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An Old-Timer Remembers Nanette Bustanoby writes that back in the 70's she met an old-timer named VanSlaar who told her that his father managed the restaurant with The Domino Room. He thought it might be The Princess Restaurant. Andre and Jacques worked together. Louis managed another restaurant. Pierre didn't go for restaurant management and rather specialized in liqueurs. He mentioned "The Forbidden Fruit" and said that he thought Parke and Tilford bought the formula. It is still sold under the original name in a globe-shaped bottle with a Maltese cross on the top. He said it was one of the most costly liqueur one could buy. His memory of Aunt Doris (also known as Demarias Easton, the Follies Girl) is that of a jealous woman. She thought Jacques was flirting with a woman in a room with long mirrors, patterned after Versailles. He said that she was not drunk but simply excused herself from her table like a lady, went downstairs, got a chair, came back and started smashing mirrors and chandeliers. He also remembered Aunt Betty (Jacques' second wife) hanging from the restaurant sign, nude, where she had to be rescued. He thought the rescuers enjoyed the task given the fact that Betty was very beautiful. [Note: Her picture is in the pictures section of the history] He also told of a very rich woman who hired a room for a banquet and a party, paid $50,000 for the evening and danced the The Dance of the Seven Veils, removing the seventh veil. This woman was in her fifties, but beautiful. He said that Jacques had to hang around and make sure everything went well! He also mentioned
that George Raft, later a famous actor, danced with the women who came
for "tea time" in the afternoons. Rudolph Valentino, also later
of Hollywood fame worked there too as a gigolo. He also remembered the
other famous people mentioned in the 1942 American Weekly He said that the Bustanoby brothers were typical Basques with big, barrel chests. Andre always associated with the employees. Two of them, brother and sister, were dancers. The brother was very outspoken. He said to Andre, who had a spade beard, "Do you sleep with your beard under the covers or on top?" Andre said that he had never thought about it. Several nights later he came back to the dancer and said, "You scoundrel. For three nights I haven't been able to sleep because I couldn't get comfortable with my beard either on top or under the covers! I was all right until you got me to thinking about it." One of the restaurant chefs who had worked for the Cunard Lines, made about $18,000 a year--which was very good money for the times. A person could not get a meal at the Bustanobys for under $40, which today would be well over $100. |