US presidents have been dining at the former speakeasy’s coveted tables since Franklin D Roosevelt more than 80 years ago, and it is said that John F Kennedy spent the eve of his inauguration there.
So Manhattan’s famed 21 Club, a New York institution since prohibition, seemed a fitting venue for the president-elect, Donald J Trump, and his four grown-up children and their partners to gather this week for post-election celebrations.
Swerving the disgruntled White House press corps, the billionaire businessman headed by motorcade to 21 West 52nd Street, a hangout for celebrities and captains of industry.
21, as it is shorthanded in engagement diaries of the rich and famous, is not a place for the publicity-shy. An interactive section on its website points out the favourite tables of many of its high-flying guests past and present. Trump’s spot, fans can learn, is table 11, near the bar, a table also favoured by former president the Gerald Ford.
Bill Clinton prefers table 31, which was also the choice of the Kennedys. Richard Nixon and George and Barbara Bush reserved table seven. George W Bush is the only president since it opened its doors in 1930 not to have dropped in, though apparently he did dine there before his election to the august office. His wife, Laura Bush, however, has been spotted at table 55. Former first lady Nancy Reagan sat at table 14.
The upmarket steakhouse is so much part of the New York establishment its famous wine cellars – cleverly concealed behind camouflaged doors, invisible chutes and revolving bars to thwart prohibition enforcers searching for illegal liquor – have housed the private collections of Ford and Nixon, as well as those of Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Mae West, Eva Gabor and Aristotle Onassis, to name but a few.
Today its cellars boast some of the finest wines in the world, including Montrachet 1898, Petrus 1982, Romanée-Conti 1880 and Château Lafite Rothschild.
Teetotal Trump, according to Bloomberg journalists who by chance found themselves on the next table, celebrated with a virgin Bloody Mary and a $36 (£29) burger and fries. It was one of the more modest choices on an à la carte menu which includes a $125 “shellfish tower”, a $195 carving côte de boeuf for two, and a $68 ribeye steak.
Amateur footage broadcast on NBC News showed Trump shaking hands and telling fellow diners “we’ll get your taxes down” as he made his way out. According to Bloomberg, a customer nearby shouted “thank you, Donald”.
The trip surprised journalists because Trump’s transition team had briefed he would not be out in public for the rest of the day. In the NBC footage a woman’s voice can be heard off-camera asking, twice: “Mr President-elect, no heads up to the media, sir?”
The White House Correspondents’ Association said it was unacceptable Trump was travelling without a regular pool of journalists to inform the public of his whereabouts. A protective pool of journalists is supposed to join the president or president-elect’s motorcade to record their whereabouts and be on hand in the event of breaking news.
Opened by cousins Jack Kriendler and Charlie Berns in a row of brownstones on 1 January 1930, 21 has continued to draw the literati and glitterati to 52nd Street – nicknamed “Swing Street” – home to more than 30 speakeasies.
Notable writers that frequented its bar include Ernest Hemingway – who was caught having sex with gangster Legs Diamond’s girlfriend in the 21 kitchen in 1931 – Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and Lillian Hellman. Actors Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall had their first date at table 30.
Trump chose 21 to host the reception for his 1977 wedding to his first wife, Ivana Zelníčková. He also chose it as one of the locations for the reality show The Apprentice. The venue’s many screen credits include Wall Street, One Fine Day, Manhattan Murder Mystery, All About Eve and Sweet Smell of Success.
Celebrities including George Clooney (table eight), Rod Stewart (table 49), Harrison Ford (table 56) and Ricky Gervais (table 18) are all said to have been welcomed at its famous wrought iron gate, which dates back to 1926 and formed the entrance to the first club opened by Kriendler and Berns.
Regular patrons are encouraged to demonstrate their gratitude by donating keepsakes. The result is a most unusual ceiling – with every inch covered in toys or sporting and industrial memorabilia. John F Kennedy donated a model of a PT-109 torpedo boat; Clinton a replica of Air Force One.
The club, now owned by Belmond Ltd, draws tourists daily who can be seen photographing the ornamental line of painted cast-iron jockey statues which adorn the balcony, all donated by affluent and grateful customers in the 1930s, and painted in the racing colours of their stables.