Posts Tagged ‘Eve Perlmutter’

It was sort of a kitschy-koo Labor Day weekend, which marked the first anniversary of this online column, with toasts offered at Annie Gunn’s. where a sign near the bar reads, “Beware of pickpockets and loose women.”  Thom Sehnert‘s tavern seemed a million miles away from the Convention & Visitors Bureau, which hardly ever grasps Chesterfield in its promotional blurbs.  There was reliable mixologist Eve Perlmutter mixing drinks and gossip with the regulars.  Then, I wondered if she and other bartenders in our town could mix buttered martinis, Americanos or Zombies, which were popular in the days of barflies, lounge lizards and loose women.  Back home,  to surf the channels only to see some old movies – one of which had Jack Nicholson in “Chinatown”, seated in a barber’s chair and saying to a banker, “But, I don’t kick people out of their homes like you do!” Then to “The American President” in which Annette Bening asks Michael Douglas (in the title role), “How do you have patience for Americans who love America less?”  “The nation’s gonna keep flyin’” says Douglas.  Then, a flip to Alfred Hitchcock‘s masterpiece, “Rear Window,” in which James Stewart, Grace Kelly and Raymond Burr give bravura performances.  Finally, “E.T.” in which youngsters display extraordinary virtuosity in Spielberg’s classic.

Al and Nancy Malnik with Michael Jackson

DON’T STOP THE PRESSES; THEY MAY NEVER START AGAIN!: The Post-Dispatch’s Tony Messenger was bylined in a page-one scoop, outlining the connection of erstwhile Democratic campaign consultant Milton “Skip” Ohlsen to the investigation of the 2008 bombing in a private Clayton parking garage, that injured an attorney. The article sourced “a search warrant obtained” by the newspaper. That raises a couple of Berger-worthy questions:: who gave the search warrant (and several supporting documents) to the newspaper? and which local news managers are now kicking themselves for not pursuing the lead as assiduously as the tireless Messenger? If you have answers, let me know.

WARREN RAPP HAS SOLVED THE MYSTERY, THAT HAS ENTHRALLED CARDINAL NATION:”(Cardinals pitcher) John Smoltz told me, that in his first practice session with the Redbirds, Chris Carpenter confided in Smoltz, that he tipped his hand by the way he held his glove,” said Warren Rapp, general manager of Il Bel Lago Restaurant. Smoltz continued to admit, that he knew which pitch was coming and had the best outing of the year. Stoltz dined with his uncle, St. Anthony’s wunderkind Dr. Anthony Tensigni.

WHEE, THE PEOPLE: Banker Joe Imbs is brushing up on syntax of a speech he’ll deliver in 2010, when he becomes the Mysterious Majesty of Khorassan or the Veiled Prophet. .The lilting language of the prince of prose has returned to your screen with a bon mot about Michael Jackson from the late icon’s frequent host in Palm Beach, Al Malnik. Former St. Louisan, businessman and philanthropist Malnik said that when Jackson houseguested at Al and Nancy Malnik’s Palm Beach estate, “he could compose two songs at once. He could write a song in five minutes,” recalled Malnik. . .Gregg Wurm, yesteryear Ladue police chief-turned-secuirty chief has been bounced from his $200,000 a-year job at Centene Corp. Centene is also where former KSDK, Channel 5 anchor Deanne Lane is rumored to be toiling. . .Over in Forest Park, rumors are rife, that Broadway vet and frequent Muny headliner, Lee Roy Reams, may be paged to succeed productions chief Paul Blake. Muny officials are still burning over Blake’s 20-minute onstage eulogy for performer Gretchen Wyler a few seasons back. “Ninety-nine percent of the audience had never heard of her,” commented an angry official. Also at the Muny, beloved boxoffice guardian George Walsh retired after a 69-year gig there. . .The beleagured Dr. Bill Landau of WashU med center’s neurology dept. has not only been ousted from the ACLU for uttering the “n” word, but also faces a number of angry docs. The contentious Landau harps about the dearth of “secretaries” at clinical staff meetings and frequently uses his battle cry, “I’ll sue.” After the meetings, docs complain they have double-digit numbers of cases to Landau’s few. Another kind of brouhaha took place years ago there, when the department’s chief Dr. Dennis Choi threatened to evict Landau. Choi backed off after Landau threatened to sue. . .And, August Busch, IV, is telling pals, that he “has left Dodge City for the Ozarks” where he is spending most of his time these days.

THREE-DOT JOURNALISM, CONT.: Retired P-D reporter Bill Lhotka has scribed a tome about crime in our town, “St. Louis Crime Chronicles: The First 200 Years,” featuring 50 historic events. Among the stories is the one about the murder of Native American Chief Pontiac in Cahokia, Ill., who was buried around Broadway at Chestnut St. The pageturner is due to hit the stalls in October from Reedy Press. .Sam Koplar was spotted checking out the Clayton real estate market with what friends say is a possible move of Koplar Enterprises from its downtown Jello-tower of indecision. . .Carlene Goddard Mazur is now a permanent resident at Delmar Gardens on outer US-64. The unfortunate woman collapsed from a stroke in her kitchen and was left unattended for three days. . .Don’t invitems to the same party: electrical wizard David Payne and wife, Amy, and Sugo Restaurant bossman Michael Del Pietro – all over the eatery’s outstanding debt of $60,000. . .Are the former Harriet Cella and hub Doug Marshall getting separate mail?… Celebrated chef/owner of Niche Gerard Craft, is eyeing the purchase of the venerable Chez Leon in the CWE

NO ENNUI AT SLU: Prez of St. Louis University the reverend Lawernce Biondi, SJ has been the butt of a few jokes. Some of the administrators refer to the Jesuit priest as “L.B.J”

TO PONDER: Why the shakedown at our fancy shmancy markets? I mean, they’re touting Kobe Beef, when actually the meat is Kobe mixed with American cattle. A customer was overheard telling a meatcutter at Straub’s, “Real Kobe would be about $400 for six sirloin steaks.” The butcher shot back, “Is there a real American car?”

Bogart and Bacall

IT’S ONLY MONEY: And, the top-grossing mom & pop restaurant in our town (as opposed to a chain operation) has to be Annie Gunn’s out in Chesterfield, which rang up $6 million last year, according to an insdier.  For this columnist, Annie Gunn’s is a marvelous retreat and the house disease is nostalgia. It’s the kind of place I would imagine could be a fanatastic movie set. Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart might have been embracing in one of those private hutches near the bar. Mixologist Eve Perlmutter excused herself from the brokers and broken  to create whiskey sours for the twosome. Bogie got a tic in his upper lip as he had in “The Maltese Falcon,’ in which he played private eye Sam Spade.  He said to Perlmutter, “In a paternity case, it’s always her child; in a divorce, it’s her children.

ALL OF MY WASTED LIFE I’ve never seen so many new buildings that are studies in sterility and lone cranes no longer hoisting girders out of a sea of mortgages. There was a time, when topping off of a new building downtown became the lead story. In those days we’d gather for a 35-cent dinner at Garavelli’s on Grand at Olive Street, our baseball heroes were the Browns at Sportsman’s Park on Grand at Dodier Street, where we entered with a Knothole Gang card. I wonder if nostalgia attracts many living people these days. But, back then, anyone worthwhile wore Threadneedle Street shoes from Boyd’s (packaging chief Bob Ragsdale still has a few like-new pairs) and then there were crewcuts. My crewcut appeared as if I had been readied for a prefrontal lobotomy.!