Clientele of a Different Stripe Now Visit Old Jail

They call Frank E. Gilia, 28, “warden” because he’s in charge of two jail cells in San Clemente. It’s a name he loves.

Warden Gilia loves it so much that he serves his “inmates” clams on the half shell, lobster, steak and fine wines. Then he makes them pay for it. And then he sets them free.

“A lot of people call up and want to reserve the jail cells for parties,” said Gilia, who greets his inmates with such kind words as “How do you do, sir?” and “What can I do to make you comfortable?”

Five years ago things changed, making the historic jailhouse a friendlier stop. The building was taken over by a couple of restaurateurs who asked Gilia to oversee its transformation into a restaurant.

That remodeling, of what is now the Fish Tale, included transforming the jail’s two cells into intimate private dining rooms.

Some “guests” have had a taste of before and after, Gilia said.

“After one diner had dinner, he told us he was arrested a few years ago for drunk and disorderly conduct and spent the night in the same cell (in which) he was eating dinner,” said Gilia of Huntington Beach. “He said he enjoyed everything better this time.”

The cells have been preserved in as much of their original state as possible. Gilia preserved two commodes that now serve as planters in alcoves next to the dining areas.

“The cells are big attractions for small parties,” Gilia said. “People just get a kick out of having their private gathering in them. They know they’re going to be set free when it’s over.”

Besides its past as a jail, the building also was home to the city firehouse, which was built in 1928 by public subscription ranging from $6 to $1,500 a person. A blacksmith shop was added later but has been replaced by the restaurant bar.

“The city treats the building as an historical site,” said owner John I. Bloeser of Long Beach. “In fact they won’t let us make any outside changes.”

Bloeser said locals who grew up in San Clemente remember the original jail. “Who knows what their thoughts are when they wander back. We talked to a retired policeman who said he once got seven men in one cell.”

Even with its history, “parents like to hold birthday parties for their children in the cell,” Gilia said. “It helps to stop them from running around. We can lock the door.

“People like to think they’re eating in some place special.”

Psychologist Linda Smith, 41, of Fullerton, was talking to a lunchtime crowd of men and women at the North Orange County YWCA in Fullerton about the “Meaning of Love” and told them they first have to listen and talk to themselves about love to understand it.

“The better they understand themselves, the better they can listen to others,” said Smith, a St. Jude Hospital staff member. She said her talk was not so much about the definition of love, but an approach to experiencing it.

“Most people are spending most of their life trying to figure out the problem of loving, how to do it,” she continued, “so the object is to outline a path, a beginning.

“I do a lot of therapy (in private practice) and most of what I do is love related. I talk about issues surrounding people’s ability to love.”

Her work in the hospital is chronic pain management.

“We’re doing a complete turnabout,” said Orange County Girl Scout spokeswoman Eva Sachs, of Newport Beach, who was talking about the 10% increase in Girl Scout membership that she attributes to a renewed understanding and interest by parents in scouting.

No doubt the baby boom era has something to do with it, but Sachs said that more girls--especially those in Cadets, the junior-high age group--are staying in scouting. “And Girl Scouts today no longer are ‘square,’ ” she said. “We’re losing that. Today’s Girl Scouts are out of the closet, and they’re proud to say, ‘I’m a Girl Scout.’ ”

Sachs said it’s nice to announce the turnaround since Girl Scouting is celebrating its 75th birthday. Part of the celebration includes International Thinking Day next Sunday, when Girl Scouts and Girl Guides throughout the world think about each other.

“They’re all celebrating being a Girl Scout,” Sachs said.

Greg Moen was bulldozing the outdoor movie in Santa Ana while top billing on the Harbor Boulevard Drive In Theater marquee read: Final Performance by Mintz Wrecking . . . starring Greg Moen.

He gave a terrific performance and brought down the house.

Acknowledgments--Diane Aust, Susan Cline, Pat Fitzgerald, Barbara Johnson, Jill Kustie, Eileen Nilson and Mary Ann Welsh, Tustin Unified School District teachers, shared $1,000 presented by the Tustin Rotary Club for its “Good Idea Award.”