For Hollywood’s Elite, a Spot That’s Still Tops

“See you Monday night at Morton’s.”

It’s as much a part of the Hollywood vernacular as “Let’s do lunch,” “My people will call your people” and “I’ll get back to you on that tomorrow.”

The reason is sheer longevity: in a landscape littered with restaurants that come and go as fast as B-rated movies, Morton’s is marking its 10th anniversary next month as the preferred West Coast watering hole for the heavy hitters of the entertainment industry.

Some people can’t even remember when it wasn’t there. “I’ve been going to Morton’s most of my adult natural life,” allows Barry Diller, the chairman of Twentieth Century Fox.

“At any given point in time, there’s always one restaurant which is the high-priced commissary,” says producer Steve Tisch (“Big Business,” “Soul Man”). “In the past, it was the Brown Derby, Chasen’s and Scandia. And for my generation, it clearly is Morton’s.”

And, on this particular Monday night at Morton’s, everyone’s where they should be.

Near the window, producer Mark Johnson (“Rainman,” “Good Morning, Vietnam”) is talking animatedly with comedian Robin Williams and his bride, Marsha. Up front at separate tables, super-agents Ed Limato (ICM) and John Burnham (William Morris) are doing deals with darting eyes. Off to one side, manager Molly Madden is taking a meeting with actress/model Julianne Phillips, the Boss’ ex.

Making an Entrance

On their car phones, MCA chairman Lew Wasserman and Disney chairman Michael Eisner are announcing their imminent arrivals. And waiting to be seated are music producer John Kalodner, TV actress Judith Light, movie muscleman Dolph Lundgren and singer Pia Zadora, who waves to a friend already holding court across the waiter-filled aisles.

Most restaurateurs would be in heaven to see these folks packed in potted palm to potted palm. But as the man behind Morton’s looks around the pink-lit power palace he has erected at the corner of Melrose and Robertson in West Hollywood, he can’t help but stifle a yawn.

Because the secret’s out. Frankly, my dah -ling, Peter Morton doesn’t give a damn.

“What drives me nuts is just the total preoccupation in this town with the entertainment business--where you go to dinner parties and which movies are going to make money and who’s going to a certain party--and I think that’s boring,” says the 41-year-old Chicago native, whose great-grandfather, grandfather and father were all in the food business.

Another World

“And while I do have to make a living here and I’m not the sort of person that is ungrateful to anybody, I think I’ve spent enough time outside this city to understand that there are more important things at the end of the day other than the film industry. And I thank God or whoever gave me enough smarts to realize that there is another world out there.”

A world that has made him very rich--so rich, in fact, that he could buy and sell many of Morton’s regulars, thanks to his $80-million-a-year international Hard Rock Cafe empire. Started in London in 1971, a cross between a burger joint and a rock ‘n’ roll museum, the Hard Rock Cafe has become one of the world’s most successful privately held restaurant chains.

And with his wealth has come certain perks. Not just the sumptuous homes in Coldwater Canyon, London and Honolulu he jets between, or the MOCA-quality contemporary art he collects, or the Ferrari Mondial convertible he tools around in. But, more importantly, the freedom not to have to cater to a Hollywood elite that is so used to be catering to.

“Of course, certain people expect me to patronize them,” Morton says sardonically. “But fortunately I can operate Morton’s in my unique way because I have this other company on the side. You could almost say the Hard Rocks have been my ticket out of Hollywood.”

“One of the qualities I admire most about Peter is that the motion picture business holds no glamour for him,” says good friend Eric Eisner, president of the David Geffen Co. “And although he is very respectful of movie executives and appreciates their patronage, he respects their accomplishments no more or less than he would respect the accomplishments of someone on Wall Street.”

Staying on Top

But don’t be fooled by his “what me worry?” demeanor. Because Morton already is ensuring that his restaurant stays on top of the heap for another 10 years. That’s why next month he’ll close Morton’s briefly to give both the restaurant and the menu a facelift.

“It’s just time,” Morton explains. “To be perfectly honest, I haven’t been tending the store as diligently as I could. I have let Morton’s slip a little bit. But I’m going to put some energy back into it and try to make up for a little lost ground.”

Slipping or not, Malcolm Forbes still lists Morton’s as one of his three favorite places in the world to eat. And when Laurence Tisch took over the reins at CBS, he knew enough to head to Morton’s during his first meet-and-greet trip to Los Angeles. That famous talent warehouse, Creative Artists Agency, deems Morton’s one of only three “approved” restaurants for expense-account dinners, so a frequent sight is Michael Ovitz wining and dining client Kevin Costner at one end of the room while Ron Meyer toasts Madonna at the other.

Cutting Deals

For those keeping score, it was also at Morton’s that Eisner, then with Paramount, persuaded a young actor named Eddie Murphy to sign a multipicture deal. And it was over dinner at Morton’s again that Eisner decided to jump to the Walt Disney company.

And, yet, to all except the most dedicated follower of the entertainment industry, the people who frequent Morton’s are not the sort whom the paparazzi like to snap. If anything, they’re more likely to wind up on the cover of Fortune or Forbes than Fame magazine.

For example, while TV actress/producer Victoria Principal likes to take her husband to Spago on weekends, she always takes her management meetings at Morton’s on weekdays. “So what I do is have my lawyer and my agent and my publicist meet me at Morton’s because it’s such a pleasant atmosphere to do a business dinner in,” Principal explains.

In keeping with Hollywood’s penchant for doing business over Morton’s brochettes, regulars like to tell about the time a middle-aged man suffered a heart attack there. Even when he was carried away by paramedics on a gurney, so the story goes, none of the diners bothered to stop their wheeling-dealing long enough to look up and notice he was gone.

That may explain why Jack Nicholson feels comfortable enough to eat dinner alone at the bar some evenings. Or why Pia Zadora has serenaded the restaurant accompanied by her daughter Kady playing her plastic guitar. Or why actor James Woods got down on one knee during dinner last January and asked his girlfriend, Sarah Owen, for her hand in marriage.

The Best Seats

Naturally, like any L.A. restaurant, there are “good” tables--and there is Siberia. According to conventional wisdom, the better the artwork, the worse the table.

Of course, some of Morton’s original investors, like producers Jerry Weintraub and Allan Carr and singer Tina Sinatra, are guaranteed good seating. There even used to be an official “Jerry Weintraub” table marked by a small wall plaque, which had to be removed when the restaurant installed French doors three years ago. “But when Jerry comes in, he still likes to sit near there,” notes Pam Morton, Peter’s fraternal twin and the restaurant’s manager.

Even so, not everyone wants to sit at the “best” tables--Nos. 4 and 6 in the front. For instance, Pam Morton once saved a much-sought-after table for two in the front for Barbara Walters even though someone else seated at the rear was ready to kill for it.

“Then Barbara walks in, and it turns out she wants to sit in the back,” Pam Morton laughs. A quick switch, and suddenly everyone was happy.

Busiest Nights

Almost from the beginning and continuing to this day, Morton’s is hottest on Monday and Thursday nights. That’s when the power is truly palpable, regulars say.

“You never go on a weekend,” noted Harris Katleman, president of Twentieth Century Fox television. “We call it ‘civilian’ night.”

“My theory, based on observation,” says writer Ben Stein, “is that it’s because people in the biz are so biz-oriented that they get restless over the weekends being home with their families, and by Monday they’re dying to be out and talking deals.

“And on Thursday, they’re just stocking up on deals to make it through the weekend.”

With its well-spaced tables (no eavesdropping allowed), muted acoustics (to make whispering easier) and simple but solid food (watch those cholesterol counts, remember!), it’s clear why Morton’s has withstood the test of time. “There’s nothing trendy about it. And that’s because Peter doesn’t wear Japanese suits,” Eric Eisner kids.

“It’s just direct and straight and easy,” agent John Burnham notes, “which is very similar to Peter.”

It’s 11 p.m. on this Monday night, and the last Rolls-Royce and Porsche parked under Morton’s green neon sign have disappeared. Peter Morton, dressed preppily as usual in a tennis sweater and jeans, glances around his restaurant one last time before getting up to leave.

“You know,” he relates, “Jonathan Tisch (the nephew of CBS chief Laurence Tisch), called up and asked if I’d put a Morton’s in the CBS Building in New York. But I just really have been too busy to consider undertaking such a thing.”

He stares into space for a moment. And then a smile comes to his face. “Obviously, from a clientele standpoint, it wouldn’t be duplicated. Because there’s only one Hollywood.”