Welcome To The Glamorous Romanoff’s!

I love the golden age of Hollywood – and the legendary hangout for the rich and famous – and the Beverly Hills restaurant Romanoff’s was one of them!

Imagine sitting at dinner and watching Cary Grant light someone’s cigarette…what glamour!

From 1941 to 1962, Romanoff’s was THE place to be seen in Beverly Hills, and perhaps one reason was it’s very unique owner!

Harry F. Gerguson was known as Michael Romanoff – a Hollywood restaurateur, best remembered as the owner of Romanoff’s, a Beverly Hills restaurant that was Hollywood’s playground in the 40’s and 50’s!

Hilariously. Romanoff generally snubbed his clientele, and preferred to lunch with his dogs!

Romanoff claimed to be a member of Russia’s royal House of Romanov, although it was widely known to be untrue!

This photo cemented the restaurant’s reputation: the legendary shot of International Star Sophia Loren checking out Sex Kitten Jayne Mansfield!

Stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable made it the town’s hottest spot – and a good friend of mine sent me a menu from the restaurant!

While Romanoff’s featured a typical country club-style menu with items like Waldorf salad, tomatoes stuffed with crab, filet mignon, frog legs, eggs Benedict and sausages on toast, the restaurant became known for its chocolate soufflés, which were served to each guest in an individual portion!

Some of these great photos came from a terrific website I found, thanks to Author Martin Turnbull – see his story all about Romanoffs here:

https://martinturnbull.com/hollywood-places/spotlight-romanoffs/

Turnbull has written great novels about Hollywood’s golden era, and I picked one up to show my support!

The Garden on Sunset is the first in Martin Turnbull’s series of historical novels set during Hollywood’s golden age.

Hollywood’s Garden of Allah novels:

Book 1 – “The Garden on Sunset”
Book 2 – “The Trouble with Scarlett”
Book 3 – “Citizen Hollywood”
Book 4 – “Searchlights and Shadows”

I love the idea of novels that celebrate the golden age of Hollywood – and websites as well, including my friend Alison Martino’s terrific “Vintage Los Angeles” site:

She covers all things classic Hollywood, and recently shared this great ad for vintage Hollywood restaurants:

Alison shared these photos on her Facebook page called “MidcenturymodernLosAngeles” and you can see it here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Midcenturymodernlosangeles/

Alison tells great stories of classic Hollywood locations, and a time when stars went to restaurants like Musso & Frank:

Musso & Frank just celebrated it 100th Anniversary, and I love that they continue to be a hip Hollywood hangout – they were prominently featured in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time In…Hollywood.”

Let’s toast with one of their Martinis!

See their iconic menu, and what I ate when I was there, by clicking on my story here:

https://johnrieber.com/2019/04/20/hollywoods-legendary-musso-frank-100-years-and-still-growing-celebrate-tinseltowns-best-martini/

If you like these stories, why not sign up to receive emails whenever I post? It’s easy to do, I do NOT collect any information about you at all, there are absolutely NO ads of any kind, just stories about movies, music, books, food, travel and pop culture…

You can sign up by clicking on my blog here and see the note on the right!

https://johnrieber.com

Let’s all support each other and get through this health crisis facing the planet.

Let me know if you’ve eaten at a classic restaurant where you live!

Categories: Books / Media, Exotic Travel, Food, Hollywood, Memoirs, Pop Culture, Restaurants, Talent/Celebrities, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir

Tags: Alison Martino Vintage Los Angeles, Alison Martino Vintage Los Angeles website, Alisonmartino.com website, Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills 90210, beverly hills 90210 architecture, beverly hills 90210 mansions, Beverly Hills California, classic Beverly Hills restaurants, classic Hollywood, classic Hollywood restaurants, classic hollywood stories, classic LA history, classic LA websites, classic Los Angeles, Easy Rider, Formosa Cafe closed, formosa cafe reopening, hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood history, Hollywood landmarks, Hollywood tourism, Hollywood tourist sights, Hollywood's best martini, iconic Romanoffs restaurant, legendary Beverly Hills restaurants, legendary Formosa Cafe, legendary Hollywood restaurants, legendary Musso and Frank martini, Los Angeles, Manny Aguirre Musso and Frank, memoirs, muss and frank expansionplans, Musso & Frank, Musso & Frank Hollywood, Musso & Frank Hollywood restaurant, Musso & Frank restaurant 100 years old, Musso and Frank restaurant expansion plans, Musso Frank restaurant, Romanoffs of Beverly Hills, Romanoffs restaurant, Romanoffs restaurant Beverly Hills, Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield at Romanoffs, Vintage Hollywood, vintage L.A. website, Vintage LA, Vintage LA website, Vintage Los Angeles, Vintage Los Angeles website, VintageLA, VintageLA website