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CNN Saturday Morning News
"Novak Zone": Interview with Tommy Jacomo
Aired August 02, 2003 - 09:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: well, if you want good gossip, ask a bartender. But in Washington, the best gossip may come from a restaurant manager. His name is Tommy Jacomo, the general manager of The Palm. And today, he's visiting The Novak Zone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT NOVAK, HOST: Welcome to The Novak Zone. We're at the world-famous restaurant, The Palm, in downtown Washington, the inside place to eat for the insiders, talking to the general manager of The Palm, Tommy Jacomo, who has been working here for 31 years.
Tommy, I understand a very famous person had a part in the selection of the location of this restaurant.
TOMMY JACOMO, MANAGER, THE PALM: That's correct. President Bush, who was the ambassador to China at the time, would hang out at The Palm, the original Palm in New York City on 45th and Second Avenue. That's been there since 1926. And he started talking to Ali Ganzy (ph) and Bruce Bozy (ph), the owners of The Palm restaurant, and he suggested that we move to Washington.
Then Wyatt Dickerson (ph) and Mark Sangrounds (ph), two local people in Washington, put together a group of 20 people. They all put in $10,000 each, $200,000 just to open up this restaurant. Now it costs over $2 million to open up one of these restaurants. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
NOVAK: His son, President George W. Bush, has he ever been here?
JACOMO: He hasn't been here, no, not yet. Of course, he's been a little busy.
NOVAK: How about Bill Clinton? Has he ever (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
JACOMO: Bill Clinton's been here quite a few times. A real charmer. He walks in, charmed the whole restaurant, charmed the staff. He's just an amazing individual. Very charismatic.
NOVAK: Tommy, one of the trademarks of The Palm is the cartoons on the wall. You even have a cartoon of "THE CAPITAL GANG," kind of went down in class. But do the people lobby to try to get their pictures up on the wall here?
JACOMO: Most people send in a photograph. You know, if they're steady customers or good customers, I'll approach them and say, If you'd like to join the Hall of Shame, or the Hall of Fame, whichever you want to call it, please send me in a photo.
But other people (UNINTELLIGIBLE) solicit me to put their pictures on the wall. And I make the final decision whether they should go up or whether they shouldn't go up.
NOVAK: The -- Tucker Carlson, writing in "The New York Times," said that the food here was just OK, it wasn't that great. If that's so, why do people come here? It's hard to get a seat here.
JACOMO: That's why Tucker's not a food critic. He should stick with what he does best, eat shoes.
NOVAK: Eat shoes?
JACOMO: Yes.
NOVAK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- why -- what makes it that it's hard to get a seat here? This is one of the tough reservations in Washington.
JACOMO: It's an in place. You know, it's been like that for the last 30 years. People want to see, be seen, and see the other people. Lobbyists all hang out here. Everybody's always posturing, you know, trying to get an inside scoop on this, inside scoop on that, what's going on on the Hill, you know, how they can get their bills put across.
NOVAK: A guy comes off from Paducah, Kentucky, and says, I'd like a restaurant (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Does he get these bums' rush?
JACOMO: I like to treat everybody, like, equally, you know, the out-of-town people that come here, I get more of a kick out of seeing them, seeing a movie star or a celebrity in the restaurant. It's more fun for me to take care of those people. The celebrities, they -- you know, they could care less, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) real important people. They walk in, you know, they don't have a table, I just don't have a table, you know.
NOVAK: Every restaurant has a Siberia where you put the undesirables. Where's the Siberia in this restaurant?
JACOMO: That phrase is going to be the death of me, OK? That article was written probably 30 years ago, 28 years ago in "The Washington Post." And Mel Croupen (ph), who was the maitre d' at Duke Zeebis' (ph) restaurant, used that term Siberia. And to this day, people still use that term. There is no such thing as Siberia.
NOVAK: No Siberia (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
JACOMO: There's no such thing as Siberia, no.
NOVAK: ... Siberia in this restaurant?
JACOMO: And I cannot believe that I still hear that term. It's amazing. It won't go away. It's haunted me forever.
NOVAK: You've had some really famous people eat here. I understand that President Putin of Russia was here. Is that correct?
JACOMO: That was a fun night, yes, that was a real fun night.
NOVAK: What happened then?
JACOMO: Well, his advance man called and ordered 25 lobsters for all the -- for the whole entourage that was coming in. So, you know, it takes a little time to cook the lobsters. So I yelled in the kitchen, Throw 25 lobsters on there, they're going to be here in an hour. So we started cooking them. Putin walks in with his entourage and his henchmen and his bodyguards and stuff. He sits down, he orders steak. Everybody orders steak.
So that was the end of that. I was going to leave the lobsters on (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
NOVAK: What did you do with the lobsters?
JACOMO: Made lobster salad the next day for lunch.
NOVAK: How about Car -- James Carville? He -- is he a regular here?
JACOMO: James is a one of a kind. He's not only is a good customer, he's a very good friend of mine. I actually socialize with him outside the restaurant.
NOVAK: Now, I understand there was a famous political book that was written, part of it was written here. Is that right?
JACOMO: Oh, you talking about Watergate? Yes. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward used to come here for lunch, and they'd sit in the last booth in the back, this was booth 12. It's no longer there. And Carl would bring his bicycle and tie it up to my awning. Used to drive my brother crazy, because the customers couldn't get around it.
And they'd sit there and write the little stories, tidbits of what they were picking up as they were writing the book. They subsequently sold all those little footnotes and stuff for, like, $6 million, $8 million, to the University of Texas, just their notes.
NOVAK: Do you have a -- is there a lot less drinking now than there was 30 years ago?
JACOMO: Oh, God. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- I'm -- you know, the old bourbon and three-martini lunches, that's gone. Now it's white wine or a glass of Merlot.
NOVAK: And now, the big question for Tommy Jacomo, general manager of The Palm.
Is there one person who really lights up the place when he or she walks in here? JACOMO: The man that people really look up, who walks in, who I happen to love and I adore, is Bob Straus. He's just one of the most powerful, funniest men I've ever seen in my entire life. He has an answer for everything, he's quick witted, sassy as sassy can be. And when he walks in, people just run over to his table. Everybody jumps up.
NOVAK: He's the real Washingtonian.
JACOMO: He is the man. He is the man. And I love him to death.
NOVAK: Thank you, Tommy Jacomo.
And thank you for being in The Novak Zone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 2, 2003 - 09:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: well, if you want good gossip, ask a bartender. But in Washington, the best gossip may come from a restaurant manager. His name is Tommy Jacomo, the general manager of The Palm. And today, he's visiting The Novak Zone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT NOVAK, HOST: Welcome to The Novak Zone. We're at the world-famous restaurant, The Palm, in downtown Washington, the inside place to eat for the insiders, talking to the general manager of The Palm, Tommy Jacomo, who has been working here for 31 years.
Tommy, I understand a very famous person had a part in the selection of the location of this restaurant.
TOMMY JACOMO, MANAGER, THE PALM: That's correct. President Bush, who was the ambassador to China at the time, would hang out at The Palm, the original Palm in New York City on 45th and Second Avenue. That's been there since 1926. And he started talking to Ali Ganzy (ph) and Bruce Bozy (ph), the owners of The Palm restaurant, and he suggested that we move to Washington.
Then Wyatt Dickerson (ph) and Mark Sangrounds (ph), two local people in Washington, put together a group of 20 people. They all put in $10,000 each, $200,000 just to open up this restaurant. Now it costs over $2 million to open up one of these restaurants. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
NOVAK: His son, President George W. Bush, has he ever been here?
JACOMO: He hasn't been here, no, not yet. Of course, he's been a little busy.
NOVAK: How about Bill Clinton? Has he ever (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
JACOMO: Bill Clinton's been here quite a few times. A real charmer. He walks in, charmed the whole restaurant, charmed the staff. He's just an amazing individual. Very charismatic.
NOVAK: Tommy, one of the trademarks of The Palm is the cartoons on the wall. You even have a cartoon of "THE CAPITAL GANG," kind of went down in class. But do the people lobby to try to get their pictures up on the wall here?
JACOMO: Most people send in a photograph. You know, if they're steady customers or good customers, I'll approach them and say, If you'd like to join the Hall of Shame, or the Hall of Fame, whichever you want to call it, please send me in a photo.
But other people (UNINTELLIGIBLE) solicit me to put their pictures on the wall. And I make the final decision whether they should go up or whether they shouldn't go up.
NOVAK: The -- Tucker Carlson, writing in "The New York Times," said that the food here was just OK, it wasn't that great. If that's so, why do people come here? It's hard to get a seat here.
JACOMO: That's why Tucker's not a food critic. He should stick with what he does best, eat shoes.
NOVAK: Eat shoes?
JACOMO: Yes.
NOVAK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- why -- what makes it that it's hard to get a seat here? This is one of the tough reservations in Washington.
JACOMO: It's an in place. You know, it's been like that for the last 30 years. People want to see, be seen, and see the other people. Lobbyists all hang out here. Everybody's always posturing, you know, trying to get an inside scoop on this, inside scoop on that, what's going on on the Hill, you know, how they can get their bills put across.
NOVAK: A guy comes off from Paducah, Kentucky, and says, I'd like a restaurant (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Does he get these bums' rush?
JACOMO: I like to treat everybody, like, equally, you know, the out-of-town people that come here, I get more of a kick out of seeing them, seeing a movie star or a celebrity in the restaurant. It's more fun for me to take care of those people. The celebrities, they -- you know, they could care less, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) real important people. They walk in, you know, they don't have a table, I just don't have a table, you know.
NOVAK: Every restaurant has a Siberia where you put the undesirables. Where's the Siberia in this restaurant?
JACOMO: That phrase is going to be the death of me, OK? That article was written probably 30 years ago, 28 years ago in "The Washington Post." And Mel Croupen (ph), who was the maitre d' at Duke Zeebis' (ph) restaurant, used that term Siberia. And to this day, people still use that term. There is no such thing as Siberia.
NOVAK: No Siberia (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
JACOMO: There's no such thing as Siberia, no.
NOVAK: ... Siberia in this restaurant?
JACOMO: And I cannot believe that I still hear that term. It's amazing. It won't go away. It's haunted me forever.
NOVAK: You've had some really famous people eat here. I understand that President Putin of Russia was here. Is that correct?
JACOMO: That was a fun night, yes, that was a real fun night.
NOVAK: What happened then?
JACOMO: Well, his advance man called and ordered 25 lobsters for all the -- for the whole entourage that was coming in. So, you know, it takes a little time to cook the lobsters. So I yelled in the kitchen, Throw 25 lobsters on there, they're going to be here in an hour. So we started cooking them. Putin walks in with his entourage and his henchmen and his bodyguards and stuff. He sits down, he orders steak. Everybody orders steak.
So that was the end of that. I was going to leave the lobsters on (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
NOVAK: What did you do with the lobsters?
JACOMO: Made lobster salad the next day for lunch.
NOVAK: How about Car -- James Carville? He -- is he a regular here?
JACOMO: James is a one of a kind. He's not only is a good customer, he's a very good friend of mine. I actually socialize with him outside the restaurant.
NOVAK: Now, I understand there was a famous political book that was written, part of it was written here. Is that right?
JACOMO: Oh, you talking about Watergate? Yes. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward used to come here for lunch, and they'd sit in the last booth in the back, this was booth 12. It's no longer there. And Carl would bring his bicycle and tie it up to my awning. Used to drive my brother crazy, because the customers couldn't get around it.
And they'd sit there and write the little stories, tidbits of what they were picking up as they were writing the book. They subsequently sold all those little footnotes and stuff for, like, $6 million, $8 million, to the University of Texas, just their notes.
NOVAK: Do you have a -- is there a lot less drinking now than there was 30 years ago?
JACOMO: Oh, God. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- I'm -- you know, the old bourbon and three-martini lunches, that's gone. Now it's white wine or a glass of Merlot.
NOVAK: And now, the big question for Tommy Jacomo, general manager of The Palm.
Is there one person who really lights up the place when he or she walks in here? JACOMO: The man that people really look up, who walks in, who I happen to love and I adore, is Bob Straus. He's just one of the most powerful, funniest men I've ever seen in my entire life. He has an answer for everything, he's quick witted, sassy as sassy can be. And when he walks in, people just run over to his table. Everybody jumps up.
NOVAK: He's the real Washingtonian.
JACOMO: He is the man. He is the man. And I love him to death.
NOVAK: Thank you, Tommy Jacomo.
And thank you for being in The Novak Zone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
