The Carnegie Deli Comes West--to a Star-Studded Opening

Just before billionaire Marvin Davis boarded a plane from New York to Los Angeles a few years ago, he called his wife.

“I’m bringing $1,000 worth of food from the Carnegie Deli,” he said.

When his plane stopped in Denver, he called her again. This time he said, “I’m bringing $600 worth of food from the Carnegie.”

Davis is a big man with a big appetite, and this time he’s taken a big bite out of the Big Apple. Not satisfied with a few pastrami sandwiches, Davis has spent millions to bring yet another delicatessen to Beverly Hills.

The Carnegie Deli, at the corner of Dayton Way and Beverly Drive, opened Wednesday night.

What happens when a restaurant famous for the size of its sandwiches, owned by a man famous for the size of his appetite opens in a town famous for the size of its openings?

Celebrities on Hand

For starters, George Burns, Milton Berle and Don Rickles were there. So were Wayne Gretzky, John Madden, Billy Wilder and a whole smorgasbord of other celebrities.

And so, too, were pickets from the hotel and restaurant employees union, standing across the street carrying signs saying: “Davis is a big guy with a small heart.”

“I sat with the union guys today,” said Buddy Monash, senior vice president of the Davis companies, “and their game was coercion. They wanted a recognition agreement with the union or they would picket.”

Not so, said Maria Durazo, president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union’s Local 11.

“We just want Davis to provide the same benefits, wages and standards that a lot of other restaurants of his caliber are providing,” Durazo said. “He is offering a watered-down medical and dental plan. Many new restaurants don’t have much capital when they start out, but Marvin Davis doesn’t have that justification.”

Few in the celebrity crowd Wednesday evening seemed to think that Davis needed any justification. Before going inside to eat, they watched breathlessly as Carol Channing sent the the world’s largest matzo ball splashing into a giant bowl of chicken soup outside.

‘Like a Human Carwash’

“It’s like a human carwash,” said manager Bob Trager, looking happily around at the huge crowd. “Look how many people are here.”

Davis demonstrated that he knows how to get attention. New York’s Mayor Ed Koch sent a letter calling the Carnegie a “culinary and cultural landmark.”

As soon as the first whispers of Davis making a move to open a Carnegie in Beverly Hills surfaced, local wags began quipping that the whole exercise began after he couldn’t get a table at Nate ‘n’ Al’s.

“An absolute falsehood,” said Monash. “Actually he might have been their very best customer. He’s such a good customer, in fact, they used to sneak him in around the back.”

Nate ‘n’ Al’s co-owner Barry Mendelson allowed as how Davis “is one of our biggest customers, but he comes in the front door just like anybody else. We give him a table when he wants it, but mostly he takes out a lot.”

Davis won’t be taking out from Nate ‘n’ Al’s anymore. And, said Monash, Century City’s Stage Deli also will be “bereft of Davis’ patronage.” But for the moment the old delis will have to satisfy the rest of us--Davis’ deli won’t open to the public until next Wednesday.