Some cool celebrity gossip images:
Evelyn Y. Davis
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Evelyn Y. Davis
Birthplace: Netherlands.
Stock holdings: Owns shares in 90 companies.
Occupation: Publisher, philanthropist, shareholder activist.
Among pet issues: Term limits for corporate directors.
Ms. Davis is still with us and as you can see from the headstone that awaits her, she is a bit eccentric. As the self described "defender of shareholder rights and many stockholder meetings nationally" Ms. Davis has earned the reputation.
As a stock holder in General Motors when she was learning to drive, she felt as though being a stockholder entitled her to be taught how to drive by the chairman of the board of General Motors and she informed him of that.
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Other gems from her life so far:
It's easy to get an interview with Evelyn Y. Davis, but it's impossible to get a word in edge . . .
``I gave George Allen a big hug today, make sure you put that in your story,'' Davis says. ``You may quote me, I find him very attractive.
``In a politician, looks and personality are very important,'' Davis continues, as she always does, ``because what else has a politician got? Promises and b.s., you know?''
If you don't ``know,'' Davis will tell you. If you don't agree, she'll explain her side until you do. Or at least until you nod in agreement.
And she has been explaining her philosophy to CEOs and company presidents since 1960, when, as an IBM shareholder, she stood up, ``shaking like a leaf,'' and asked a question. She no longer shakes - thanks to a public-speaking course at the YMCA.
Now, it's the company chairpeople now who get tense when Davis speaks. She owns about 0,000 stock in 120 companies and she attends 30 to40 shareholders meetings each year. She was in Norfolk on Thursday for Ford Motor Co.'s annual meeting.
There's no doubt Davis can get the attention of corporate America. Need proof?
When she arrived at the Norfolk airport, Waterside Marriott General Manager Dan Marone picked her up. Why? ``Because Mrs. Evelyn Davis is a celebrity in Norfolk,'' Marone says before putting forth the real reason, ``and Mr. Marriott, Bill Marriott Jr., is a personal friend of Mrs. Davis.' At Chairman Marriott's suggestion, the Norfolk hotel also bumped up the water temperature from 82 degrees to 87 degrees. ``Evelyn Y. Davis, the most famous stockholder in America,'' as she introduces herself, doesn't like cold water.
What else? Well, when Davis was shopping for a new car last year, the chairmen of the Big Three automakers put on the sales pitch themselves. She picked Chrysler's offering, a Cirrus, and Chairman Robert Eaton delivered it. ``Bob Eaton delivered it to me in my home, to my front door. Not bad, huh? Naturally, that was the subject of a lot of gossip in Detroit, huh? That's probably what he wanted, right?''
Davis, thrice divorced - ``You may quote me, too: It's easier to get married than divorced'' - doesn't command attention from CEOs because of the value of her stocks. They listen to her because they have no choice, like Ford Chairman Alex Trotman on Thursday. She wanted to know what precautions Ford was taking to prevent a hostile takeover, such as the one proposed this spring at Chrysler by investor Kirk Kirkorian. ``I'd be glad to discuss that, Mrs. Davis,'' Trotman said, ``but I think it would be appropriate during part four of . . .'' ``No, no, no. This is appropriate now,'' she demanded. She persisted with the question until other shareholders shouted ``Sit down, sit down.'' During a general discussion later in the meeting, she came back with the question - and five or six others: ``OK, Alex, now you can answer my hard questions.''
Evelyn Yvonne Davis' hard questions seem all the more forceful because she fires them out, staccato-like, in a Dutch accent. She was born in Holland, but has lived most of her life in the United States. She lives now in the Watergate complex in Washington.
The only thing Davis doesn't like to discuss is her age, but she's about the age at which most people retire.
``I'll tell you, if you don't use it,'' she says. ``Only a jealous woman would use my age, right?''
Davis follows politics almost as closely as corporations, but she thinks companies should stay out of making political contributions during primaries. She's a Republican, but . . .``I voted for Clinton because things were getting dull, with this Bush, and we haven't had a dull day since.''
Her conservative political philosophy extends to her view on HOV lanes, which she . . . ``I think they are not fair. You could have one person in a car who pays more taxes than three or four in another car.''
She also publishes a once-a-year corporate newsletter that she sells mainly to company chairpeople and presidents.
``Like I say, nobody knows corporate America better than Evelyn Y. Davis,'' says Evelyn Y. Davis.
Most of the photos in her newsletter are of CEOs standing next to - guess who? - Evelyn Y. Davis
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From USA Today:
'Queen of the corporate jungle' stalks annual meetings
By Gary Strauss, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — These are the best of times for Evelyn Y. Davis.
For more than 40 years, the eccentric corporate gadfly has tormented CEOs at annual shareholders meetings, where she dresses them down for excessive pay packages, poor corporate performance — even their girth.
Evelyn Y. Davis is famous for grilling CEOs and fighting for shareholder rights.
Davis, long regarded as a grandstanding crackpot, is emerging as a formidable advocate for shareholder rights during the annual meeting season now in full bloom. She has already won several long-fought battles, currying widening support from shareholders ticked off over corporate scandals, exorbitant CEO pay and widespread stock losses.
"My new title is queen of the corporate jungle," says Davis, a diminutive, Dutch-born Holocaust survivor who speaks with a thick accent. "I operate on my own, but my work benefits a lot of shareholders. Nobody knows Corporate America like Evelyn Y. Davis."
Bristol-Myers Squibb's board is finally acquiescing to a longtime Davis proposal that all directors be elected annually, a measure designed to boost accountability. The drugmaker had opposed a similar proposal Davis had submitted annually since 1985. It is reversing course at its May 6 annual meeting. "She did an extraordinary job of keeping the proposal alive," says company spokesman Robert Hutchison.
Earlier this month, publisher Dow Jones said it would support annual election of board members, citing Davis' efforts. CarrAmerica Realty is following suit.
"Why is she winning? It seems that there's a more respectable attitude toward some shareholder proposals," says Eleanor Bloxham, head of the Corporate Governance Alliance advocacy group.
Indeed, labor unions such as the AFL-CIO, big pension funds and other shareholder advocates are pressuring companies on everything from executive compensation to political contribution disclosures. About 1,000 shareholder resolutions will be voted on this year — an all-time high, according to the Investor Responsibility Research Center.
While most of this year's shareholder resolutions focus on compensation, governance experts say angry investors are likely to support any measure designed to make companies and their corporate boards more accountable.
Much of Davis' quirky reputation is based on her antics at annual meetings, where she has worn hot pants, bathing suits and hospital scrubs to draw attention. Even dressed in her typical Chanel suits, Davis, 73, makes an indelible mark — disrupting meetings by haranguing CEOs until they satisfy her scrutiny.
"Her most lethal weapon is the fact that she does not care what anyone else thinks of her, so she's prepared to be rude, to interrupt, to be domineering and to do essentially whatever it takes to command attention," former Eli Lilly CEO Randall Tobias said in a CNBC interview.
Among more than 50 of Davis' 2003 shareholder proposals:
Limiting incoming directors to six years of service at AT&T, American Express, DuPont, FleetBoston, PepsiCo and Home Depot. Annual election of all directors at Lucent, Morgan Stanley and Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Broader disclosure of executive compensation at J.P. Morgan Chase, Consolidated Edison, Ford Motor and United Technologies.
Davis is even seeking to move the date of BankAmerica's annual meeting so it doesn't coincide with other shareholder meetings she wants to attend.
The peripatetic Davis plans to attend upward of 40 annual meetings, which fall mostly in April and May. "It's like opera season," Davis says.
At Goldman Sachs' annual meeting earlier this month, Davis blasted CEO Henry Paulson over the investment bank's performance but later surprised him with a hug, concerned that he might contract the SARS virus on a pending trip to Shanghai.
Davis' feisty demeanor and willingness to spar masks her financial acumen, formidable after decades of self-training and business administration studies at George Washington University. She is also persistent. She's introduced hundreds of shareholder proposals over the past few years. Many floundered. But Davis keeps introducing them. She may not hug every CEO like Paulson, but she does prefer dealing with them directly.
"I don't deal with flunkies, only presidents and CEOs," Davis says. "They don't have to agree with what I say. But over the years, they've come to understand me. Nobody can take me for granted."
To be sure, CEOs quickly learn to return a Davis phone call or pose with her for photographs, succumbing to her relentless chutzpah. CEOs at Chrysler and General Motors have personally delivered new cars purchased by Davis. She'll expect a third to do the same when she buys her next car. Not that it will do any good. "I don't want anyone to think they've got me in the bag," Davis says.
CEOs are also expected to purchase Davis' annual newsletter, Highlights and Lowlights, which she publishes out of a cluttered, closet-sized office in Washington, D.C.'s Watergate complex, where she also resides in a spacious condominium. It features Davis' corporate governance issues, grip-and-grin CEO photos and her take on the Washington and international scene. It costs 5 a year — minimum order, two copies. Davis says she pulls in 0,000 annually from subscriptions.
Not that she needs the income. Davis is a multimillionaire. While she says she holds shares in 90 companies, equities represent only a small portion of her portfolio.
Outside of her corporate governance work, Davis focuses on the 14-year-old Evelyn Y. Davis Foundation, through which she's channeled substantial philanthropy to charitable causes, hospitals and colleges. Recently, the foundation endowed a University of Miami scholarship fund that bears her name with 0,000.
She divorced the three men she married — an accountant after 18 months, a stockbroker after two months and a retired economist after three years — and has no children. "Stocks are my children," she says wistfully.
Davis has found far more lasting pleasures sparring with corporate executives. "I'm a beautiful woman. Men find me extremely intriguing. But I have been unlucky in love," she says. "Power is greater than love. Power and control, that's what it's about."
Complications from her third face-lift sidelined Davis during the 2001 proxy season. Now healthy and energized by her recent successes and growing clout among shareholders, Davis says she has no plans to slow down.
She is already mapping out shareholder proposals for 2004. One new one would prohibit boards from awarding executives stock-option grants — a measure likely to further exasperate CEOs. "What else would I do with myself?" Davis says. "I love the challenges, the conflict and the intrigue."
Ben's Chili Bowl, U St NW
Image by dbking
French President Nicolas Sarkosy and wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkosy dine at Ben's while in DC to visit President Obama
voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2010/03/hey_isn...
Death of Ben Ali, Founder of Ben's Chili Bowl
voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2009/10/ben_ali_of_b...
President Elect Obama Dining at Ben's Chili Bowl
dcist.com/2009/01/obama_and_fenty_have_lunch_at_bens.php
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Ben's Celebrates Chili Power
Big Stars and Just Plain Folks Mark Eatery's 50-Year Run on U Street
By Keith L. Alexander
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 21, 2008
It was 1996, and Nizam Ali had just gotten his law degree. Instead of heading to the courtroom, he had another idea: He wanted to help run the family business.
Ali told his father, Ben, that if he couldn't double the revenue at Ben's Chili Bowl within a year, he'd fall back on that legal career. To meet his goal, he went well beyond the walls of the landmark restaurant on U Street NW. He became a promoter, visiting radio stations with free hot dogs, hamburgers and half-smokes -- all covered in Ben's trademark spicy chili. Radio personalities talked up the food, and the legend of the Chili Bowl grew.
Sales surged during that year as Nizam and his older brother, Kamal, oversaw the restaurant's operations -- so much so that Ben and his wife, Virginia, decided to step back and leave the restaurant they had founded in the hands of their sons.
This week, the District's most famous neighborhood diner turns 50. The family is hosting a free gala tonight at the Lincoln Theatre, with celebrities including Bill Cosby and Roberta Flack. That will be followed by a street festival tomorrow in front of the restaurant, at 1213 U St. NW, and a musical tribute Sunday down the street at the 9:30 club.
When they aren't behind the counter flipping burgers or scooping chili, the Ali brothers are figuring out ways to capitalize on the Ben's brand. They launched a line of souvenir baseball caps, key chains and tote bags. The Alis also helped with a book on the place's history and set up a Web site, benschilibowl.com. And they struck a deal to sell Ben's fare at the Washington Nationals' new ballpark.
In October, the brothers will take over the building next door and turn it into a full bar, so patrons can enjoy Ben's chili and dogs with a beer or mixed drink, big screen TVs and possibly live bands.
"We're stepping up the game," said Kamal Ali, 46. Last year, Ben's took in about .6 million in revenue, up from less than million about 10 years ago.
The brothers credit generations of loyal patrons and their employees for their success. "It took a village to raise this place. Everyone in this community had a hand in this place," said Nizam Ali, 38.
A third brother, Haidar, 48, is a musician and lives in California.
The walls at Ben's are covered with photos of famous customers, including actors Denzel Washington and Danny Glover, tennis star Serena Williams and musicians Bono and Chuck Brown. The restaurant has been featured on Oprah Winfrey's show (twice), CNN, the Travel Channel and the Food Network, as well as in travel publications across the country.
Virginia Ali can recall the day she got a phone call from a woman in Texas who wanted to make a reservation for her vacation in Washington -- three months away. "I laughed and told her: 'Honey, come on in. It's just a greasy spoon,' " she recounted through a hint of Virginia accent.
By far, Ben's biggest celebrity fan is Cosby, who will serve as master of ceremonies for tonight's Lincoln Theatre event. The comic helped propel Ben's to the national spotlight in 1985 when he held a news conference there to talk about his No. 1 television program, "The Cosby Show."
Cosby became a fan when he was in the Navy and stationed in Bethesda in 1958. During that time, he was a regular at jazz clubs on U Street. And he also took his soon-to-be wife, Camille, who was a student at the University of Maryland, to Ben's on late-night dates, where he would eat as many as six half-smokes at a time. Cosby likens a Ben's half-smoke, a plump beef and pork sausage, to a fine wine.
"You can describe it the same way a wine connoisseur would be able to tell difference between a pinot noir and a merlot," Cosby said in a telephone interview. "When you bite into a half-smoke, the skin and the way the texture and firmness and the toppings you can get on it . . . "
His voice trailed off, as if he was caught in the memory of the taste.
Aside from the food, what makes Ben's stand out, Cosby and others say, is that it's as if time stood still. Ben's has the same layout as when it opened Aug. 22, 1958, aside from an expanded seating section in the back and a kitchen put in five years ago. It has its original counters, booths and stools.
Ben Ali, an immigrant from Trinidad, met his wife when she was a teller at nearby Industrial Bank. When Ali opened the restaurant, Virginia joined him in the venture. They were married that October.
Now 75, Virginia Ali finishes her husband's sentences and fills in the holes in stories she has heard him tell so many times. Until recently, she served as a waitress and a greeter. Lately, she spends most of her time at home caring for Ben, who is 81. The two act like love-struck teens as Ben Ali pinches, teases and whispers in his wife's ear and she giggles and lightly swats his arm.
Ben Ali came up with the idea for the restaurant when he saw how Americans loved to smother their french fries with ketchup. With his Caribbean taste buds, he thought that American foods were bland and that there was a market for spicy American dishes.
He tears up when he talks about his restaurant and his three sons, who all share the middle name Ben. "My whole life has been one happy life," Ali said, removing his glasses and wiping tears from his eyes.
For a restaurant to become such a landmark in the District is rare, and at times, it seemed that Ben's wouldn't survive. In 1968, many businesses were torched during the riots after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. But Ben's remained opened and untouched, thanks largely to Stokely Carmichael, head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which used the restaurant as a meeting place.
As the years passed, the area became riddled with crime and drugs. Faithful customers told Ali that they couldn't go to the restaurant anymore because their cars kept getting broken into. The construction of Metro's Green Line from 1986 to 1991 made it difficult for customers to venture into the area, which caused a lot of businesses to close. Then things began to turn around.
"We had the community support, and we survived. We didn't want to go to any other part of the city," Virginia Ali said.
Ben's is like a popular barbershop or beauty salon where regulars gather to gossip, laugh and joke. "It's very much like that, where a janitor sits next to a judge, who is sitting next to a junkie. Just random people having random conversations," Nizam Ali said.
James Jackson of Seat Pleasant has been going to the restaurant for 15 years. "You never know who you're going to run into," he said.
The morning crowd is dressed in business suits and uniforms, men and women sipping coffee and eating cheese grits or toast before heading to work. At lunch, it's mostly workers or tourists jamming the booths and tables. The dinner crowd is made up of folks who want a quick burger.
Weekends at 2 or 3 a.m., partygoers from nearby bars and nightclubs congregate for a quick meal or a handmade milkshake as Prince, Aretha Franklin or the Isley Brothers blare from the jukebox. Through it all, the restaurant's employees -- now totaling 25 -- joke, dance and pose for pictures with customers while taking orders and dishing out the food. They're led by Bernadette "Peaches" Halton, 48, a 30-year employee, who is said to be the only one outside the family to know the recipe for Ben's chili.
For about 40 years, most of Ben's clients were African Americans, who patronized the U Street corridor for decades. In the late 1950s, U Street was known as the "Black Broadway," thanks to frequent performances by such stars as Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington.
As the demographics shifted, so did Ben's clientele. Within the past 10 years or so, it has become increasingly diverse and now includes more whites, Hispanics, Ethiopians and Asians. The customers include people from other countries who are visiting the District and want to get a taste of Ben's. Virginia Ali said Ben's is more of a "melting pot" now.
The changing demographics, along with higher property taxes, caused several black businesses on U Street to relocate or go out of business. Ben's has not only remained; it has thrived.
As Kamal Ali put it: "We had to adjust and stay true to form, and everyone has really embraced us."
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August 2006 Scavenger Hunt
"local hangout"
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It was the summer of 1958. Eisenhower was president. Federal troops were ordered into Little Rock to integrate public schools. Explorer I was launched, as was NASA. The first-ever Grammy Awards were given, and Ella Fitzgerald won two of them. 1958 was also the year Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. published his first book, Stride Towards Freedom. Griffith Stadium was home to the Washington Senators, and 30% of DC’s black population owned homes. Nelson Mandela wed Winnie. And, in 1958, newlyweds Ben and Virginia Ali gave birth to a new enterprise.
Despite a national business failure rate of 55.9%, the Ali’s used ,000 to begin renovating a building at 1213 U Street. It had high-arched ceilings, character and plenty of history. Built in 1909, the building first housed a silent movie house, the Minnehaha Theater. Later, Harry Beckley, one of D.C.’s first Black police detectives, converted it into a pool hall. On Aug. 22, 1958, Ben’s Chili Bowl was born.
It was an exciting time on the U Street corridor, which was then known as “Black Broadway.” Top performers could be found playing sets in clubs along the corridor, as well as eating and just “hanging out” at Ben’s. It was not uncommon to see such luminaries as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Redd Foxx, Dick Gregory, Martin Luther King Jr., or Bill Cosby at “The Bowl.”
In 1968, the assassination of Dr. King lit a fuse of rage. Riots ensued. Most of the city closed down; Ben’s remained open. Stokely Carmichael of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which was located across the street, obtained special police permission to let Ben’s stay open after curfew to provide food and shelter for activists, firefighters and public servants desperately trying to restore order.
After the riots, the area declined. Businesses closed. But there was some glimmer of hope in the neighborhood as the concept of “Black is Beautiful” emerged. Ben’s continued to serve an eclectic crowd of regulars. In the 1970’s, black films gained in popularity, and the Lincoln Theatre next door was often packed.
Still, the riots continued to take their toll. In the late 1970’s and 80’s, drug dealers began peddling heroin in open-air drug markets. The once vibrant street looked and felt whipped. Even so, the flame of hope could not be extinguished. Mayor Marion Barry, Jr. had the vision to build the Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center at 14th and U Streets. For the first time in years, hundreds of new jobs were created on U Street.
In September 1985, Bill Cosby held a national press conference at Ben’s Chili Bowl to celebrate his number one rated show, thrusting Ben’s into the national limelight. Business improved and things were looking up. But there were more problems ahead. In 1987, construction began for Metro’s Green Line. This section of U Street became nothing more than a 60-foot hole. Business came to a halt overnight. Very few new businesses opened. Ben’s made the decision to stay open with only two employees serving Metro workers and faithful regulars each day. Through more than five years of construction and upheaval, Ben’s managed to survive.
Despite all of the troubling times, Ben’s has had its share of blessings as well. Bill Cosby and hundreds of others attended its 45th anniversary in August 2003. Throughout the years, Ben’s has also been blessed with many awards and accolades: Councilmember Jim Graham named the alley adjacent to Ben’s ‘Ben Ali Way,’ Ben and Virginia were inducted into the D.C. Hall of Fame (May 2001), and in 2004, Ben’s won the prestigious Gallo of Sonoma ‘America’s Classics’ Restaurant Award from the James Beard Foundation. Add to these immense press coverage, including segments on CNN, Oprah, 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, PBS, BET, Food Network, and stories in Washingtonian, Gourmet, Southern Living, The New York Times and The Washington Post, and Ben’s is now recognized world-wide as a the place to eat in Washington to experience the real D.C.
At present, it seems as though the tough times are behind us, and that the sky is the limit for this Shaw neighborhood. As U Street once again redefines itself, Ben’s looks forward to maintaining its strong community presence. Since 1958, Ben’s has been blessed with the most loyal of customers, and we listened when you said, “whatever you do, never change this place.” After 47 years, Ben’s is the same place it always has been. The counter, booths and stools are all original; the fresh homemade chili is still made with love, using the same secret recipe. Ben’s has made small changes, like adding veggie burgers and veggie chili to the menu, and building a new dining room to better serve large groups, but the feel of Ben’s will never change.
So where are Ben & Virginia Ali these days? They are both retired (although Virginia has redefined “retirement” – she can be found behind the counter at Ben’s on most days), but their sons, Kamal and Nizam, are carrying on the family business. Please stop in and say hello – you will be greeted with a smile!
Additionally a scene from the film "Pelican Brief" was shot on location inside of Ben's
NYC: 21 Club
Image by wallyg
After the 18th Amendment went into effect ushering in the Prohibition Era, cousins Jack Kriendler and Charlie Berns opened their first speakeasy, The Red Head, in Greenwich Village in 1922. In 1923, they followed with Club Fronton before moving operations uptown to West 49th Street in 1926, with a new club called The Puncheon (also referred to as 42 or the 42 Club). In 1928, they were given k to vacate the site that was zoned for Rockefeller Center development, and moved to West 52nd Street into a bordello previously owned by Hildegarde Adler. Moving the wroguth iron gate that fronted #42, they opened Jack and Charlie’s '21' Club in the wee hours on December 31, 1929.
Daily Mirror gossip columnist Walter Winchellis banned was from ‘21’ in 1930, and the next day ran a column noting that it had never been raided by Prohibition agents. The next day, ’21’ was raided. As a result, Jack and Charlie hired architect Frank Buchanan to install a complex system to hide and destroy liquor in case of future raids, including the infamous ‘21’ Wine Cellar, now considered one of the world’s most coveted private dining rooms. Behind several smoked hams that hung from the basement ceiling and a wall filled with shelves of canned goods, stood a perfectly camouflaged two-and-one-half ton door that appeared to be part of the wall. Only by inserting a slender 18" length of wire through one of the many cracks in the cement wall, would the secret door silently slide back to reveal '21's most coveted treasure: two thousand cases of wine.
In 1931, a model of the British Airways "flying boat" became the first corporate toy hung from the '21' ceiling. Today, hundreds of corporate logo toys, sports memorabilia and other mementos form a ceiling-scape, including a model of the PT-109 donated by President John F. Kennedy, a smashed tennis racquet from John McEnroe, Jackie Gleason’s pool cue from The Hustler, and mics from every NYC-based television and radio station.
In 1933, Prohibition was repealed and in 1934, Charlie created '21' Brands, a liquor importing/distilling/distributing company.
Thirty-one jockeys line signature grand staircase and wrought iron balcony, with two more posted inside the front door--the latest of which came from Sackatoga Stables, representing the 2003 KEntucky Derby and Preakness winner, Funny Cide. All myths aside, their origins can be traced to their affluent "horsy" clientele in the 1930's. It all began with Delaware native Jay Van Urk, such a loyal patron that he had, in fact, his own private table and the distinction of having a dessert named in his honor. Sometime during the '30s, Van Urk donated the first jockey as a token of his appreciation and a tradition was born. Over the years, some of America's most famous breeders and owners, including high-profile "regulars" from the Vanderbilt, Mellon and Ogden Mills Phipps families, as well as the Galbreath clan, owners of Darby Dan Farms, followed suit.
In 1946, Walter Weiss came to work at 21 as a waiter before becoming "the legendary Matire'd" who wielded untold power over the New York City celebrity circuit by virtue of his seating arrangements. Every President since FDR has been a guest of '21' with the one exception of George W. Bush. John F. Kennedy dined at '21' on the eve of his inauguration. In 1931, Ernest Hemingway was caught making love to gangster Legs Diamond’s girlfriend in the kitchen. In 1944, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall got engaged at table 30. New York City mayor Jimmy Walker had a private booth in the corner of the cellar where he could still imbibe through a raid. The booth has been preserved today. Alfred Hitchcock was said to be fond of the steak with fries, followed by an ice cream parfair. It was here that he collaborated with Salvador Dali on the dream sequence in Spellbound, which refernced the 21 Club.
During the 1980's, Forbes says "more deals are done at '21' than on the stock market floor." Appropriately, part of the movie "Wall Street" was filmed here.
Since then, the club has been sold multiple times, but the general vibe has not changed.
