Don Draper and Pete Campbell arrive in California for a convention of aerospace manufacturers in Los Angeles, but Don abruptly takes off for Palm Springs with Joy, a beautiful young woman he’s just met, without a word to Pete. (See Palm Springs Chile Rellenos.) Pete is dumbfounded and improvises his way through meetings with potential clients.
If you have to be left in the lurch as Pete was, the Beverly Hills Hotel isn’t a bad place to be stranded. A haven for the rich, the beautiful, and the famous, it has been the place to see and be seen in L.A. for nearly a century. Located on famous Sunset Boulevard, the hotel marks its centennial in 2012, and its famed Polo Lounge, opened in 1941, has been a hangout for the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and the rest of the so-called Rat Pack, Hollywood icons such as Raquel Welch, and the movers and shakers of the entertainment industry. Hotel guests have included Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor, and John Belushi, and the hotel has also been an on-location set for several films, including Designing Women starring Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall, and Neil Simon’s California Suite.
As Pete relaxes by the hotel pool and makes a phone call to try and rearrange a meeting scheduled in Pasadena (Don’s still AWOL and Pete doesn’t drive), he has a yellow fruity-looking cocktail at his side and we set out to determine what it is. Robert Rouleau, Beverage Supervisor of the Beverly Hills Hotel, solved the mystery: It’s a Royal Hawaiian. It wasn’t an easy puzzle to solve; the drink was fashionable in the
’50s and ’60s and the Polo Lounge hasn’t served one in decades.
Not to be confused with a Blue Hawaii (see Joan’s Blue Hawaii), the Royal Hawaiian belongs to that popular family of tropical drinks that emerged as Hawaii approached statehood in 1959 and American fascination with all things Polynesian reached its peak. Not quite as potent as a Mai Tai (see Trader Vic’s Mai Tai), a Royal Hawaiian is nevertheless the perfect refreshment when your boss takes off for Palm Springs and strands you to survive all by yourself on wits and cocktails alone.
THE BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL ROYAL HAWAIIAN
COURTESY OF ROBERT ROULEAU, BEVERAGE SUPERVISOR, THE POLO LOUNGE AT
THE BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA
NOTE: To float the dark rum, hold a spoon with its backside up near the inside edge of the glass. Slowly pour the liquid over the spoon and into the glass. Due to its higher sugar content, you may also pour the dark rum directly on top of the cocktail and it will float.
11⁄2 ounces Bacardi Light (Silver) Rum
2 ounces pineapple juice
1 ounce papaya juice
1 ounce Myers’s Dark Rum
1 maraschino cherry
Slice of fresh pineapple
YIELD: 1 DRINK