Hollywood Brown Derby
Despite its less distinctive Spanish Mission style facade, the second Brown Derby, which opened on Valentine's Day 1929 at 1628 North Vine Street in Hollywood, was the branch that played the greater part in Hollywood history. Due to its proximity to movie studios, it became the place to do deals and be seen.
In the first of the Hollywood episodes of I Love Lucy ("L.A. at Last"), Lucy (Lucille Ball), Ethel (Vivian Vance), and Fred (William Frawley) have lunch at the Brown Derby. During the misadventure, the trio dine in a booth with Eve Arden on one side and William Holden on the other. This leads to the disaster scene in which Lucy inadvertently causes a waiter to hit Holden in the face with a pie.
Like its Wilshire Boulevard counterpart, the Hollywood Brown Derby had a celebrity wall with hundreds of celebrity drawings, paintings and caricatures. Jack Lane drew many of the caricatures between 1947 and 1985.[21] Another artist whose work was displayed was Nicholas Volpe. He was commissioned by the Brown Derby to paint portraits of up to 200 top recording artists to be displayed in the restaurant's Hall of Fame Record Room.[22][23] In addition, his Oscar-winning star portraits were displayed in the restaurant's "Academy Room," created for showing Volpe's art.[24]
The Hollywood Brown Derby is the purported birthplace of the Cobb salad, which was said to have been hastily arranged from leftovers by owner Bob Cobb for showman and theater owner Sid Grauman. It was chopped fine, because Grauman had just had dental work done, and couldn't chew well.
According to Shirley Temple, the non-alcoholic drink bearing her name was invented at the Brown Derby in the mid-1930s. Temple herself never liked the drink and noted her personality rights had been used without permission.[25]
In 1984, the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District was added to the National Register of Historic Places, with the Hollywood Brown Derby building and an unnamed compatible building to its north (at 1632 Vine St.) listed as a contributing properties in the district. Aspects of the Brown Derby noted in the register include its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, Churrigueresque detailing, arched entrance, wrought iron decorations, red tile roof, and its overall "extraordinary attention to detail," while aspects of the compatible building include its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, false gable focal point, and Churrigueresque ornament.[26]
The Hollywood Brown Derby closed for the last time at its original site on April 3, 1985, as a result of a lease dispute.[27][28] The building was later occupied Arbat Continental Restaurant, when, in 1987, an early morning fire destroyed the kitchen.[29] After the fire, the building deteriorated further as it remained unoccupied and suffered frequent break-ins from squatters and gang members.[30] As a result of damage caused by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the building at 1628 North Vine Street was declared unsafe by the City of Los Angeles and was the first building in Hollywood ordered to be demolished.[31] It was razed the following month.[32]
Subsequent uses
The remainder of the Hollywood Brown Derby building then became home to Premieres of Hollywood, which catered to the revitalization of Hollywood Boulevard and the style of "Old Hollywood". Premieres of Hollywood offered an eclectic mix of American cuisine along with the original Cobb Salad (the recipe was found in the kitchen during the renovation). Premieres of Hollywood was destroyed during the L.A. riots in 1992.
The land is now occupied by an apartment complex.
Later Brown Derby restaurants
After the original Hollywood Brown Derby at 1628 North Vine Street closed in April 1985 a spokesman for Walter P. Scharfe, who had purchased the chain a decade earlier, told the Los Angeles Times that the restaurant owner was “99% committed” to reopening the business at a new location.[28] Late in 1986 Scharfe opened a new Brown Derby in the Lieberg Building[33] at 911 E. Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California. The new restaurant would utilize the dark booths, crystal chandeliers, and 1500 caricatures removed from the original location.[33]
