Kup's Chicago - Irv Kupcinet [88]
The Chez Paree, victim of a high-priced talent squeeze, is no more. But you will find many acts which formerly played there at the Palmer House, the Drake, and other leading hotels.
At the Empire Room of the Palmer House, former Chez favorites Carol Channing, Joey Bishop, Buddy Hackett, Sophie Tucker, and Joe E. Lewis now appear. This room has had a long tradition of fine entertainment, thanks to Hilton Hotels’ talent-booker Merriel Abbott, the Chicagoan who first introduced Hildegarde, Liberace, Veloz and Yolanda, Dorothy Shay, and others.
The Camellia House at the Drake, formerly associated almost exclusively with chanteuses, has broadened its booking policy to bring regular appearances by such comedians as Henny Youngman, George Jessel, and Myron Cohen. Here, too, there is excellent food, dance music provided by Jimmy Blade’s orchestra, and a sumptuous atmosphere enhanced by the continental manner of manager Frank Amstadt.
There is an air of almost regal dignity in the Sheraton-Blackstone’s Café Bonaparte, another favorite society and celebrity room. The Boulevard Room of the Conrad Hilton features a glittering ice revue. There is also the exotic Polynesian Village of the Edgewater Beach and the Pompeian Room of the Pick-Congress – in fact, the variety of hotel attractions is almost endless.
Jazz?
Since Chicago is the city where jazz came of age, there is a special thrill in a visit to one of our jazz clubs. Jazz Ltd., is a thriving Near North Side mecca operated by the husband-wife team of Bill and Ruth Reinhardt. Any of at least a dozen others also present authentic jazz, including the Marienthal brothers’ London House on Wacker; Bronzeville’s Sutherland Lounge and the Roberts’ Show Club; and The Red Arrow in suburban Stickney, where the highly respected Franz Jackson is chief resident practitioner of Le Jazz Hot.
Something off-beat?
Try the Near North Side’s Gitano’s if you like Spanish flamenco rhythms, or catch the Greek-Oriental show at the Athens. For Hungarian, the Budapest. If you’re in a sophisticated beatnik mood, make an after-show visit to one of the Near North Side espresso houses – the Café Bellini or the Fickle Pickle.
Favorites of the conventioneers are the strip-tease clubs. You’ll find them on North Clark, in suburban Cicero, and in Calumet City (in subdued form following a federally inspired housecleaning). Now, mostly syndicate-controlled, they are mere shadows of their former selves, with watered drinks and less than interesting entertainment.
Burton Browne’s original Gaslight Club and Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club, a four-floor extravaganza with a different act on each floor, also draw heavily. But, unfortunately for nonmembers, as with other key clubs, you’re up a tree if you lack a key.
There is no need to feel rejected, however. As I hope is apparent by now, key or no key there is ample after-dark activity in Chicago for everyone. Just pick your spot and hail a cab. Your own Thousand and One Nights – Chicago style – will have begun.
8. Where Do We Eat?
It is roughly twenty-five thousand miles around the world – unless you go through Los Angeles, where a wrong turn on the freeways can double the mileage. To enjoy almost any nation’s culinary arts, however, you needn’t travel all that distance. Just come to Chicago. Among our hundreds of restaurants you can sample the cuisine, color, customs, and culture of every corner of the globe.
Here, the many first-rate establishments can satisfy the palates of even the most demanding gourmets.
Start with the Pump Room of the Ambassador East Hotel, where the flaming entrees are as memorable as the sumptuous atmosphere. The much-traveled John Cameron Swayze aptly says of the Pump Room, “It isn’t a place – it’s an experience.”
The same might be said of other dining rooms in the Ambassador hotels, including the elegant Buttery and Beau Nash rooms in the Ambassador West. It