Inspired by the altruistic gestures of dozens of longtime patrons of the iconic restaurant, the owners of The Musso and Frank Grill have launched the “Musso & Frank Employee Relief Fund.” The new fund will provide 50% of the monies required to cover the on-going healthcare/medical insurance coverage and 50% for needed living expenses for the legendary restaurant’s 84 employees who are currently furloughed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mark Echeverria, Musso’s CFO/COO and a fourth-generation member of the family of owners, made the announcement.
After dozens of longtime Musso fans began reaching out to the restaurant’s owners in November asking how they might go about assisting Musso’s furloughed employees, the owners of Musso & Frank have created a GOFUNDME Page by which to raise monies to cover the ongoing healthcare/medical insurance coverage and needed living expenses for those employees. The Musso owners have been covering their employees’ health coverage since the venue was first forced to close for business back in March.
Concurrently, the Musso owners have also announced that 25% of all retail sales generated by sales of the restaurant’s online merchandise – which includes Musso & Frank-branded COVID masks, cuff links, gift cards, and the award-winning book detailing the restaurant’s 100 year history – will also be added into the new Fund.
“So many friends, longtime patrons, and members of our extended Musso ‘family’ have been reaching out to us without prompting, inquiring as to how they might go about making a charitable contribution to the welfare of our employees,” Echeverria said. “We were touched by these acts of generosity, and by knowing that dozens of longtime patrons were willing to demonstrate the support our employees enjoy from the community by making financial donations. We are very proud to be partnered with our community members, truly wonderful folks who have inspired the formation of this new Fund.”
About THE MUSSO & FRANK GRILL
Hollywood, California in 1919 was the time and place we would meet the first hero of our story, Frank Toulet, who three years later would form a fateful partnership with our second hero, Joseph Musso. Both were forward-looking restaurateurs who envisioned what Hollywood could become with an anchor destination to serve locals and visitors alike. In 1922, the two men hired French chef Jean Rue – a culinary master who would wind up showcasing his artistry at Musso & Frank for 53 years, and creating a menu that remains amazingly intact to this day.
In 1927, Mr. Musso and Mr. Toulet sold their restaurant to a duo of Italian immigrants named Joseph Carissimi and John Mosso (a coincidentally similar name). Today Musso & Frank is owned and operated by the families of Mr. Mosso’s three granddaughters: John and Cathy Echeverria and their son Mark Echeverria (the restaurant’s current COO), Steve and Anne Jones, and Richard and Kristen Kohlmeyer.
The Place To Be For 100 Years & Counting!
From the day its doors first opened ten decades ago on September 27, 1919, Musso & Frank has been hailed as a bastion of flawless service and exquisite cuisine – including the restaurant’s signature martinis. But what’s on the actual menu is only the beginning of the Musso & Frank experience.
Settle into one of the restaurant’s classic red leather booths, amble over to its famed mahogany bar, gaze around in awe at the classic architecture or peer into what was the city’s very first public phone booth, and you will find yourself transported to another time and place where every meal is a work of art, every patron is a cherished guest, and every moment is an instantly priceless memory.
Offering a combination of old world sophistication and contemporary warmth unavailable anywhere else under one roof, Musso & Frank (and its renowned, even mysterious, Back Room), has been a home away from home over the years for such artistic luminaries as Charlie Chaplin, Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Monroe, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor, Steve McQueen, Jack Nicholson, Johnny Depp, and even The Rolling Stones. The restaurant has also been a source of inspiration for such literary giants as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Chandler, T.S. Elliot, John Steinbeck, Dorothy Parker and William Faulkner.
Over the years, Musso & Frank has also become synonymous with entertainment industry power lunches. Indeed, it’s safe to say that the deals made here over the years have mirrored the history of Hollywood itself – all the way from silent films to talkies, from Technical to television, from VHS tapes to DVDs to Digital downloads, and from cable TV networks and pay-per-view shows to streaming media platforms.
Best of all, while Musso & Frank is obviously steeped in living history, it’s actually more vibrant and retro-hip today than ever, attracting multiple generations of Hollywood denizens who prefer elegance over garishness, career servers over indifferent order-takers, and classic cuisine over passing food fads.
Given its timeless appeal, Musso & Frank not surprisingly has become something of an on-screen celebrity itself, “co-starring” in dozens of films and TV shows over the years, including “The Kominsky Method,” “Bosch,” “Swingers,” the 2001 version of “Ocean’s 11,” “Ed Wood,” “Mad Men,” “Ray Donovan,” and most recently Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 feature film, “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood,” to name just a few.
Dinner Is Served!
While nothing is hard to swallow at Musso & Frank, there’s one stunning fact that definitely would be – that is, if it didn’t happen to be true! Current Executive Chef J. P. Amateau is only the third person to serve in that position in the restaurant’s entire 100-year history (following the tenures of Jean Rue and his successor, Michel Bourger).
Seamlessly bridging the past, present and future, Chef Amateau’s menu honors the genius of his two predecessors while being imbued with his very own distinct culinary sensibilities – many derived from traveling the world in search of the finest ingredients and inspirations, along with his rich history of coming to Musso’s as a child with his father, noted film and TV writer, director and producer Rod Amateau.
Musso & Frank’s acclaimed service is in the hands of accomplished restaurateur and General Manager Andrea Scuto, who immigrated from Italy in 2006 and is carrying on the beloved restaurant’s longstanding tradition of European-style hospitality.
Home to countless classic dishes, Musso & Frank Grill is hailed worldwide for its masterfully-prepared steaks – each cooked on a seasoned grill that dates all the way back to 1934. Other mainstays include Fettucine Alfredo (featuring a recipe from the original Alfredo’s restaurant in Italy brought to Chef Rue by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks), Corned Beef & Cabbage, Homemade Chicken Pot Pie and Braised Short Ribs, each as delectable as always, but today featuring mouth-watering new tweaks by Chef Amateau to further appeal to contemporary palates.
And then, of course, there’s Musso & Frank’s Perfect Martini – stirred not shaken (James Bond got it wrong!) – a true classic that’s delighted patrons since the days of Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.
Today, Mark Echeverria, his family, and the entire Musso’s team remain laser focused on overcoming the temporary setback due to COVID-19, and look optimistically to the present and future – a key reason why the Musso & Frank Grill has been, and remains, the most successful restaurant in the long history of Hollywood.
