Things you might or might not know about Hamburger Hamlet (copied from a sale item on eBay for six of Marilyn Lewis' cookbooks):
"Up for bid is an eclectic collection of cookbooks, encompassing everything from down-home cooking, French, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Jewish, Passover, Top chefs, top restaurant menu recipes, cooking classes, baking, deserts, main dishes, appetizers, snacks, picnics, BBQ's, health foods, etc etc etc. Some have notes, or changes penciled in, some have Marilyn Lewis's embossed stamp. These are from her estate, probably the ones she used to study for the restaurants. There are six boxes in total, five with the cookbooks, and one with all her personal hand-written or typed notes and photocopies. This one also has notes on how to run the restaurant, recipes, personnel notes and misc. They are up for individual bids. They will be shipped media mail since they weigh an average of over thirty pounds each.
"In 1950, Marilyn met Harry Lewis, an aspiring actor, who told her about his idea for a restaurant called Hamburger Hamlet. Within few months, fueled with determination, she locked a location on the Sunset strip and the first Hamburger Hamlet was born. With no cooking experience, Lewis developed a simple, yet delicious menu and started feeding ‘the glitterati in Hollywood’. The restaurant was an immediate success and became a popular hang-out for the stars. The reason they gave for the name "Hamburger Hamlet"was because they meant for the eatery to be a restaurant where actors could hang out, and that it was every actor's dream to play Hamlet. The restaurant was successful and grew into a chain of 24 locations. In the last years of his life, Dean Martin had dinner at a Hamlet counter every Sunday night, and Warren Beatty used to rendezvous in the booths, but grandmothers also loved to eat there. The Lewises took Hamburger Hamlet public in 1969, and sold the company for $33 million in 1997. After the sale, the couple opened new independent restaurants in the Los Angeles area.
"Harry signed the lease because he thought Marilyn could cook (but she couldn't), so she started studying cookbooks. They developed a simple menu based around hamburgers and other foods that didn't require an oven at that time. The Hamlet would stay open late and become a kind of hybrid: the first hangout/final destination/family restaurant in Los Angeles.
"The first Hamburger Hamlet was opened in 1950 on Sunset Blvd; because of their commitment to quality, flavor and “simply marvelous food and drinks,” it became an immediate success. Hamburger Hamlet quickly became a Hollywood landmark and was packed with celebrities every night of the week. Over the next 3 decades, they expanded throughout Southern California and Washington DC. To date, there is still nothing to rival the great food, casual comfort and superb service of Hamburger Hamlet!"{/i]
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Topic: BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL OR NOSTALGIA CONTINUED (Read 21040 times)