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| Subject: Walter Weiss, Longtime Maître d'Hôtel and Arbiter of Standards at '21' | |
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Author: died Saturday |
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Date Posted: October 15, 2002 1:31:48 EDT Walter Weiss, the legendary maître d'hôtel at the "21" Club, who juggled tycoons, movie stars and politicians to answer a terrifying question — who gets the best table and who goes to Siberia? — died on Saturday in White Plains. He was 80 and lived in Whitestone, Queens. The cause was a lung embolism, said his wife, Frances. At a restaurant that prizes its history as a Prohibition-era speakeasy and its relationships, some as old and valued as the antique toys hanging from the Bar Room ceiling, Mr. Weiss was in charge of seating for more than 40 of his 54 years there. He set the pecking order for the rich, powerful and not infrequently pompous diners who regard 21 West 52nd Street as club, fraternity house and first-aid station. There was no appealing his decisions, and there could be no doubt that considerable thought went into them. He had to balance the management's desire to make celebrities visible with the demand of some for privacy. Corporate feuds, matrimonial trouble and media feuds had to be taken into account. If the wife of a mogul unexpectedly stopped by for lunch, associates said, Mr. Weiss was known to call to advise him not to keep his scheduled reservation with another woman. He read the newspapers to keep up. John F. Kennedy did not rate a "good" table until he became a senator, reflecting Mr. Weiss's strong belief that younger customers should have something to look forward to. A tip on the way in could only backfire, because Mr. Weiss saw tables as something to be "earned" through regular visits, good behavior and patience. (That is not to say a tip on the way out might not be fondly remembered.) "I'm not in the furniture business," he said in an Associated Press interview in 1991. "If you're secure, it shouldn't matter where you sit." He gave preferred diners more than tables: he scrambled to fulfill their heartfelt and occasionally peculiar desires. Cary Grant liked peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so he dispatched someone to a nearby grocery as soon as Grant walked in. Since Frank Sinatra liked hot cherry peppers, he ordered some. He made sure Richard M. Nixon was served Château Pétrus with his chicken hash without having to ask. Felix G. Rohatyn occupied one of the best tables in the house, next to the General Motors table. During the city's fiscal crisis in the mid-1970's, he and Gov. Hugh L. Carey mapped strategy at the restaurant. Mr. Weiss did not shrink from enforcing standards. At a restaurant that demands a coat and tie, he kept two dozen ties on hand for customers who did not wear their own. When the actor Jeremy Irons arrived wearing what he maintained was an ascot, Mr. Weiss ruled that it was a scarf. "I told him he was embarrassing his host, and finally he relented and put on a tie," Mr. Weiss said in 1985 in an interview with Daily News Record, the men's wear publication. He did acknowledge bending the rules on one occasion. He let Howard Hughes wear sneakers, the only time anyone has ever worn them. Walter Joseph Weiss was born in Vienna on June 27, 1922. He came to New York when he was 16, fleeing Hitler, and sent for his parents and brother a year later. He worked at many jobs, and first came through the door of the "21" Club to deliver pastries, according to an interview with The New York Times in 1985. He was a cook in the Army from 1943 to 1945. After his discharge, he got a job at Toots Shor's, but didn't like it and quit the next day. Of all the famous people he served at "21," Winston Churchill might have been the one he admired the most, Mrs. Weiss said. In his nervousness, Mr. Weiss dropped four pheasants at Churchill's feet. After an eternal second of silence, Churchill laughed and helped clean up. In addition to his wife, Mr. Weiss is survived by his daughter, Terry Mannino of Greenville, S.C.; his son, Steven, of Wayne, N.J.; and four grandchildren. Mrs. Weiss said that one of her husband's favorite things was going out to dinner at other restaurants. He liked to go where he was known. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
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