A tiny taste of fame

As a 10 year-plus employee of Variety, I was invited to watch the unveiling of our star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Right between Samuel Jackson and Winona Ryder, Variety finally got a star for the 100th anniversary celebration.

After the unveiling, we repaired to the Dakota restaurant in the Hollywood Roosevelt with Johnny Grant, Army Archerd, veteran publicist Julian Myers and some other longtime employees. We had a lovely lunch of grilled salmon (for me) and steak with roquefort butter and fries (for some of the others). I liked the Dakota's leather tablecloths and clubby, masculine feel. I've eaten at that restaurant in several different incarnations and this is definitely the best one yet. I think they could have done without the alfalfa sprouts on the salmon, but it was a beautifully tender piece of fish, cooked medium rare to order. And you have to love that liquid sugar in the little beaker for the ice tea, although the concept of Sweet 'n Low seemed beyond them. Still, I kind of miss the vaguely grotty old Roosevelt with its cheap poolside rooms.

salmon on a bed of green stuff at the Dakota