Classic Hollywood + Classic Mobster + Signature Cocktails =
HOLLYWOOD COCKTAIL PARTY
The Nat King Cole Trio plays to a sold-out crowd at Ciro’s (Early 1950’s)
Hollywood Cocktail Party is a fun, fascinating magic carpet ride into a romantic, exotic, and mostly long-gone world of LA Noir and Screenland glamour.
It’s is the next best thing to nocturnal carousing with Errol Flynn along the Sunset Strip, trading shots with Humphrey Bogart at Mocambo, the guilty thrill of seeing Mickey Cohen at the Villa Capri hit an unsuspecting fellow patron over the head with a Champaign bottle, witnessing Marilyn Monroe’s sexy transformation at Ciro’s, Rita Hayworth’s career elevating attention at the Trocadero, or entering a dance contest with Joan Crawford at the Cocoanut Grove and winning first prize!
Rita Hayworth caught everyone’s eye at the Trocadero.
Marilyn Monroe transformed her image at Ciro’s.
The sheer notoriety of these clubs and restaurants, the talent that performed there and all the high jinks and fun that occurred within their walls makes them all worth rediscovering. Hollywood Cocktail Party was created to celebrate their existence, their history, their famous patrons and the vintage cocktails served there.
Through this project, a fascinating chapter of Classic Hollywood history (approximately 1915-1960) is fully and painstakingly restored, if only in digital form.
The Hollywood Brown Derby on Vine Street
Here we tell the stories behind the legendary establishments from Hollywood’s past including the Cocoanut Grove (1921), the Brown Derby (1926), Don the Beachcomber (1933), Café Trocadero (1934), the Cock ‘N Bull (1937), the Earl Carroll Theatre Restaurant (1938), Ciro’s (1940), The Pirates’ Den (1940), Mocambo (1940), and the Villa Capri (1950).
However, these stories are not only about the past tense. Fortunately, many Classic Hollywood establishments from that era have survived, and continue to bring that cool vibe into the modern era. As low-density, original Historic Hollywood continues to vanish, what survives becomes even more significant.
The swimming pool at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
The survivors that evoke the period of Classic Hollywood include the Musso & Frank Grill (1919), the Formosa Café (1920), the Tam O’Shanter Inn (1922), the Frolic Room (1930), El Coyote (1931), Tom Bergin’s Tavern (1936), Boardner’s (1942), the Smoke House (1946), the Hollywood Roosevelt Pool Tropicana bar (1950), and the Tiki Ti (1961).
The hope and wish of this collection of essays is to introduce these legendary surviving establishments to new generations of patrons and aficionados!
Benjamin Siegel, the dapper Hollywood gangster, was known for his volatile temper
It was at these famous establishments that Hollywood big shots rubbed shoulders with L.A.’s notorious gangsters and with equal parts of awe, envy and distain before, during and after the Mob’s “Battle for the Sunset Strip”.
And it was at many of these venues that the color barrier in Los Angeles began to crumble, ushering in a new era of entertainment and legendary talent.
The Will Mastin Trio featuring Sammy Davis, JR. (center), caused a sensation at Ciro’s
I’LL DRINK TO THAT!
The current appreciation for cocktails is quite high as which is reflected in the trend of “craft” cocktails that continue to escalate their list of exotic and unique ingredients. With that, the art of mixology has risen to a whole new level of creativity.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be a professional to recreate the signature classic cocktails found in Hollywood Cocktail Party. With the vintage signature cocktail recipes recreated, budding bartenders can easily recreate these refreshing libations while hosting their own cocktail party in Hollywood or anywhere else.
The iconic neon cocktail sign inside the Musso & Frank Grill at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard
Classic Hollywood + Legendary LA Mobsters + Vintage True Crime + Signature Cocktails =
Hollywood Cocktail Party!
Now what could be more fun than that?
So let the party begin!
Cheers,
Stephen X. Sylvester