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Started by mulders_notpair_noidnuff
Thu, 30 Dec 1999 00:00
FWD: So you ask: what ever happened to the Brown Derby?
Author: mulders_notpair_noidnuff
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 00:00
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 00:00
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COBB SALAD DAYS By Leslee Komaiko The 'Brown' Derby Ain't What it Was I've always liked a bit of history with my meal. So, hoping to tap into Los Angeles legend, and maybe even ogle an aged celebrity or two, a few friends and I piled into a car one recent Saturday night. Our destination: the original Brown Derby on Wilshire Boulevard, the only Brown Derby restaurant, in what was once a thriving Los Angeles quartet, that was shaped like a hat. Although we knew this Derby had been razed in the early '80s-by developers who probably never tasted the trademark Cobb Salad, named after restaurant president Bob Cobb-we also knew that the hat's dome had been salvaged. Kind of. After trimming the brim, the hat was integrated into the design for the Brown Derby Plaza, which is essentially a Korean mini-mall. The Derby itself is now called Cafe Namuhana, which means "one tree." Why the Derby became a tree I have no idea. We pulled up to the spot, across from the Ambassador Hotel, and spied... the silver derby! The joint had been painted. "It looks like a reactor at San Onofre," one friend wistfully observed. We went inside. Picture the Matterhorn. Scale it down to maybe 1/20 the size. Then decorate it with Coors Lite bottle caps, a flashing plastic Santa, and jam in a half dozen desk lamps-yes, desk lamps. This is what you'll find under the silver derby. The walls, which once featured celebrity caricatures of Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, Orson Welles and others, today are painted a none-too-subtle canary yellow. In place of the celebs, busty comic book vixens peer out of miniature frames. At least they are caricatures, of a sort. Remember Dorothy My friends quickly discovered a secret of the "Matterhorn." If you stand on one side of the restaurant you can hear, in perfect clarity, conversations taking place on the other side. I put this to the test as I chatted up our sweet and vaguely new wave waiter, Jacob. I asked if any celebrities patronize the silver derby. Jacob seemed humored by the question. "Only Korean celebrities sometimes," he said. "What about tourists? Do they ever come here expecting to find the Brown Derby?" Jacob shook his head. "We get Korean tour groups." "Do you serve Cobb salad?" From Jacob's expression I knew the answer was no. Instead he brought us several menus-in Korean. Since we were a mostly monolingual group, with bits of various romance languages sprinkled in, we asked Jacob to share a few of the specials. "Have you tried Korean rice cakes?" he offered. I pondered the question, recalling Dorothy Lamour's recipe for Shrimp Creole with rice, which she contributed to the Brown Derby. Perhaps Korean rice cakes were derivative of this meal. Then again, we had just eaten. Maybe the best plan was simply to drink ourselves silly. Do You Soju? I thought of ordering a martini, but somehow the confines did not convince me the drink would arrive true to form. I asked instead if the silver derby served soju, an alcoholic beverage which is fruity like a wine cooler, but with significantly more punch. "We have eight flavors: lemon, yogurt, peach, grape, melon, blackberry..." "What's your favorite?" one of my posse asked. "Ladies like melon," Jacob answered. "Guys just want to get drunk." We ended up sharing a pitcher of perfectly tasty lemon soju. The blackberry that followed was less agreeable, carrying the finish of a cold medicine. Even the boiled peanuts served alongside could not redeem it. I knew the days of thick steak and hash browns were gone. We headed to the karaoke lounge in the back room. Although no one was singing, there were enough Korean teens here to fill a school bus. They were gathered around large tables, smoking up a storm. One group was celebrating a birthday. I sat at an empty table and paged through a karaoke song book. In addition to Ace of Base and Air Supply, I discovered selections from Perry Como and the charmingly misspelled Elvie Presiey. "Hey," said a guy at the nearby table. "Are you a reporter?" I came clean. Then I asked this maybe 20-year old guy if he knew the history of the place. Was he aware that the Silver Derby was once home to one of the most famous restaurants in Los Angeles, that every celebrity of note had spent many an hour in its confines? "We just know it as a drinking place," he said. Then he took a drag of his cigarette, just like Humphrey Bogart, a Derby regular.
Re: FWD: So you ask: what ever happened to the Brown Derby?
Author: M. Fuss
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00
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mulders_notpair_noidnuff <find@thetruth.net> wrote: >COBB SALAD DAYS >By Leslee Komaiko >The 'Brown' Derby Ain't What it Was The Brown Derby did not go down without a fight. When the new owner announced his plan to raze it, the L.A. Conservancy, then in its infancy, organized its first major battle. Picket lines were thrown up, lawsuits were filed, and it all ended in a pitiful compromise. The developer would save the domed hat structure and stick on the rear of his new minimall. It's really not the same building at all. The Hollywood Brown Derby on Vine lasted a few years longer, and the Beverly Hills location on Wilshire was the last to go. Marshall Fuss
Re: FWD: So you ask: what ever happened to the Brown Derby?
Author: Matt Kelly
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00
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The former Brown Derby on Los Feliz Blvd at Hillhurst has been re-opened for several years as the Derby. It's pretty much ground zero for the swing dance revival in Los Angeles. Even on weeknights a line winds around the corner waiting to get in to watch the nightly live bands or take free dance lessons in the banquet room. There is another still-functioning Brown Derby just east of the Santa Anita racetrack and a brand new one at the MGM in Las Vegas, but I've never been inside either. Matt K http://www.caprica.com/~make/index.html In article <84h95t$1fc$1@nntp6.atl.mindspring.net>, mrfuss@ix.netcom.com (M. Fuss) wrote: > mulders_notpair_noidnuff <find@thetruth.net> wrote: > > >COBB SALAD DAYS > >By Leslee Komaiko > > >The 'Brown' Derby Ain't What it Was > > > The Hollywood Brown Derby on Vine lasted a few years longer, and the > Beverly Hills location on Wilshire was the last to go. > > Marshall Fuss
Re: FWD: So you ask: what ever happened to the Brown Derby?
Author: M. Fuss
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00
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eyespots@pacbell.net (Matt Kelly) wrote: >The former Brown Derby on Los Feliz Blvd at Hillhurst has been re-opened >for several years as the Derby. It's pretty much ground zero for the >swing dance revival in Los Angeles. Even on weeknights a line winds >around the corner waiting to get in to watch the nightly live bands or >take free dance lessons in the banquet room. I don't believe that location was ever a Brown Derby. It was Michael's for decades before the current owners arrived, and was originally built as "The Hat," unrelated to the Brown Derby. I lived in Los Feliz for 20 years, and this is what the "old timers" told me. I think I have a history of Los Feliz somewhere and will try to confirm this. Marshall Fuss
Re: FWD: So you ask: what ever happened to the Brown Derby?
Author: kathyj
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00
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I thought the Brown Derby was in Hollywood, not Los Feliz. Good old Michael's, home of surf and turf and snotty waiters. I lived around the corner from Michael's and dined there occasionally with friends who didn't want anything exotic. One dinner stays in my memory not because of the food, but because the waiter tried to bully me into leaving a 15% tip when he gave 1% service. Kathy J. "M. Fuss" wrote: > eyespots@pacbell.net (Matt Kelly) wrote: > > >The former Brown Derby on Los Feliz Blvd at Hillhurst has been re-opened > >for several years as the Derby. It's pretty much ground zero for the > >swing dance revival in Los Angeles. Even on weeknights a line winds > >around the corner waiting to get in to watch the nightly live bands or > >take free dance lessons in the banquet room. > > I don't believe that location was ever a Brown Derby. It was Michael's > for decades before the current owners arrived, and was originally > built as "The Hat," unrelated to the Brown Derby. I lived in Los Feliz > for 20 years, and this is what the "old timers" told me. I think I > have a history of Los Feliz somewhere and will try to confirm this. > > Marshall Fuss
Re: FWD: So you ask: what ever happened to the Brown Derby?
Author: Matt Kelly
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00
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Well I'm sure once you do your research you will realize that the building at 4500 Los Feliz Blvd was a Brown Derby **before** it was a Michael's. All you have to do is go into the new Derby and look at the photos on the wall. Or you can look at my website: http://www.caprica.com/~make/derby.html The caption on the back of the Los Feliz Brown Derby postcard on my site reads, "The LOS FELIZ BROWN DERBY is popular with film folk and the general public alike as a luncheon and dinner spot. The car cafe, or drive-in, offers added convenience, and is an outstanding example of this California-originated innovation." There is also a book available that gives some of the background on the Brown Derby chain, "The Brown Derby Restaurant: A Hollywood Legend" by Mark Willems, Sally Wright Cobb, and Jane Wyman. Matt Kelly In article <84j2su$22g$1@nntp5.atl.mindspring.net>, mrfuss@ix.netcom.com (M. Fuss) wrote: > eyespots@pacbell.net (Matt Kelly) wrote: > > >The former Brown Derby on Los Feliz Blvd at Hillhurst has been re-opened > >for several years as the Derby. It's pretty much ground zero for the > >swing dance revival in Los Angeles. Even on weeknights a line winds > >around the corner waiting to get in to watch the nightly live bands or > >take free dance lessons in the banquet room. > > I don't believe that location was ever a Brown Derby. It was Michael's > for decades before the current owners arrived, and was originally > built as "The Hat," unrelated to the Brown Derby. I lived in Los Feliz > for 20 years, and this is what the "old timers" told me. I think I > have a history of Los Feliz somewhere and will try to confirm this. > > Marshall Fuss
Re: FWD: So you ask: what ever happened to the Brown Derby?
Author: Jess Paxton
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 00:00
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M. Fuss <mrfuss@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message news:84j2su$22g$1@nntp5.atl.mindspring.net... > eyespots@pacbell.net (Matt Kelly) wrote: > > >The former Brown Derby on Los Feliz Blvd at Hillhurst has been re-opened > >for several years as the Derby. It's pretty much ground zero for the > >swing dance revival in Los Angeles. Even on weeknights a line winds > >around the corner waiting to get in to watch the nightly live bands or > >take free dance lessons in the banquet room. > > I don't believe that location was ever a Brown Derby. It was Michael's > for decades before the current owners arrived, and was originally > built as "The Hat," unrelated to the Brown Derby. I lived in Los Feliz > for 20 years, and this is what the "old timers" told me. I think I > have a history of Los Feliz somewhere and will try to confirm this. > > Marshall Fuss Actually, it was built in 1926 as "Willard's Chicken Inn" by none other than Cecil B. DeMille. It was a Brown Derby from 1940 to 1960, then Michael's until this date in 1992, then it became The Derby. see http://www.the-derby.com/ I would have loved to have seen it in its Willard's incarnation.
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