"Back in the day", Hollywood insiders dined at Chasen's, Dan Tana's and Orsini's and several other well known restaurants.
Of course, today the choices are legion. DRAGO, SPAGO, CUT, MICHAEL'S, KATE MANTILINI. These are just a few of the contemporary celebrity and Hollywood Exec. haunts that have been inspired by the famed eateries of the past.
If you GO WAY BACK, think "Brown Derby" and "Musso & Frank Grill". Open still today since 1925, the famed EL CHOLO, which early on served the likes of Gary Cooper, Harold Lloyd, Bing Crosby and Loretta Young.
(Photo source: Wikipedia.org)
(Photo source: Wikipedia.org)
In this blog post, however, we are going to say a bit about one of the quintessential and fabled Hollywood eateries of the recent past, namely, Osteria Romana Orsini (aka, Orsini's), which was located on W. Pico Blvd., just east of Century City for many years, but which unfortunately shuttered in late 2003.
(Photo source: www.LoopNet.com)
As reported by Variety in its feature column, THE L.A. EATERY SCENE: "Osteria Orsini, a fixture on Pico Boulevard near 20th (Century Fox Studios) since 1976, is closing by summer's end, announces Igor Nicolas. It's to reopen as Sparks in the fall ... ." (Variety, June 25, 2003).
Research data also available online on the web includes some brief history of this famed Italian hot spot, as follows:
a. from a June 2005 L.A. Times Restaurant Review:
"... The three-story pink building opened as Osteria Romana Orsini in the late '60s. Through the years the owner brought in wave after wave of chefs and cooks and waiters from Italy. Celestino Drago started out here as a waiter. So Mauro Vincenti at Rex, remembers that they used to grow basil in big pots up on the roof, because you couldn't buy it anywhere then. Terribili later opened Alto Palato (now closed) in West Hollywood. Now, by a twist of fate, he's back at the place where he had his first job in L.A. - as owner (with Bill Chait, who founded the Louise's Trattorias)........."
b. Also from the L.A. Times, July 19, 1987:
AS THE TABLES TURN [Home Edition]
Los Angeles Times
Author: RUTH REICHL
Date: Jul 19, 1987
Section: Calendar
"We already have a great number of fine Italian restaurants, but Osteria Romana Orsini is something a little different. The food here is hearty and homey without being corny. If only the service were warmer; the owner and the waiters were so busy dancing attendance on the celebrity at the next table that they had little attention to spare for us. Osteria Romana Orsini, 9575 W. Pico Blvd., West Los Angeles, (213) 277-6050. Open for lunch Monday-Friday, for dinner Monday-Saturday. Full bar. Valet parking. All major cards accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $30-$65."
Dixon Q. Dern, Esq., the well known Los Angeles based Entertainment Attorney and Showbiz Arbitrator-Mediator, recalls Orsini's as the consummate entertainment business lunch and dinner haunt, as follows:
"The building, when I first knew it, was a restaurant called "Brownstone" or something like that. Then in the late '60s it became "Orlando-Orsini" owned by two gentlemen of the same names. Orlando split off and started Caffé Roma in Beverly Hills. Orsini stayed on at the Pico address. Through the years the owner brought in wave after wave of chefs and cooks and waiters from Italy.
Celestino Drago started out here as a waiter as did Mauro Vincenti at Rex. The main floor (below street level) was the hub for entertainment industry insiders at lunch; you would see all types of execs from Fox, MGM (later Columbia/Sony) and the agencies. Many of us had, informally, "our own table." Mine was two from the door against the south wall. At both lunch and dinner you would see célèbre types. Ironically, the second floor was a "night club" which Orsini rented out; so, one night it would be swing dancing, then Persian dancing, then whatever. Several years ago Orsini packed up and went back to his home in Italy. The most famous of the waiters, Igor (who was actually not Italian but German) tried to keep the restaurant going, but finally it sold out to a different owner. Igor, himself, ended up managing a restaurant that just opened on Sunset called Isla which, ironically, is Mexican food prepared by the last chef at Orsini.
DIXON Q. DERN, P.C.
1262 Devon Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Telephone 310-557-2244
Facsimile 310-275-7655
ddern@dixlaw.com"
As it turns out, Igor started at Orsini's when it opened in 1976 and worked there until it closed in 2003. In a conversation with the undersigned, Igor recalled many stars that he served including William Holden, Natalie Wood, David Cassidy and many others. Hollywood insiders included David Begelman, power brokers, attorneys, bankers, agents, gangsters. The clientele were principally, according to Igor, the "cognizenti", the few, the connected. The owner, Mr. Orsini, liked keeping his restaurant off the radar and avoided publicity which other establishments sought.
It is also discernible that Orsini's itself spawned yet other restaurants which now carry forth the epicurean torch, including but not limited to DRAGO and VINCENTI which are still in business, as well as others that are now gone (S. Irene Virbila, L.A. Times, "(Mauro, Rex il Ristorante, Fennel, Alto Palato – all gone now)."
Celestino Drago worked as a waiter at Orsini's until 1982 and later opened his now very well known and popular westside restaurant, DRAGO, in 1991. DRAGO in turn has led to several other restaurants including Celestino's brother, Tanino Drago, who originally worked with Celestino after following his brother to California from Italy, and has opened his own restaurant in Westwood Village, Tanino Ristorante Bar.
VINCENTI, which opened in Brentwood in 1997 was dedicated and named after the late Mauro Vincenti by his wife, Maureen, who owns and runs the restaurant along with co-owner and noted Master Chef Nicola Mastronardi.
Postscript to Orsini's: Since approximately 2004, the former Orsini's space (since extensively remodeled inside) has been occupied by a restaurant called Spark Woodfire Grill. OpenTable.com describes this new restaurant as follows: "Spark Woodfire Grill is a unique tri-level contemporary American restaurant located on Pico just West of Beverly Drive and Beverly Hills adjacent. Spark specializes in the woodfire grilling of prime steaks, fresh seafood, baby-back ribs, and Kobe beef hamburgers. The restaurant offers a full bar with over 50 signature martinis..."
II. HOW FAR WE HAVE COME SINCE THE BROWN DERBY
How far this historical progression of restaurants has come, indeed, when you consider the worldwide epicurean-merchandising empire as exemplified by Wolfgang Puck. The service mark registrations for his restaurants are just the tip of the iceberg (lettuce) when it comes to the intellectual property and licensing and merchandising machine that is everything Puck! For example, a cursory audit of the USPTO Trademark Database reveals the Wolfgang Puck trademarks and service marks as including:
WOLFGANG PUCK, Reg. No. 1901065; Reg. Date, June 20, 1995, for "restaurant services";
WOLFGANG PUCK, Reg. No. 1593275; Reg. Date, April 24, 1990, for "PACKAGED AND FROZEN PREPARED FOOD, NAMELY, PIZZA AND [ APPLE, PUMPKIN AND PECAN TARTES ]";
WOLFGANG PUCK GRILLE, Reg. No. 3498670, in International Class #43 for "restaurant and bar services";
WOLFGANG PUCK, Reg. No. 3489098, in Intl. Class #30 for "croutons; coffee beans in whole and ground form; espresso, namely, espresso beans in whole and ground form; fresh, frozen and packaged pizza; prepared, frozen and packaged entrees consisting primarily of pasta; sauces; fresh and refrigerated prepared sandwiches, namely, chicken, tuna, ham, turkey, cheese and roast beef sandwiches";
WOLFGANG PUCK, Reg. No. 3010443, Intl. Class #29 for "SOUPS; GARDEN SALADS; CHICKEN SALADS; AND VEGETABLE SALADS"; and
WOLFGANG PUCK, Reg. No. 2601677, Intl. Class #7 for " (( Electric cooking utensils, namely, [electric knives, electric food blenders for domestic use,] electric can openers))"; Intl Class #8 for "Knives, namely, chef knives, kitchen knives, butcher knives, paring knives, bread knives, slicing knives, boning knives, knife sharpeners, carving knives, non-electric can openers, (( forks, spoons, mandolines )); Intl. Class #11 for "((Domestic electric appliances, namely, fry pans, [ electric grill pans ], electric rotisseries, [ deep fryers,] ice cream machines, toaster ovens )); and Intl Class #21 for "Household kitchen utensils, namely, kitchen serving tongs, spatulas, turners, whisks, potato mashers, (( garlic presses)), ladles, graters, splatter screens, strainers; ((containers for household or kitchen use, not of precious metal,)) mixing bowls,[ canisters, ](( storage containers for food and beverages with lids )); cookware, namely, pots, metal, glass and frying pans, skillets, roasters, metal grill pans, stock pots, ((strainers, colanders; beverage glassware, stemware; dinnerware, plates, saucers, serving dishes )), [ coffee cups, charger plates;] bakeware, not toys, namely, cookie sheets, pie pans, ((baking pans,)) loaf pans, muffin pans, tube pan with fluted sides, cake pans, knife blocks";
just to name a few. There are many other registrations in multiple classes of goods and services.
III. THE VALUE OF OBTAINING A U.S. FEDERAL SERVICE MARK REGISTRATION FOR "RESTAURANT SERVICES" FOR THE NAME OF YOUR RESTAURANT
Over the years in my practice, I have been fortunate to work with several restaurant and hotel clients and have been able to help them secure the names of their restaurants as registered U.S. Federal service marks for "restaurant services". Such a registration enables them to have presumptively valid and exclusive rights throughout the United States to their service mark, which is a Huge Weapon in keeping the competition from trading on the goodwill of the client's business.
In closing, one of the most important things you can do as a restaurant owner is to seek a Federal service mark registration so that you will have exclusivity over the name of your restaurant. Thus, it is vital to carefully select the name and to conduct some due diligence and clearance efforts, followed by a U.S. Federal service mark registration, if possible. In doing so, you will do much to ensure your success down the line with your ability to enforce your right to exclusivity, which is just one of several good reasons and benefits of a U.S. Federal Service mark registration.
"TrademarkEsq is here for you !"
Will Maguire, Esq.,
Los Angeles, CA
maguire@artnet.net
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