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What's an Ex-Mayor to Do? |
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by Russ Parsons
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From the Los Angeles Times
Richard Riordan is no gourmet. That's one of the first things he wants you to know. But he is a restaurateur, and a very successful one.
In fact, though the 78-year-old Riordan is best known as the
multimillionaire former mayor of Los Angeles, he also owns two of the
busiest restaurants in Southern California, the Original Pantry and Gladstone's Malibu.
And in the last year he's opened three more, Riordan's Tavern, next door to the Original Pantry in downtown Los Angeles, and the Oak Room and its adjoining Village Pantry in the Pacific Palisades.
None of those restaurants is what you might expect, though.
Usually, when a really rich guy opens a new place, it's loaded with
swank -- a symbol of his success where he can wow his friends and
business associates.
Instead, Riordan's restaurant empire is built around a beloved, if
somewhat scruffy, downtown landmark and a seaside cash machine, neither
of which comes within a couple of miles of gourmet while doing
spectacular business.
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