Philadelphia

Who’s Mug Is On The Palm’s Wall, and How Did It Get There? Monday’s Closing Party of the Iconic Restaurant.

March 2, 2016 by HughE Dillon

The doors at The Palm Restaurant closed Monday night for at least 9 months.

Jeff Phillips,  ‎C.O.O. at Palm Restaurant was on hand to greet longtime Palm Restaurant customers, who were in for their last meal, and some of them to say good bye to their mugs on the wall. As much as the Palm tried to assure people that the faces would be saved, it’s nearly impossible as most are secured to the wall via adhesive and would tear the face if it were pulled off. The new restaurant will have new, updated faces. Many of the faces in the famed Bellevue located eatery are OLD.

It was always a walk down memory lane when eating at The Palm.  There was a whole section of Phillies, current when they were put up, vintage these days.

Who knew Pat Croce was so good looking.

The Papadaki’s, Solomon’s and Councilwomen Blondell Reynolds Brown
Gus, with longtime Palm patrons Evan Solomon, ‎CEO at EFS Networks Inc (he wires new restaurants and business with state of the art software solutions – he just did SUGA) 
and Lynsie Solomon.
Sixers Legends
The refreshed Palm Restaurant will open before the holidays, and  will continue to embrace the restaurant’s
90-year commitment to service and quality with the same great food and
personalized service.  The new design will feature a striking
hand-painted feature wall of Philadelphia’s famous landmarks overlooking
the dining room. A new, expansive bar will anchor the dining room, and
the Private Dining Room will be relocated to the main level of the
restaurant. In addition to the numerous cosmetic changes, there are many
enhancements to the infrastructure, which is a lengthy process. And new Palm portraits of notables will grace the walls.
There’s even a dog on the wall. To get your mug on the wall,
Big Rube, Nicole Miller, Nicole Cashman (I took this last week)
Then Monday night I noticed a guy did remove his photo from the wall. There was no name yet attached so maybe it was a new face.
Geoff Gross, Medical Guardian and the founder of Preakness at the Piazza. It’ll be on May 21. I’ll be there shooting it so come on by.
Janice Cohen , Judge Gene D. Cohen (Ret.), Jeff Phillips,  ‎C.O.O. at Palm Restaurant and Jerry Blavat in the bar at The Palm.
Dawn Timmeny and the crew from her days at NBC10. Now Dawn is at Fox29
Charles H. Ramsey, is the former Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department.

The Goldberg family, they own the deliciousTeuscher Chocolates st the Bellevue Hotel

Monday night there were a lot of notables, some who’s faces appear on the wall like Fred Stein (L) Fred Stein – The Creative Group
Next time we’ll be working together is on the ADL Walk 
I’m a corporate sponsor and I’ll have a team walking. As soon as I have the info I will send it along.
Nino Tinari, PhillyStyleMagazine, The Rendells, John Travolta
Rocky, The Lipsons – Sharon & David (I have to say David’s is a ringer). Ricardo Muti, Arnie Schwarzenegger

The Kelly family, JD Kelly and friends as in Grace Kelly and Kelly Drive fame.
David Maser
Gary DeVito, Zarwin Baum, and on other walls I spotted Zarwin attorney’s Ted Schaer and Harris Baum
Jim Gardner, Wally Kennedy and Liz Starr from their Dialing for Dollars TV show days. Larry Kane and Shirley Maclaine?
Patti LaBelle
Mary Dougherty, Nicole Miller Philadelphia stores, with Renee and Don Freeman, all of who are on the wall.

Here’s Mary with her BFF’s Linda Swain and Karen Buchholz.
Palm waiter Gus (who is headed to Sugarhouse, see story at the end) with longtime customers Evan and Lynsie Solomon.
There were two ways to get your mug on the wall, longtime customers that accumulated 50,000 eating points. Or be recommended by someone that you were notable and should grace the wall.

These two look most like their portraits

Chris Mullins, co-owner of McGillin’s and Bill Gehrman, Enroute Marketing.
I was just with Bill at the Historic Strawberry Mansion for the debut of their Judge William Lewis interactive exhibit. Photos will be posted on PCC tomorrow.
Stu Bykofsky is an American journalist and columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News.

The Brownstein Family and Frank Sinatra
So funny Kris Jenner is so unfamous they only put Mr & Mrs Bruce Jenner
Then we have the infamous – Larry Mendte, Alycia Lane, Michael Colleran had been President and General Manager of the CBS Philadelphia duopoly stations — CBS 3 (KYW-TV) and The CW Beasley Reese and Kathy Orr (who is now with Fox 29)
Bradley Cooper and his dad
Jeff Phillips,  ‎C.O.O. at Palm Restaurant with the Freemans, who’s portrait is at the tip of the sailfishes nose. Jeff is in the pink shirt holding the sail fish. He tells me the rest of the guys on the fish are the team who opened the Philly eatery 29 years ago.
Wendy Hamilton, GM SugarHouse Casino and Jim Haney, GM Palm
SugarHouse Casino and The Palm Restaurant jointly announced that SugarHouse will make job offers to all of The Palm’s Philadelphia staff.  “We have enormous respect for The Palm brand, Jim Haney and his team.
They have a well-earned reputation for delivering superior, personalized
service,” said Wendy Hamilton, general manager of SugarHouse Casino. 
“They’re also our friends. They’re facing a challenging situation, and
we’re actively recruiting. It seemed like an opportunity for a win-win.”  – Hugo’s Frog Bar & Chop House by Chicago’s famed Gibsons Restaurant Group is slated to open in April. – I can’t wait!!
And my mug. So long buddy. It was an honor when I was recommended to be on the wall. As a fan of The Palm, and it’s storied history, I knew and felt it was a big deal. Thanks!!
CHECK OUT A MORE INDEPTH STORY AND BETTER BRADLEY COOPER MURAL at the Philly Metro, with Jenny DeHuff