Chasen’s: The Legend Continues

Like errant tankers and small planes drawn inexorably into the Bermuda Triangle, the famous, the lovely and the powerful still feel the centrifugal pull at the intersection of Beverly and Doheny, home of the original Chasen’s restaurant. L.A.’s ultimate celebrity watering hole is today a Bristol Farms market in West Hollywood, but the old glamour lives on in the Bristol Cafe, a small eatery between the deli and the sushi bar where customers can slide into an original Chasen’s booth and order the famous Chasen’s chili, a household word since 1962, when Elizabeth Taylor had 10 quarts shipped to Rome during the filming of “Cleopatra.” “Ronald Reagan proposed to Nancy where we now have the cheese area,” says store director Louis Fajardo.

The barbecue stand opened by vaudeville entertainer Dave Chasen in 1936 became a hangout for W.C. Fields, John Barrymore, Clark Gable and James Cagney. An expanded Chasen’s later became the place to party after the Academy Awards; regulars over the years have included Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, Greta Garbo, Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart, Lucille Ball and Howard Hughes. Chasen’s wife Maude once boasted that she hosted “every president since 1936 except Roosevelt. And Mrs.Roosevelt came.” After her husband’s death in 1973, Maude Chasen carried on until the original Chasen’s closed its doors on April 1, 1995. Most of the silverware, fixtures, barstools and sinks were auctioned in October 1999; Bristol Farms opened in November 2000.

But the restaurant’s proud heritage as a discreet but convivial celebrity oasis is still alive at Beverly and Doheny. Fajardo says the store draws a lot of famous traffic, but won’t name names beyond the cryptic hint that “if you were a young man and had a pop idol, you’d see her coming in here.” Bristol Farms also maintains the Chasen’s ban on media lenses. “We chase away paparazzi when celebrities are shopping,” Fajardo says. The store sells newspapers and magazines, but tabloids are strictly taboo. “It’s company policy,” Fajardo says. “We want them to feel comfortable. Some come in with sunglasses and their hats pulled down.” On the other hand, Bristol Farms has an agreement with MTV for shooting “The Osbournes” during family shopping forays, and the market has been a location for scenes from the HBO program “Six Feet Under.” Nancy Reagan, who entertained former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at Chasen’s as recently as 1995, has been spotted having lunch at Bristol Cafe.

A few original Chasen’s lights and doors are also still on the premises, along with the knotty pine paneling and--according to neighborhood lore--the shades of ghostly regulars from beyond the grave. Fajardo admits that employees have reported hearing shopping carts going down the aisles when the store is closed, and grocery manager Pablo Solis says some of his night crew have been spooked. “Our former night maintenance man said a woman in white tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘Excuse me. It’s dirty inside in the restaurant and the tables need to be cleaned.’ She just disappeared. He looked in and the tables hadn’t been cleared. He was really scared.” Fajardo prefers to downplay the “haunted Chasen’s” rumors, but when it comes to the mystique, he’s a believer. “A legend never dies.”