Interesting glass hy Neu·
York designer Dennis A hhe decorates
the N(rt,ht and Day Lounge.
Restaurant Jonathan
Star Gazin~Throu~
h
Etched Glass
by Errol Laborde
I t's been a secret but now it can
be told. Last spring during the
filming in Houston of "Urban
Cowboy," John Travolta and
friends would occasionally slip
into a private plane and fly to New
Orleans. Movie companies don't like
for their talent to be galavanting in
private aircraft during filming, but
urban cowboys do what they want.
Travolta's plane would be met at
New Orleans Lakefront Airport by
Jack Cosner, a local architect/ planner,
restaurateur, Vieux Carre' Commission
member~ and celebrity .buff.
Later patrons and staff ~t Restaurant
Jonathan would be whispering, "lsn\
that John Travolta? .. It was.
Through the years, only a very few
local eateries have emerged as regular
hangouts for the big shots that
roll into town. Just by the magnitude
of their names, the more famous
local restaurants attract passersthrough
at least once; but some
places have gone beyond that and
72 New Orleans I September 1980
developed a steady following. During his
vice-presidency, Spiro Agnew ate at
Brennan's so often they named a
shrimp dish after him. The clientele
at Marti's can occasionally gawk at
the likes of fixtures such as Tennessee
Williams holding court from a
corner table. And now there's Jonathan.
Tucked into the 700 block of North
Rampart, Restaurant Jonathan is one of
those places that seems like it's been
around for at least...as long as the 18th
century relics that surround it. In
fact, the restaurant is only four years
old. It doesn't look its age. The twostory
former townhouse building was
constructed in 1825. The restaurant
and lounge are appointed in a
1930ish Art Deco style. If Jonathan
hasn't been around for long, it should
have been.
There was a time, however, when it
looked as though. the restaurant
wouldn't last as· long as it has.
Jonathan . had an unhappy childhood.
In the summer of 19n, the
business closed suddenly. Gossip had
it that Jonathan had died in the
cradle. But Cosner, the plac~·s
founder and majority stockholder,
insists that inten1al and external
forces had merely made the patient
ill. "The closing coincided with the
complete uprooting of Rampart
Street," Cosner explains. ''The street
was completely resurfaced, that's
why the street can handle additional
traffic now. We could no longer cope
with the problem of people having to
park on the other side of the street
and having gangplanks coming into
the restaurant.
"'Also, we were at the time changing
the kitchen. We had opened during a
time when I was 'not as closely
involved with the restaurant as I am
now, with a kitchen staff that was not
quite up to what I thought our
standards should be~
"'Fortunately, about that time I
had the good fortune to meet Tom
Cowman, our present chef. He felt he
Orpheum Manager Asa Booksh (above) has
seen the Orpheum prosper and suffer through
good and bad years since /933. (At right)
.~aintenance supervisor Richard McCormick,
left, shows off the Orpheum to musician Gregory
Miller, chairman of the symphony s Orchestra
Committee.
needed at least two months to get his ·
thinking together and for us to
discuss the concept of the restaurant
and what type of place we wanted it
to be, and the kind of food we wanted
to serve. So we just used the time
when we would have been practically
inoperative anyway, because of
the street, to get ourselves together.
We re-opened in September 1977, and
ifs been quite satisfactory ever since."·
That reopening began the second
phase in the life of a restaurant that
practically started as a neighborhood
renewal project. Cosner purchased
the buildings across from his home
on Orleans Street with plans to bring
some business back to the fringe of
the Quarter. The new restaurant
eventually affected not only the
neighborhood but Cosner's career as
well. "Originally, people were going
to be hired to run the place," Cosner
recalls. "But not after a couple of nice
conversations with people like Ella
Brennan, who was very helpful in
giving me a lot of advice. She said, •If
you want something to be right, you
have to stay on top of it and operate it
yourself."'
ith the help of a general
manager and a
staff of 60, Cosner
operates a restaurant
that in its. manner
of re-creating the_l930s Art Deco style
is the epitome of elegance. The owner
speaks of the interior decorating of his
. business with an architect's passion.
.. People are very stimulated by this
design. June Allyson came here three
or four times because it's theatrical,
it's Hollywood- it turns people on.
Plus Deco is something that's unique
to New Orleans.
.. There's a certain similarity," Cosner
continues, .. about many of the
restaurants here. That similarity is
very lovely. That's what New Orleans
has made its reputation o~the •New
Orleans look' with the exposed brick
Cosner plays host to superstar U::a Minnelli.
The Erte Salon (left) showcases the
restaurant's Art Deco theme. Cosner
selected the decor because of an inadequate
representation of that period in
New Orleans' interiors.
John Travolta. a personal friend of
owner Jack Cosner, often wings into the
city to visit Restaurant Jonathan.
and the cypress. This restaurant
provides another· view. New Orleans
was certainly flourishing in the 1920s
·and '30s just like the other cities were,
yet when Deco went out of fashion
here, it really went out. There's no
public interior left that really capitalizes
on this period other than a
couple of bank lobbies. So this is one
of the only places that's open to the
public where people can experience
the ambiance of the 1920s and '30s.
.. Deco is also a style that, as
opposed to Art Nouveau, is a little bit
easier to recreate. It's angular rather.
than curvilinear and obviously straight
lines are easier to recreate than
curved lines. Plus, at the time I
started collecting things for the
restaurant, the new interest in Art
Deco hadn't peaked, certainly not in
the South."
For those who skipped too many art
appreciation classes, Deco is the
streamlined style often associated
with early Hollywood. Cosner is
.1';
~..:.. . -~'!t.,~
As a reminder of Muhammad Ali's visit
to . the restaurant, his prose and f7rt
proud~r hang from the Men's Room wall.
Art Deco art and artifacts, such as the
clock, (top center) from an upstairs dining
room. were collected in London, New
York, Washington, and Houston.
careful that the association doesn't
get muddled: "There's a difference
between what's called Hollywood
Deco and just plain Deco. At one
point I was going to do Hollywood
Deco, which is what people think of
when they think of Jean Harlowlots
of white satin and mirrors. I had
the opportunity to do that. Frankly,
it would have been somewhat less
expensive because it would have been
literally like a movie set and consequently
not the real thing. But when l
began looking around-both in this
country and abroad-for pieces for
the restaurant, I found that there
were still things from the period that
were available that were affordable.
They were affordable then, certainly
not now. I shudder at the thought of
trying to redo this restaurant. So, I
thought we could be a bit more
realistic ...
·As he spoke, Cosner was seated at
a side table in the first floor lounge.
With paternal pride, he pointed to
the objects d'art . that enrich that
room alon~ the sleek very Deco
chandelier was designed by Cosner
and constructed in New York; both
sconces on the outside wall are signed
by an artist of the period, Sabino of
Paris; the fan mirror came from an
estate in New Jersey; an urn on the
piano is from Hungary; and the early
1920s piano was owned by Cosner's
mother in Lake Charles. The piano is
the one slight deviation from the
Deco period. It predates the art form
74 New Orleans I September 1980
but has since been lacquered to match
the bar's Deco period color 5cheme.
A few evenings later the surroundings
were getting a close inspection.
It was near closing time on
a Wednesday · night. Toward the
front side of the piano, five people sat
around a table: three men, two
women-all chic, all beautiful. One
of the men leaned over to press his
hand on the carpet, another watched.
Yep, the carpet was thick. The
conversation shifted. A fashion meeting
that one had attended had been the
best ever staged in the South, unfortunately
the attendance had been
disappointing. A sixth person enters.
He has been exploring. Some of the
woodwork is lined with goldleaf.
"That's made with real gold!" he
exclaims. Apart from the group, a
lone blonde examines the display
case beneath the aquariums on the
inside wall. She's amused by the
brass monkey c~garette holder and
stunned by the wedding invitation
preserved in a silver Deco frame. She
re-reads it carefully:
Mr. & Mrs. Marino &1/o
request the pleasure ofyour company
at the marriage reception of their daughter
Jean Harlow
and
Mr. Paul Bern
on Sunday. the third of 1~•·
at three o'c.·lock in the qftemoon.
Ninety-eight-twen~r Easton Drive
&verb· Hills, Calffornia
Please rep~!'
Rex Reed is one of the celebrities who can
be frequem(r spotted at Jonathan.
Men offashion such as designer Chester
Weinberg (left) feel right at home among
the Art Deco treasures.
In the center of the case is another
silver frame. This one embraces a
picture of what seems to be another
1930s movie star. It's a male with
short cropped hair and a serious
expression. A white scarf dangles
from his neck. The blonde looks
closely. It's John Travolta.
Denied those who stay in the
lounge is a glance of the elegance in
the dining rooms with the glass
enclosed wine closet and the prints by
Deco artist Erte. Abbe, a New York
artist. did some of the surrounding
mwral and glass work. Denied to
approximately half of the clientele is
a chance to read the framed scribbled
message hanging in the first floor
Gentlemen's Room. It reads: "To
Jack Cosner from Muhammed Ali,
three time heavyweight boxing champion
of the world. Your food is the
greatest and I will be back some day.
Sept. 16-19-78." Around his proclamation,
the champ had drawn an
outline of a boxing glove. hi place of
the word .. world," Ali had actually
sketched a planet complete with
penciled scratches for continents.
The ring around the planet makes it
look more like Saturn than earth, but
had Ali been an astronomer instead
of a boxer. his doodles wouldn't be
hanging from restaurant walls.
In spite of its glitter, Cosner is concerned
about Jonathan being portrayed
as exclusive or eccentric ... 1 wouldn't
want for anyone to get the impression
that our clientele is of one
Pianist Bobby Short poses with Erte, an Art Dero master,
whose art is displayed at Restaurant Jonathan.
Through the years Jack Cosner, (riglu) rulrivated friendships .
with celebrities who now visit his restaurant H:henever they
are in town.
kind or another -or of one economic
strata or another," he pleads. ..If
you1l notice on our menu, the prices
are no different than in any of the
other what they call 'white tablecloth
restaurants' in New Orleans."
Under Chef Cowman, the food has
improved to the point that the
restaurant has received the Mobil
four star rating and plaudits by
Travel/ Holiday Magazine. The menu,
which could be described as being
continental-Creole, is changed seasonally,
four times a year, to take
advantage of what's on the Iilarket
and to keep the creative juices
sizzling among the chefs. On the
summer menu, entree prices ranged
frQm $10.75 to $39 for Chateubriand
en Bouquetiere for two.
But as good as the food may be, the
celebrity hunting adds a little extra
spice. Dick Cavett dines at Jonathan
everytime he's in town-usually at
least once a year. The urbane wit is a
, close enough friend of Cosner's that
he once allowed himself to be
interviewed as part of a radio
commercial for the restaurant. His
easily identifiable voice spoke of the
virtues of Jonathan but then teased,
.. don't use my name." (Note: In an
interview I once did with Cavett l
asked him about the .. mystery" voice
in . the Jonathan commercial. He
responded, .. Don't you know who
th~t was, it was Greta Garbo.") ·
Leontine Price is another fan of
the place, as is Mitzi Gaynor. An
autographed poster of the latter·
hangs outside Cosner's office.
.. 1 would say that virtually everyone
who comes to town who. is a·
'celebrity' comes here," Cosner suggests.
"One reason is that I have a
particular interest in theatrical and
musical performing artists. I know
quite a few. You only need to know
two or three people like John
Travolta, who is a close personal
friend of mine, to know that if he
hears of people coming to New
Orleans, he 11 tell them, 'be sure. to go
to Jonathan.' With people like
Travolta and Leontine Price, it
doesn't take long for the word to
spread."
Another reason the stars cluster .
around the restaurant may be that
management is sensitive to their
privacy. Instead of tipping off gossip
writers and other news people about
celestial arrivals, ~he owner keeps the
visits unannounced and discreet For
the same reason, there are few
photographs available of famous
folks fileting the mignon at Jonathan.
C osner's fascination with
the fascinating pre-dates
his entry into the restaurant
game. When earlier
films were being shot in
New Orleans he would make a point
of sending a card or flowers to the
visiting performers. He recalls finding
Natalie Wood "with nothing to
do" quite accessible when she was in
Rock Hudson
(above) can be
counted on to
turn a few heads
whenever he
pops into
Jonathan.
Leontine Price
(top right) dines
at the restaurant
whenever she's
in the city.
town for .. This Property is Condemned ...
According to Rock Hudson, yet
another visitor to the restaurant and
friend of the owner, that fascination
also exists among stars. Cosner
related · the story told by Hudson
about a personal experience right
after he first made a name for himself
in the flicks. Hudson was walking
down a street in Hollywood when he
noticed another up-and-coming celebrity
walking down the opposite side
of the street. The two continued to
stare at each other obviously delighted
to see the other in person. To
this day, Rock Hudson savors that
first encounter with Elvis Presley.
Politicians have also made the
scene at Jonathan. Dutch Morial had
a dinner there the night of his
inauguration as mayo'r, and Moon
Landrieu stops by occasionally. California
Governor Jerry Brown has
also dined amidst the Deco. Since
Cosner owns a second home north of
San Francisco, and is thus a taxpayer
in that state, he is in effect a
partial constituent of Brown's. As an
act of public service or friendship or
both, Cosner even accompanied his
half-Governor to the airport.
Was Linda Ronstadt with him?
.. No," Cosner revealed, .. but his first
call at the airport was to Linda."
Exactly what the Guv told his girl
friend remains a state secret, but
·perhaps he called to spread the word
that if ever she goes to New Orleans, she
should be sure to go to Jonathan. +
New Orleans I September 1980 75
