How Fab Were the ‘50s? Flambe Hot!

Hyperhot restaurateur Baxter Buncombe, already famed for his Miami Cuban-Slovakian automat cum auberge Salmonella and the heartbreakingly smart New York dining adventure, The Muffler Shop, will shortly open another happening boite. This time the locale is Los Angeles, the name Ike & Mamie’s, and the menu straight from those fabulous ‘50s.

“We’ve been through Danish modern furniture, lava lamps, the McGuire sisters and McCarthyism,” Buncombe asserts. “Fifties cuisine is the last frontier in America’s rediscovery of the Tailfin Age. And what a legacy! Right there on our plate--all the tasteless excess and moronic faddishness of an era that made mediocrity an art form!”

Ike & Mamie’s, a revolving wonderland with waiters costumed as Nubian slaves, walls lined with pitch torches and diners seated on pink-and-black Naugahyde banquettes with a working Roman fountain at every table, will blend authentic ‘50s ambience with authentic ‘50s dishes. “Check it out,” offers Buncombe, brandishing a four-by-two-foot parchment dinner menu. “The cheese plate is Kraft slices. Fruit cocktail? Right out of the can. Sixteen kinds of red meat and any flavor of Jell-O you want. Doesn’t it just taste like the ‘50s?

“You can start with Vodka Consomme Jubilee or Green Salad Flambe--lightly sprinkled with rye whiskey and fired up at table-side. Then, as your entree, perhaps, Flaming Sirloin Fondue dipped in scotch or Veal Suzette with a side dish of Gin and Tonic Sauce. Another popular dish will be the Beef Wellington-Kabob, served in a brazier, whereas the Beef Stroganoff a la A-bomb begins with a spectacular column of flame 12 feet high, and you can down a martini or Manhattan or two or three until it’s cooled down enough to serve.”

As for dessert, scrumptious choices include Baked Alaska with rum, Cherries Double Jubilee, Chocolate Eclair Fondue and Ice Cream Great Chicago Fire in a mouth-numbing Rob Roy sauce. “And don’t forget to mention the Iced Coffee Flambe,” adds proud host Buncombe. “The bourbon burns off in no time!”

With it’s straw-wound bottles of Lancer’s wine on every checkered tablecloth, Four Lads and Crew Cuts hits as background music, free souvenir tie tacks for the gentlemen and Toni home perm kits for the ladies, Ike & Mamie’s will offer a ‘50s-retro mood with a vengeance--down to the sign by the hatcheck stand refusing service to Negroes and Jews. “When you’re in the ‘50s,” Buncombe explains, “you do as the ‘50s did.”

Ike & Mamie’s grand opening, in yet another gesture of total authenticity, is scheduled to coincide with the 44th anniversary of the sale of the one-millionth hula hoop. “Perfect,” exults Buncombe, “Because it’s perfectly pointless--like the ‘50s themselves!” Guests of honor at the premiere will include a cross-section of ‘50s-era movie and TV celebrities. “That’s 100% authentic too,” the genial host adds, “because I can’t remember any of their names!”