Perino's Founder Aimed for Stars, Culinary Excellence
Yes, there have been other high-glamour, high-priced restaurants -- Chasen's, Scandia, Romanoff's -- places favored by presidents and film stars. But the granddaddy of them all was a restaurant founded during the Depression by an Italian immigrant who believed that Los Angeles had an appetite for fine food in elegant surroundings.
Only a dreamer would have opened a restaurant that charged $1.25 for a dinner at a time when Angelenos could eat a full and hearty meal for 5 or 10 cents.
The dreamer's name was Alexander Perino, and his namesake restaurant was Los Angeles' first and foremost icon of culinary excellence, setting the standard for more than 50 years.
Perino referred to his establishment -- originally in the 3900 block of Wilshire Boulevard -- as The Place, and for well-heeled Angelenos, it was. Some diners wore tuxedoes and carried engraved cigarette cases. Women made entrances wearing evening gowns, diamonds and furs. Waiters knew what customers wanted before they knew themselves. Unlike lesser establishments, Perino's waiters were virtually invisible and never hovered for a tip.
Haute cuisine and expensive wines made Perino's the first Los Angeles restaurant praised by New York critics. It survived wartime food rationing and chic competitors following its lead.
Chasen's would have its famous chili, Scandia its gravlax, the Brown Derby its Cobb salad and grapefruit cake. Perino's drew diners with its steak Diane, chicken quenelles and pumpernickel cheese toast served by a waiter wearing white gloves.
Movie fans loitered outside Perino's, hoping to catch a glimpse of a Hollywood star after lunch or a late-night tipple. Charlie Chaplin always had time for panhandlers, handing out $5 and $10 bills. Frank Sinatra would play a tune on the Steinway in the bar, and Cole Porter wrote a song on a menu.
After the pigtailed child actress Margaret O'Brien began celebrating her birthdays there, the restaurant named a drink after her -- it was similar to a Shirley Temple. Opera bass Ezio Pinza declared Perino's gnocchi to be better than any he ate in Italy.
Mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel had a private booth. Regular and occasional guests included Eleanor Roosevelt, President Nixon, Sid Grauman, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, Dean Martin, Howard Hughes, novelist James M. Cain and Adm. Chester Nimitz.
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