It turns out that Richard Binder, co-owner of downtown’s Philippe the Original, has been telling a tall tale for the 32 years he’s been working at his family’s restaurant.
The story: Philippe’s started the French dip sandwich when the original owner, Philippe Mathieu, accidentally dropped a French roll for a roast beef sandwich into the beef’s roasting pan. The policeman who ordered the sandwich ate it anyway. He came back the next day with friends, and they all requested the “dipped” sandwich.
Binder has repeated that tale often lately because the restaurant’s 100th anniversary has gotten a good deal of attention. But Binder said he got a call from Mathieu’s grandson. He said Mathieu hadn’t accidentally dropped the roll. The roll was stale and Mathieu used the juices to soften the bread. And the policeman was a fireman.
“I have never talked to Mathieu’s grandson before in my life, and neither has anybody in my family,” Binder said. “I guess we’ll have to start telling the story differently, but now it’s more believable.”
Blockbuster
This year Clive Hoffman is celebrating the 40th anniversary of moving his namesake public relations company to Wilshire Boulevard a street that’s had particular importance to him since he’s more or less specialized in representing real estate firms with properties on the famed street.
Hoffman, who was born in South Africa and spent a good deal of time in Europe, got an early lesson about the street.
“I wanted to go to a certain address on Wilshire and someone said, ‘That’s only three or four blocks away.’ I was thinking in terms of London, and I started walking and walking and those three or four blocks never seemed to end,” he said. “That’s when I understood why people drive in L.A. three or four blocks is akin to 10 blocks everywhere else.”
Juiced Up
When the Los Angeles County Museum of Art opened a press conference Sept. 29 to announce a major gift, a clue about the identity of the donors was provided by the drinks that were prominently displayed on the refreshment table POM Wonderful, the pomegranate juice, and Fiji water. Those lines of drinks are owned by Stewart and Lynda Resnick, one of L.A.’s wealthiest couples.
Sure enough, the Resnicks soon arrived, along with LACMA Director Michael Govan, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other dignitaries. They were there to announce the Resnicks’ $55 million gift that, in part, will pay to build a Renzo Piano-designed pavilion that will complement Piano’s Broad Contemporary Art Museum nearby.
The little gesture was not overlooked. When Lynda Resnick rose to speak, she said, “Thank you for that nice welcome, and thank you, museum staff, for putting out the pomegranate drinks.”
Staff reporters Maya Meinert and Daniel Miller contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].
