:10
SPEAKER_00: Quote, tomatoes were never put on ice because Perino believed they would lose their flavor.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: Ice from the bar was taken directly there so it would not accidentally pick up food tastes from the kitchen.
13:22
SPEAKER_00: Quote, he bought his fish from a Scandinavian man on First Street, had a farmer in Palos Verdes grow his vegetables, imported lettuce from Kentucky, had caviar hand-delivered from Russia, bought endive from Montana, used only Ethiopian coffee, and once had a man stand by to ensure that calves being slaughtered were just the right age.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: The menu featured expert rich European dishes: vermicelli alova, naki pied montese, salt and boca, cold asparagus with hot vinaigrette, and creme brulee topped with Grand Marnier, which sounds absolutely delicious.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: His views on service were strict.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: Quote, the best service is that which is never seen.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: And I have to say I quite agree.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: As someone who has former experience as a server in a fine dining restaurant, I do come from the mindset that the best service is an obtrusive service.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: Because when people go out to a restaurant, they want to spend time with the people that they're with.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: And when you make yourself too much a part of it, you're taking away from that.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: And I think you're doing the guests a disservice in that way.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: So I always try to only be at the table for no more than the amount of time that I absolutely had to be.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: Hadley Mayers at PBS SoCal wrote that, quote, his rules for the kitchen were even stricter.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: He never froze food, believing that it took the love out of it.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: Spinach was served by pouring boiling water over it and then adding cream, butter, and nutmeg.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: In cooking, sour cream and consomme were used instead of flour and starch.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: Vinegar was best for salads when made from the first pressing of grapes.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: Use of garlic and much seasoning was discouraged in favor of natural flavors.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: Wine bottles were covered in sand to preserve flavor.
15:17
SPEAKER_00: Serving from glass dishes was no good.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: Alexander Perino himself said, quote, I never served anything in my restaurant I didn't want to eat myself.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: The secret of good food is simply quality.
15:30
SPEAKER_00: There is no substitute.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: Immediately, Perinos became a favorite for Hollywood's most notable individuals.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: It was widely considered the best culinary experience in California.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: Quote, hot cuisine and expensive wines made Perinos the first Los Angeles restaurant praised by New York critics.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: It survived wartime food rationing and chic competitors following its lead.
15:57
SPEAKER_00: Chasen's would have its famous chili, Scandia its Gravox, the brown derby its cob salad and grapefruit cake.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: Perinos drew diners with its steak Diane, chicken quenelles, and pumpernickel cheese toast served by a waiter wearing white gloves.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: By 1933, May West was regularly eating her Sunday suppers at Perinos with her manager.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: I like to imagine that when it was reported that May West was seen at Perinos with a man, the response came back just the what?
16:28
SPEAKER_00: Here's a bit of Mae West at Perinos.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: Days after opening, a self-confident chef named Attilio Balzano showed up to the restaurant and told Perino that he was a good cook.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: Perino asked, How good?
16:52
SPEAKER_00: Balzano said, Try me.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: They went on to work together for 37 years.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that nice?
16:58
SPEAKER_00: In 1969, Perino reflected on their relationship by saying, quote, We fought like cats and dogs, but he is a great man.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: Much of Perino's success could also be attributed to Alexander's overzealous love of the restaurant.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: He, quote, could often be found teaching the likes of Ronald Coleman how to make a special salad dressing, or huddled with Dolores Del Rio discussing his latest secret recipe.
17:24
SPEAKER_00: I think that's so sweet.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: Alessandro was described as an elegant man.
17:29
SPEAKER_00: Quote, a restaurant writer once remarked that Perino looked like an Italian count with his white hair and courtly manners.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: Like an Italian prince, Perino corrected him.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: This is very funny to me, as I previously mentioned Michael Romanoff, who liked to claim that he was a member of the Romanoff family.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: So I guess these two men were the restaurant royalty of Hollywood.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: The two gentlemen even appeared to be friendly with each other because allegedly there was an occurrence where Perino, who had a wonderful sense of humor, uh pretended to shake down Michael Romanoff when he skipped out on paying his tab one night.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: I just know Mae West saw this happen and remarked, me next.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: But on August 15th, 1934, Alexander's dreams went up in smoke.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: A kitchen grease fire engulfed the restaurant in flames.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: Never one to say idly bye, Alexander himself rushed his lunch patrons to safety.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: His heroism spoke volumes of the respect and the care that he always showed his patrons, even in the most dire circumstances.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: Good food is subjective and can be recreated, but good service is rare and not easily forgotten.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: Making your patrons feel that your restaurant is a safe location in the wake of a disaster is indispensable and is a surefire way, no pun intended, to establish returning clientele.
18:59
SPEAKER_00: It was undoubtedly an adrenaline-inducing event, but it wasn't the end for Perino.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: After the horrendous fire, the restaurant was quickly rebuilt.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: And in 1935, the cocktail bodega opened.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that just a sure way of saying, good times are here again?
19:18
SPEAKER_00: The bodega was a bar which was attached to the restaurant, but could also be accessed through a separate door at the front of the building.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: In one night, it saw Zazu Pitts, Ronald Coleman, the Spencer Tracy's, Franchot Tone, and Joan Crawford, Myrna Loy, the Gary Coopers, Irene Dunn, the Fred Astairs, Randolph Scott, and Kay Francis.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: That bar was run dry.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: Perinos became so known for its high-end clientele that Dorothy Chandler hopped tables seeking donations when she was raising money for the construction of the music center.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: It's time for our very first fact or fantasy! Fact or fantasy.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: Perinos was frequented by the mob.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: This is a fact.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: Hollywood actors were not the only recognizable faces amongst Perino's patrons.
20:15
SPEAKER_00: Quote, Mobster Benjamin or Bugsy as he was known, Siegel, was a regular in the 1940s.
20:22
SPEAKER_00: In the early 1950s, Midwest gangster Anthony or Big Tuna Accardo and Los Angeles Underworld figure Jack Dragna were among those who briefly staged a mob summit meeting at Perinos before police broke it up.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: Quote, police had followed the out-of-towners from the airport.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: The mafiosi, which I think is so funny, the mafiosi had just settled down to eat when they heard that the cops were harassing the men they'd posted outside, so they moved the meeting elsewhere.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: After the event, according to Eddie Cress, a Los Angeles native who lived in the area, Perinos had, quote, an aura of mystique for a while.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: Moving locations! In 1950, Perinos moved to a larger, far superior location at 4101 Wilshire Boulevard, which was located at the northwest corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Norton Avenue.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: Originally, this building was a Thrifty Mart supermarket with a streamlined design, and it was referred to as a food caravancery by its promoters.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: The building, which opened in 1934, featured attention-grabbing soaring pillants, which fit right in with the hypermotorized boulevard of the time.
21:37
SPEAKER_00: Legendary Los Angeles architecture Paul Revere Williams was hired to renovate the location for an astronomical$400,000.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: Today, this would be the equivalent of the jaw-dropping amount of$5,562,207.47.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: But Paul Revere Williams was not just anyone.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: Paul Revere Williams was a very notable architect, and even if you don't know his name, you do know his work.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: Paul Revere Williams was born in Los Angeles in 1894.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: His father died of tuberculosis, and two years later, his mother died of the same illness.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: God, these men had such tragic upbringings.
22:25
SPEAKER_00: They were like Disney characters.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: He was left in foster care and was later adopted by C.I.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: Clarkson and his wife.
22:32
SPEAKER_00: Growing up, he was the only African American at his elementary school.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: He studied at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design and at the Los Angeles branch of the New York Beaux Arts Institute of Design Atelier, and later worked as a landscape architect with William Cook Jr.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: From 1916 to 1919, he studied architectural engineering at the University of Southern California and designed multiple residential buildings while he was still a student.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: In 1921, he not only became a certified architect in California, but also the first certified African-American architect west of the Mississippi.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: That's crazy.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: Just two years later in 1923, Williams opened his own practice and became the first African-American member of the American Institute of Architects.
23:21
SPEAKER_00: He designed the houses of many celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Bill Robinson, Lon Cheney Sr., Lucio Ball, Julie London, Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lauer, Charles Corell, Will Hayes, Zazu Pitts, Danny Thomas, and two houses for Tyrone Power.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: In the 1940s, he repeatedly worked on renovations for the legendary Beverly Hills Hotel and was largely responsible for giving the hotel its lasting aesthetic, even adding the crescent wing and its iconic signage.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: And in fact, the lettering of the words the Beverly Hills Hotel on the building is Paul Revere Williams' own script.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that so cool?
24:03
SPEAKER_00: This leads us to the year 1950 when Williams was commissioned for the renovation of Perinos.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: Williams'$400,000 design removed all traces of the food caravancery and gave the restaurant a New Orleans-inspired aesthetic.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: He described this look as being, quote, patterned after historic New Orleans architecture with a California flair.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: The exterior of the building included a grand port cochere, and the New Orleans influence is apparent in the elegant swirling iron columns, which were created by Sabino Ironworks.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: The new interior included a dramatic black and white marble entry and a memorable oval dining room.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: The restaurant reopened on February 22nd, 1950, and the new location and design were met with much fanfare.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: The larger building meant that the once intimate restaurant could now accommodate greater crowds.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: No longer just one storefront of many, the solo Perinos became the main event.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: A favorite story of Alexander Perinos was one about a guest who stumbled, knocking over a hat rack, causing it to collide with another patron.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: And in response, the diner pulled a gun.
25:13
SPEAKER_00: Ever the hero, Perino knocked the gun out of his hand and instructed a waiter to hide it.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: Where did you put the gun?
25:20
SPEAKER_00: Perino asked later.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: In the soup, the waiter replied.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: For four years, Perinos enjoyed great success.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: However, on September 10th, 1954, exactly 20 years after the first incident, another fire overtook Perinos.
25:37
SPEAKER_00: A discarded lit cigarette left on an upholstered chair resulted in a severely destructive event, causing over$250,000 in damages.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: The fire was catastrophic for the restaurant.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: According to Cecilia Rasmussen at the Los Angeles Times, everything except for the outside walls was destroyed.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm not claiming to know who started the fire, but all I will say is maybe more eyes should have been locked on Betty Davis at this time.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: And who was sitting in the upholstered chair?
26:17
SPEAKER_00: Because I have a hunch that Betty Davis was sitting in her booth enjoying a nice martini when she locked eyes with Joan Crawford across the room and flicked a cigarette in her direction, engulfing the restaurant in hellfire.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: It's entirely possible.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: I'm not a detective.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: What do I know?
26:41
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, after the fire, Paul Revere Williams was hired for another renovation of the restaurant, and his updated French continental design was grand and large, even adding two private dining rooms.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: Quote, the reopening of Perinos in February of 1955 was the event of the season.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: That's how you know you've made it off when you're invited to the event of the season.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: We don't have enough events of the season anymore.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: The next time I'm hosting a party, it is the event of the season, baby.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: You're not there, who are you?
27:18
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, the main dining room alone could seat 150 people.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: The menu included over 150 entrees and 270 wines.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: Soft violin music provided accompaniment in the restaurant while the color scheme and lighting made everybody look radiant.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: The updated restaurant was the epitome of luxury.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: Quote, the rooms sparkled in sea green, pink, and coral with clay beige carpet bordered in black.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: Glittering crystal chandeliers dripped from the ceiling, and costly French oil paintings hung on the walls.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: The new$1,800 solid silver serving cart reflected the pink linen covered tables, each bearing a single pink rose.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't that just sound magical?
28:08
SPEAKER_00: At Perinos, Richard Nixon, Ronald, and Nancy Reagan were regulars, and I'm sure they all sat together at the Going to Hell booth.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: Opera singer Ezio Pinza was another famous guest of Perinos and proclaimed the Naki was better than any that he ate in Italy.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: Menu items changed daily, and on special occasions, pressed duck was served at the table prepared from an antique duck press that belonged to Joan Crawford and her fourth husband Alfred Steele.
28:35
SPEAKER_00: Perinos also had a fabled martini with a secret recipe, but the secret behind that recipe is that it was made with French vermouth and English gin, which sounds delicious.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: And if you want to see me make this in a future cocktail video, let me know.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: I like to imagine what it might have been like to have dinner at Perino's.
29:00
SPEAKER_00: Hi, Betty.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: Oh thank you for sharing your booth with me.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: This is this is some treat.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: Oh goodness, it's beautiful in here, isn't it?
29:10
unknown: Oh my gosh.
29:12
SPEAKER_00: You know, I was starving all the way over here.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: I just could not wait to eat.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: Oh, what do we got today?
29:19
SPEAKER_00: Frog's legs.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: Lamb kidney.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Calves liver.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: Boy, they're running out of parts of the animal?
29:31
SPEAKER_00: Sounds like a witch's spell.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what this is.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: Oh gosh, you know, maybe I'm maybe I'm just not hungry.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm just not really hungry.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: I'll just have a cigarette.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: But you watch it with those.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: You remember what happened last time.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
29:43
SPEAKER_00: Gosh, you're bad.
29:44
SPEAKER_00: Here come the Reagans and Richard Nixon.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: Oh god.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: Try not to make eye contact, Betty.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: Betty, don't make no, I told you don't make eye contact.
29:51
SPEAKER_00: Don't.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: Hi, Ronnie.
29:54
SPEAKER_00: Hi, Nancy.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: Dick.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: Nancy, sweetheart.
30:00
SPEAKER_00: You still haven't found anyone to do your hair?
30:03
SPEAKER_00: That'll happen.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: Being married to a Republican.
30:06
SPEAKER_00: Ronnie.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: Oh gosh.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: Ronnie, I saw you in uh bedtime for Bonzo.
30:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
30:14
SPEAKER_00: What the hell was that about?
30:17
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: Oh gosh.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: You two are still together then, huh?
30:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, still managing to keep that up.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: Good on you.
30:26
SPEAKER_00: Well, very good seeing you.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: Very, very even better to see the back of you.
30:31
SPEAKER_00: You especially dick.
30:33
SPEAKER_00: Alright.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: Don't run for office anytime soon.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: Do me a favor, Nick.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: Don't run for I said.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: Whatever.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: Where's our waiter?
30:40
SPEAKER_00: Oh, wait.
30:41
SPEAKER_00: Hello.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: Hello.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: Hi.
30:44
SPEAKER_00: Are you an actor?
30:47
SPEAKER_00: Of course you are.
30:48
SPEAKER_00: Could you tell me about tonight's specials, please?
30:52
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's Joan Crawford stuck again.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: She's still parading that old thing around.
30:58
SPEAKER_00: No, I meant her husband.
31:00
SPEAKER_00: No, stop, Betty.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: Betty, you're bad.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: Betty, you wouldn't be able to say these awful things if you weren't in this booth.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: But you are, Betty.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: You are in that booth.
31:11
SPEAKER_00: So bad.
31:13
SPEAKER_00: Uh, well, do you have any soup?
31:14
SPEAKER_00: I love soup.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: Oh, there's no soup.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: Oh, there's a gun in the soup.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I think we're still thinking it over.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: We're okay for now.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: But I will take a dry martini, though.
31:26
unknown: Yeah.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Christy.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: Here comes Dorothy Chandler.
31:30
SPEAKER_00: No, she's gonna be asking for donation skip.
31:32
SPEAKER_00: Stay away.
31:37
SPEAKER_00: Oh god, here comes the temples.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, squirrely bumpily.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: That's what I was just about to say.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: Oh god.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: Oh, she's gonna need a high chair.
31:45
SPEAKER_00: Oh.
31:46
SPEAKER_00: I didn't know they made high chairs made out of Mother of Pearl.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: That's interesting.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's it's little it's little Sinatra, it's little Frankie's at the piano.
31:55
SPEAKER_00: Oh, isn't that lovely?
31:57
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's nice.
31:57
SPEAKER_00: I hope he doesn't Elton John Medley.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't that be lovely?
32:02
SPEAKER_00: Duel! Candle in the wind! All we need now is Ann Miller tap dancing on the tables.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: It's time for another Fact or Fantasy! Fact or fantasy.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: The mock tale, consisting of ginger ale and grenadine, known as the Shirley Temple, was actually named after another Hollywood child actress.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: This is a fact, but let me elaborate.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: Perinos named a drink after child actress Margaret O'Brien after she frequently visited the restaurant on her birthday.
32:44
SPEAKER_00: It was made of ginger ale and grenadine.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: You may recognize that as a Shirley Temple.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: So what is the history behind it?
32:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, according to Temple herself, quote, the saccharine sweet icky drink?
32:57
SPEAKER_00: Yes, well, those were created in the probably middle 1930s by the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, and I had nothing to do with it.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: But all over the world I am served that drink.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: People think it's funny.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: I hate them.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: Too sweet.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: There are conflicting stories regarding the beverage's origin.
33:17
SPEAKER_00: Some say it was created at Chasen's, Shirley Temple herself claimed it was at the Brown Derby, and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel has also claimed to have invented it, but I don't think anyone's ever believed that.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: The long-standing story behind it is that her parents would enjoy old-fashions at dinner, and a bartender at one of Hollywood's fine dining establishments created it for Temple so she too would have something colorful to drink that was topped with a maraschino cherry.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: I have no reason to doubt that the drink was in fact created for Shirley Temple.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: Temple's claim that it was created in the mid-30s would mean that the drink was already around for over half a decade by the time that Margaret O'Brien stepped onto the movie scene.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: But I'm sure that a thoughtful Perinos bartender named the same concoction after Margaret O'Brien in order to make her feel special on her birthday.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: The soft drink may be widely recognized as being named after Temple, but she certainly did not lay claim to it.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: And one fact that's not disputed is that she did not want companies making money off of it either.
34:20
SPEAKER_00: In 1988, bottled versions of the soft beverage were preparing to hit the market until Temple herself filed a lawsuit to prevent the sale of any beverage using her name.
34:32
SPEAKER_00: She argued that it was not a generic term and told the New York Times, quote, all a celebrity has is their name.
34:39
SPEAKER_00: But that's enough with Squirrelly Bumple.
34:41
SPEAKER_00: I'll have a Margaret O'Brien.
34:44
SPEAKER_00: Times continued to change, and in 1969, Perino was forced to sell his restaurant to Esgrow, Incorporated.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: Quote, Perino was in his 70s, food costs were skyrocketing, good help was scarce, and his clientele had gravitated from debonair movie stars in formal attire to young stars with long hair and dirty jeans, and land was worth more than legend.
35:08
SPEAKER_00: There was an arrangement that would keep him in charge, but as most deals in Hollywood, it fell through.
35:15
SPEAKER_00: And so Perino left Perinos.
35:20
SPEAKER_00: But not before Chef Balzano, and in fact, most of the kitchen staff.
35:25
SPEAKER_00: On New Year's Day in 1982, Alexander Perino died at the age of 86.
35:31
SPEAKER_00: A great man with a great legacy, his personal model, which he had adhered to his entire professional career, was food, service, cleanliness, and no cheating.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: With Perino gone, so went the restaurant's popularity.
35:46
SPEAKER_00: Tastes continued to change throughout the years, and the appeal began to run out.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: Old Hollywood too went out of fashion.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: In 1970, the infamous MGM auction took place, a tremendous sale of the props and costumes which were used to create dreams for the whole world.
36:05
SPEAKER_00: This period of time seemed to mark the end of something.
36:08
SPEAKER_00: Every ounce of glamour and elegance in Hollywood seemed to be squeezed out of it like oil from a rag.
36:17
SPEAKER_00: An attempt was made in July 1983 to relaunch the restaurant under new ownership, which included a foolish move to a new downtown location, but it failed.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: On January 4th, 1985, the Los Angeles Times published an article titled, Perinos Bites Off More Than It Can Chew, Closes Complex.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: In the article, they detail how a restaurant operating under the quote, golden patina of the Perinos name has closed its doors.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: Frank J.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: Escrow explained that they were hoping that the promise of rejuvenated downtown nightlife and a boom in the hotel business would provide them with their desired clientele.
36:58
SPEAKER_00: However, in hindsight, he felt they were a few years early for it, if it should ever come at all.
37:03
SPEAKER_00: Esgrow commented, quote, that was a mistake, moving downtown.
37:07
SPEAKER_00: The night business, it wasn't there.
37:10
SPEAKER_00: It was the cause of all of the problems.
37:12
SPEAKER_00: I suppose I'm the one to blame.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: Esgrow was to blame, not only for the failure of the downtown location, but also for the way that Perino's flawless image had been tarnished.
37:23
SPEAKER_00: Maud Chason, owner of famed Chason's restaurant, said that the move downtown altered, quote, that warmth and good feeling that had long been affiliated with the Perino's name.
37:34
SPEAKER_00: John Hamerton, who had been a Perino's Matre D for 30 years, remarked that another move of Escarot's, the addition of a$12.50 Sunday buffet, was also responsible for blemishing the restaurant's once impeccable name.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: Quote, unwashed people in jeans were eating here on Sunday, he lamented, while gazing at a$150,000 hand-cut crystal chandelier shimmering over an empty dining room.
38:00
SPEAKER_00: God, that's so sad.
38:02
SPEAKER_00: This is heartbreaking to me because we see this all the time.
38:05
SPEAKER_00: When a company buys out a property that was not created by them, and therefore they don't understand it.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: They hold no reverence for it.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: They only view it as something to milk for profit, and in any way they can.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: While Perinos downtown was in operation, the original location on Wilshire Boulevard was being used only for banquets and private parties.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: After the downtown location closed on December 7th, 1984, the original Perinos reopened as a full-service restaurant on December 22nd.
38:36
SPEAKER_00: Esgrow declined to provide a number for the financial losses associated with the downtown location, as there were plenty.
38:42
SPEAKER_00: However, he later admitted in another article published by the Los Angeles Times that he lost an astounding$7.5 million.
38:52
SPEAKER_00: After declaring bankruptcy and closing the downtown location, a bankruptcy judge removed Escrow from the restaurant's operations.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: Thank God.
39:01
SPEAKER_00: In my own opinion, Perinos could never have been recreated the way that Escrow had attempted to do, because Perinos was created at the right time and in the right place.
39:13
SPEAKER_00: It was known as being elegant and glamorous.
39:17
SPEAKER_00: And what better place and in what better time would there be to be glamorous than in Hollywood during its golden age?
39:25
SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't only this, but also the community because Perino always insisted on quality.
39:33
SPEAKER_00: And it was provided to him from the farmers whom he sourced his food from, to the servers who always gave the top-notch memorable service, to his own care for his patrons that he showed daily.
39:49
SPEAKER_00: And Chef Balzano, who didn't do the job because it was just another job, but because he was proud of the work that he did.
39:58
SPEAKER_00: And even the other competing restaurants who all seemed to have this sense of community and helped each other rather than hindered each other.
40:10
SPEAKER_00: And all of this largely feels lost today.
40:14
SPEAKER_00: According to Bob Poole at the Los Angeles Times, quote, Times restaurant reviewer Ruth Reichel, who was there the night that a robber held up a patron in the parking lot, raved about the police response but gave the food a poor rating.
40:27
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty damning.
40:29
SPEAKER_00: Returning to the Wilshire Boulevard location proved not enough to drive up business for the restaurant.
40:35
SPEAKER_00: And in 1986, Perinos finally closed its doors.
40:40
SPEAKER_00: Though the legacy of Perinos restaurant did not end when it closed its doors to the public.
40:46
SPEAKER_00: Throughout the 70s, 80s, 90s, and up until 2004, it lived a second life as a filming location for many memorable scenes in numerous films and television shows.
40:58
SPEAKER_00: Perinos makes an appearance in one of Hollywood's most famous and infamous films.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't necessarily used as a filming location in Sunset Boulevard, but the exterior of the restaurant does appear during the scene in which Norma takes Joe shopping for new clothes.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: This is interesting because, as you may recall, Perinos changed locations in 1950, the year this film was released.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: However, in this scene, we see the original location at 3927 Wilshire Boulevard.
41:28
SPEAKER_00: It also appears in Marathon Man in 1976, in a scene in which Dustin Hoffman appears in the restaurant.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: It appears in Love at First Bite in 1979, George Hamilton appears in the restaurant with Susan St.
41:40
SPEAKER_00: James and Richard Benjamin.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: In American Gigolo in 1980, Richard Gere's character Julian asks Anne, played by Nina Van Palant, for help at Perinos.
41:50
SPEAKER_00: Perinos is used for what is meant to be a Manhattan restaurant in the made-for-television film Bare Essence.
41:55
SPEAKER_00: However, the exterior shots are filmed at Tavern on the Green in Central Park.
42:00
SPEAKER_00: In Scarface 1983, a scene between Tony Montana, played by Al Pacino, Elvira, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, and Manny, played by Stephen Bauer, takes place at Perinos.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: In Dead Again, 1991, Perinos was turned into a fictional restaurant called Sid's, in a scene in which Roman Strauss, played by Kenneth Braunauch, takes Margaret Strauss, played by Emma Thompson, on a first date.
42:24
SPEAKER_00: In Chaplin in 1992, there's a scene in which Charlie Chaplin, played by Robert Downey Jr., takes Paulette Godard, played by Diane Lane, to Perinos for dinner.
42:33
SPEAKER_00: Perinos is seen in the 1994 made-for-television film Liz, the Elizabeth Taylor story, in a scene featuring Elizabeth Taylor, played by Sherilyn Fenn, and Debbie Reynolds, played by Judith Jones.
42:44
SPEAKER_00: It features in a scene in which Liz meets Nikki Hilton, played by Eric Gustafsson.
42:49
SPEAKER_00: In the beginning of the film Mulholland Falls in 1996, Perinos is the setting of a scene in which Max Hoover, played by Nick Nolte, beats up mobster Jack Flynn, played by William Peterson.
43:02
SPEAKER_00: The restaurant also appeared in numerous television shows throughout the years, including Columbo, Scarecrow and Mrs.
43:08
SPEAKER_00: King, Heart to Heart, The Colbys, LA Law, Dallas, Falconcrest, and Melrose Place.
43:16
SPEAKER_00: Most importantly, Perinos features in two scenes from the gay camp classic Mommy Dearest.
43:25
SPEAKER_00: In its first appearance in the film, Joan is met with adoring fans at her arrival outside of the restaurant and signs autographs for them.
43:32
SPEAKER_00: When she enters, she is all but forced to have dinner with MGM studio head Louis B.
43:37
SPEAKER_00: Mayer, which makes her feel like some picked up floozy.
43:41
SPEAKER_00: And in the aftermath of the scene, she delivers the stellar, unforgettable line Damn it, Perinos is my place.
43:49
SPEAKER_00: In its second appearance in the film, Joan takes her daughter Christina to the restaurant, where, as a personal jab to her daughter, she orders her a rare steak.
43:58
SPEAKER_00: Christina gives her a short Sharp side-eyed glare at this because earlier in the film there's a scene in which uh Christina's a child where she refuses to eat a rare steak.
44:07
SPEAKER_00: Joan reprimands her for flirting with a waiter, and then Christina proudly shows her report card to her mother, and the oft-quoted conversation that follows goes as such.
44:20
SPEAKER_00: And what about your Christmas card list?
44:25
SPEAKER_00: Christmas cards?
44:28
SPEAKER_00: I've been studying for exams.
44:31
SPEAKER_00: I'll get the cards out on time, okay?
44:36
SPEAKER_00: You know, Tina.
44:38
SPEAKER_00: Being away at school has made you more rebellious.
44:42
SPEAKER_00: Perinos was so tied to Joan Crawford that it was even meticulously recreated in the 2017 series Feud, Betty and Joan.
44:52
SPEAKER_00: The restaurant is the setting of many different scenes, featuring Betty, Joan, director Bob Altrich, and Hedda Hopper.
44:59
SPEAKER_00: The crew did an incredible job of recreating everything, right down to the famous peach-hued booths.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: But more on feud in future episodes.
45:07
SPEAKER_00: Real estate developer Tom Carey bought the building in 2002 and converted it into a 47-unit luxury apartment complex.
45:16
SPEAKER_00: Certain notable pieces of the restaurant were kept, including Perino's Bar, the Steinway that Frank Sinatra played, as well as the Port Cochere and the awning that hung over the entryway.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: These items were incorporated into the new building as a way of honoring the legacy of the famous restaurant.
45:33
SPEAKER_00: But everything else headed to auction.
45:36
SPEAKER_00: On June 5th, 2004, Bob Poole from Los Angeles Times informed readers, quote, Tyrone Power's favorite pink fabric-covered booth, Frank Sinatra's martini-stained Steinway, the platters that served up Steak Diane to Carrie Grant, and Pumpernickel Cheese Toast to Charlie Chaplin.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: It's all up for grabs today, when furnishings from Perino's restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard are auctioned off.
46:02
SPEAKER_00: These words begin an article that describes not only the event of the auction, but also the rich history of a restaurant which continually served the most famous names in Hollywood and across the world.
46:16
SPEAKER_00: The iconic pink booths weren't just old furnishings from a fine dining restaurant.
46:22
SPEAKER_00: For years they graced Hollywood royalty.
46:25
SPEAKER_00: Prior to the auction, the restaurant was open to prospective buyers from 9 a.m.
46:30
SPEAKER_00: to 2 p.m.
46:30
SPEAKER_00: and there was a fitting 5 p.m.
46:32
SPEAKER_00: cocktail reception, which preceded the event at 7 p.m.
46:36
SPEAKER_00: Part of the proceeds of the auction went to the Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society and to the Hollywood Entertainment Museum, which also received artifacts of the restaurant.
46:46
SPEAKER_00: According to Tom Carey, the trademark spiraling stairway was given to Paul Revere Williams' granddaughter Karen Hudson.
46:54
SPEAKER_00: But I do feel it's important to reflect on all that Tom Carey did because it means something.
47:01
SPEAKER_00: Giving the spiraling stairway to Paul Revere Williams' granddaughter is a very touching move.
47:08
SPEAKER_00: But holding on to the memorable pieces in order to incorporate it into the future apartment complex, these are things that aren't typically done.
47:18
SPEAKER_00: And they show so much reverence for the restaurant and for its legacy.
47:24
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sorry, but to me, it's incredible to think that you could live at Perino's if it wasn't going to exist as a restaurant.
47:31
SPEAKER_00: It's very cool that it ends up existing as an apartment complex.
47:36
SPEAKER_00: And the fact that notable items were saved, but the rest was sold to loyal fans.
47:42
SPEAKER_00: I feel that Tom Carey showed more reverence for Perino's legacy than Escrow did in all his years owning the restaurant.
47:54
SPEAKER_00: Which brings me to Perino's Today.
47:58
SPEAKER_00: The luxury apartment building, which was created in the restaurant's stead, still exists today and offers residents and visitors a glimpse at the legendary eatery.
48:08
SPEAKER_00: Notably, it still has the original Perino signage above the entrance, the original porticochery, the restaurant's front doors, and the entryway awning.
48:18
SPEAKER_00: Several items from the original restaurant were even put on perpetual display in the main lobby, including one of the famous peach booths and a gilded chandelier.
48:28
SPEAKER_00: The Perinos bar was even lovingly recreated in its entirety on the first floor of the building.
48:35
SPEAKER_00: Now called the Remembrance Room, the bar can be accessed through Perino's former entrance, where just inside, everything from the bar, the stools, the sconces, the fireplace, chairs, wooden beams, and even wall paneling are all authentic pieces which have been marvelously restored to the location.
48:55
SPEAKER_00: My sources on this are as current as 2012, but if you're from Los Angeles or if you've visited the complex or if you live in Purinos, I would love it if you could reach out and let us know if these original items from the restaurant are still on display.
49:11
SPEAKER_00: I'd like to wrap this up by providing my final thoughts on the history of Perinos.
49:17
SPEAKER_00: The story of Perinos is a prime example of the cultural shift in society.
49:23
SPEAKER_00: The one thing that Alexander Perino always insisted on was quality.
49:28
SPEAKER_00: Yet for years there's been a continual loss of quality.
49:33
SPEAKER_00: I used to love going out to dinner on special occasions because the experience felt magical.
49:42
SPEAKER_00: So can the final message derived from Perino's rise and fall from grace be one of a continual loss of glamour and sophistication in society?
49:54
SPEAKER_00: Or is it merely that everyone and everything eventually becomes obsolete in a world of ever-changing tastes?
50:03
SPEAKER_00: Regardless, Perinos undoubtedly left its mark among the privileged members of high society and the stars of the golden age of Hollywood.
50:13
SPEAKER_00: It will continue to be remembered as a bright shining pearl amongst the famed locations of a fabled dreamland.
50:23
SPEAKER_00: Bring me my Perinos takeout.
50:28
SPEAKER_00: That's our show.
50:30
SPEAKER_00: Follow me on social media at the Matthew Marlowe on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
50:35
SPEAKER_00: And uh hey, leave me a review.
50:38
SPEAKER_00: Let me know uh how pretty you think I am, and how much fun it was to have dinner together.
50:43
SPEAKER_00: Those reviews really help us a lot to create a community together.
50:47
SPEAKER_00: And let me know what topics you'd like to see me cover in future episodes.
50:52
SPEAKER_00: I'd really love to hear from you.
50:53
SPEAKER_00: Until then, thank you so much for joining us, and as always, I'll see you at the movies.