If your classy grandma grew up in L.A., chances are she loved Bullocks Wilshire . The grande dame of Los Angeles retail was an art deco beacon on the boulevard from 1929 until 1993. Now, you can see what all the fuss was about with ” A Taste of Bullocks Wilshire ,” an evening of dining and history in the store’s former Tea Room.
Southwestern School of Law restored the luxury department store as a beautiful school campus and won the Los Angeles Conservancy preservation award in 1997. “It was the greatest shopping experience in Los Angeles,” says Mary Alice Wollam , who wrote the Conservancy’s tour of the landmark. “You could go and have your hair done and go to the tanning salon. In the 1930s, Irene , the great designer for MGM, had a salon there where an everyday dress cost $400. It was absolutely elegant and inspirational to be surrounded by that kind of architecture. Their clientele had money but it was also diverse.”
The grand salons, stunning fragrance hall, and famed tea room have served as study halls and a cafeteria for law students for three decades and are strictly off-limits to outsiders save for the rare occasions when the Parkinson and Parkinson -designed beauty is open for tours. An annual day in the restored 1929 interior of the tea room is a hot ticket, often selling out to members and alumni before being made available to the public.
Enter George Geary . The school is hosting a talk, book signing, and “light repast” in that famed tea room on April 23 with the chef, TV host, food historian, and author of L.A.’s Legendary Restaurants and L.A.’s Landmark Restaurants . The books place the department store dining room in the company of Ciro’s, Chasen’s, and other long-gone L.A. favorites.
Geary, who was the former pastry chef for the Walt Disney Company and judged 28 seasons of culinary contests for the Los Angeles County Fair, will be presenting the original Bullocks Wilshire Cantonese Chicken Salad served in little bamboo boats and drinks from the famed dining room including their famous cherry vanilla punch. The special menu also includes appetizers, an authentic Brown Derby Cobb salad, and the famed dessert “Strawberries Romanoff” from Romanoff’s in Beverly Hills. The school is also setting up a display of vintage tableware from the restaurant from their private collection.
“I lived around the corner in college,” Geary says. “Bullocks was expensive, but you got treated differently. You felt rich when you went even if you weren’t.” Geary’s talk is being held in two original rooms: the Salle Moderne and Directoire salon, where Jean Harlow was famously photographed by George Hurrell in 1933. Guests will be escorted directly to the salons without touring the main building. Geary suggests admiring the architecture over the shoulder of the guards on your way to the elevator. Just try to look classy while you’re doing it…