Nightlife
and Comedy Picks
Chameleon Ross, my companion for the evening's trial of ice
and firewater, settled into the red plush sofa at Henry
Ford's, the oasis in the gauntlet of nothing that is Southwest
Barbur Boulevard.
Her leather-jacket-black eyes scanned the collection of
multicolored living-room couches, knee-capper coffee tables
and framed motorhead knickknacks.
She tossed her icy blond locks and regarded the bubbles
and flame spewing from the look-don't-touch tub out front.
She dipped into her walloping scotch and soda and scoped
the party-dressed bluehairs, their dapper escorts, the gang
of mustachioed after-business drinkers and relaxed posse
of butch bachelorettes.
She cocked an ear at the velvet tones of keyboard-ace-in-residence
Lyle Chaffee, who even then coaxed a nervous
frock-wearer through a Patsy Cline standard.
Chameleon Ross said, "I like this place."
Dedicated creatures of the after-dark practically break
themselves in half prostrating to worship Ford's, Portland's
throwback to meat-and-potatoes Camelot nightlife--the days
when cocktails were cold, astronauts had crewcuts and the
president's stud farm was his own damn business. In this
dark age of retro fakery, one stroll through Ford's reveals
the authentic Right Stuff.
As a hyper-perky waitress ferried one chilly delight after
another to our table, we called manager Brian Ford
over for the inside line on how this Henry's keeps
its flavor.
"We seem like the real thing because we are," Ford said
with confidence. "We didn't do this because it was retro
or because it was cool."
Ford tells the tale: The restaurant began in the '20s as
Redmond's on the Hill, the project of an apple grower's
widow who fancied her cooking skills more than her orchard
organization. Meanwhile, Brian's grandfather (the man who
fathered Henry--who was not, please note, the Nazi-sympathizing
auto magnate) ran a joint in Canyonville. For three decades,
never did the twain meet. Then, when the feds built the
interstate, the Canyonville place got plowed. Henry Ford
put the compensation cash into the Barbur outpost in '54.
In '61, Henry closed for a 10-day remodel, put up the neon-glory
sign that now calls to imbibers and eaters like a siren,
and then never touched a thing.
Henry passed on to the lounge in the sky some three years
back, leaving the place in the ownership of his wife Jeanne
and in the day-to-day care of Brian and his brother Rick--not
to mention a bar, kitchen and dining-room staff with centuries
of commitment to the place among them.
Rick and Brian haven't messed with the program. Given that
idiot decorators have savaged America's lounging heritage
in about 30 trendoid spasms since, the decision looks inspired.
Especially, Brian notes, since the kids started catching
on.
"Our clientele has changed dramatically over the years,"
he says. "For years we had a very loyal, stable crowd of
people who'd been coming for decades, literally. Now you
get the club kids, the martini-goers. What's great is, the
old crowd keeps coming, and with Lyle playing, you have
the old people dancing with the young people."
Still--thank God--Ford's doesn't pander to the hep mafia.
"We're conservative," Ford says. "We're not going to change
the decor or start catering to different crowds. I've been
to places that are trying to be hip or trying to capture
something they're not, and it just doesn't work. Here, you
can wear anything you want. You come in, you see people
having a good time, and the defenses come down.
"My father's idea was to make customers feel like they
were at home, but pampered at the same time. That's what
Henry Ford's is about. It's been this way and we'll stay
this way."
Raise a glass to that.
NIGHTLIFE
PICKS
HENRY FORD'S
9589 SW Barbur Blvd., 245-2434
Lyle Chaffee plays at Henry Ford's Thursday, Friday and
Saturday, starting at 7 pm and quitting when he feels like
it. According to Brian Ford, he sometimes plays right to
the legal limit of 2:30. He's been on the job for three
and a half years.
POP! BUBBLE-WRAP ATTACK
Berbati's Pan 231 SW Ankeny St., 248-4579
9 pm Wednesday, Jan. 19
$10
THE FLYING KARAMAZOV BROTHERS
Tiffany Center 1410 SW Morrison St., 248-4662
7:30 pm Monday, Jan. 24
$25
COMEDY
PICKS
COMEDYSPORTZ
Competitive ha-ha.
1963 NW Kearney St., 236-8888
9 pm Friday, Jan. 21, 7:30 and 9:30 pm Saturday, Jan. 22
$10
DAVID BRENNER
HBO-certified funnyman. Harvey's Comedy Club
436 NW 6th Ave., 241-0338
8 and 10:30 pm Friday, Jan. 21, and Saturday, Jan. 22
$20
BRODY THEATER
Improv. 1904 NW 27th Ave., 224-0688
8 and 10:30 pm Friday, Jan. 21, and Saturday, Jan. 22.
$5.
PORTLAND COMEDY COMPETITION
Finals. The Kennedy School 5736 NE 33rd Ave., 249-3983
9 pm Sunday, Jan. 22
$3
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Willamette Week | originally
published January 26,
2000
|
