March 02, 2006 Issue                                               

©2005 The Chestnut Hill Local

Expanding Palm is a sunny location for politicians
by LEN LEAR

The inviting exterior of Palm makes one think of warmer climates during our frigid winter days.

Palm, the recently expanded classic American steakhouse on the ground floor of the historic Bellevue Stratford Hotel, 200 S. Broad St., may be part of a huge chain (30 Palm restaurants, stretching from New York to California), but it is definitely not a corporate clone.

Remarkably, the Palm restaurants are operated by members of the same two families that opened the first Palm on Second Avenue in Manhattan 80 years ago. The current co-owners of the chain, Walter Ganzi Jr. and Bruce Bozzi, are the grandsons of John Ganzi and Pio Bozzi, the Italian immigrants who planted the first Palm in New York City in 1926.

Legend has it that the two founders wanted to name the restaurant Parma after their home town in Italy, but their accents were so thick, Americans thought they were saying “Palm.” If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, the two Italian-Americans concluded, so Parma soon became Palm.

How did the walls at each Palm restaurant, like those in the Philadelphia Palm, become lined with cartoons and caricatures? The company’s flagship restaurant was located around the corner from King Features Syndicate headquarters, and according to Walter Ganzi Jr., “Our grandfathers did not have enough money to decorate the restaurant. Instead of singing for their supper, the local newspapermen, who had very little money, agreed to draw cartoons on the restaurant’s walls in exchange for plates of spaghetti.”

The usually-packed dining room at the Palm, with the walls filled with caricatures of show business and sports celebrities, past and present, as well as local politicians.

Many famous cartoons had early beginnings on the Palm’s walls, including “Beetle Bailey,” “Popeye,” “Batman,” “Family Circus,” “Hi & Lois” and “Hagar the Horrible.” The original drawings were sketched in charcoal, pastels and markers, which faded over the years. The drawings were restored in 1995 and insured for $500,000.

For the last 15 years, the Palm’s caricatures have been created by Philadelphia native Bronwyn Bird. “I’ve done too many to count,” she said. “If and when I retire, maybe I’ll sit down and start counting ... I will admit that not everyone likes his or her likeness. At the Philadelphia restaurant, one female customer was even caught applying eye makeup — mascara and eyeliner — to her portrait on the wall!”

In addition to show business celebrities, the wall features caricatures of local politicians of the past and present such as Mayors Frank Rizzo and John Street, Governor Ed Rendell, former Councilman Thatcher Longstreth, State Sen. Vince Fumo and many others. Bird calls her creations “flattened likenesses” rather than caricatures because she tries to make them as flattering as possible. “If people lose 10 years (in her drawings), that’s OK. Drawing wrinkles and double chins isn’t fun for me or for the person I’m drawing.”

The Philadelphia Palm, which opened in 1989, has been a magnet for politicians, judges and lawyers from day one. Last summer, when the Palm was closed for renovations, some of the heavy hitters were in panic mode over being Palmless, but many found solace at Capital Grille, the Vesper Club and Union League, among others. (Not bad alternatives for the “homeless.”)

When it reopened in September, most “refugees” returned to an expanded Palm that had grown from 5,900 to 7,800 square feet with a new private dining room and new bar/lounge area with cathedral ceiling and a remodeled dining room with padded banquettes and intricate woodwork.

Prices at the Palm are not for the faint of heart. You might drop $14 for an appetizer or a glass of wine and $35 for an entree, for example (although some items are much less). During a recent dinner visit, two entreé daily specials — a hazelnut-crusted flounder with Merlot reduction and goat cheese ($30) and a 14-ounce New York strip steak with bleu cheese, peppers and onions ($35) — were definitely prime examples of grand gastronomy.

An appetizer of lobster bisque, on the other hand, had little flavor and was not even lukewarm. A side dish of French fried onion rings was clearly burned. When we brought it to the attention of our server, Randy, he apologized and brought out a well-prepared order in just a few minutes. (Randy is an excellent server whose work is like a well-choreographed ballet.)

Desserts of peanut butter pie and brownie cheesecake with vanilla ice cream were luscious. Glasses of Liberty School Chardonnay and Cabernet/Shiraz blend were just so-so and way overpriced at $14 each. For more information, call 215-546-7256 or visit www.thepalm.com.