Save the Derby!
Your city drifts and crumbles under the feet of progress. Gone are the streetcars, the original Schawb's, such hangouts at the Coconut Grove and Chasen's. The Brown Derby was once one of the crown jewels in the LA restaurant scene. There were a number of locations, but the most famous were the one located across the street from the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard (this was the shape of an actual derby) and the original Los Feliz location. The first brown Derby restaurant was built in 1928 as Willard's Chicken Inn retaurant. It was financed by Cecil B. DeMille and designed by Wayne McAllister. Though an influential architect, (he created many of the drive-ins and car hops so popular in the mid-century, including Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake) few remain. Its curious dome shape made it possible to pump water up through the building and out the the roof so that it ran down the sides. This effectively cooled the interior, making it one of the first "air conditioned" restaurants.
In 1940, its name changed to the Brown Derby and for twenty years, it was a hub of Hollywood glitterati. In 1945, the Derby was featured in the film Mildred Pierce. Joan Crawford tended its bar, famously claiming, "People have to drink somewhere. Why not here?" In 1960, it became Michael's and more recently, the car hop area has been a Louise's Trattatoria and the dome has been called the Derby, a vintage club for swing dancing. In June 2004, the site was bought by Richard Hadler of Los Feliz/Hillhurst LLC who wants to demolish this gem of Hollywood history, in some ways the last of its kind to erect a huge condo/retail complex (certainly no boon to small, village-y Los Feliz).
Shake your tailfeather and write 4th District councilman Tom LaBonge and tell him what you think of people who are out to blot out our city's history. Or visit the Save the Derby peeps to see what else you can do.
posted by kuaptic. @ 8:29 AM
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