REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED AT RIORDAN'S ...

A funny thing happened yesterday as I walked up Figueroa Street in downtown L.A. with a colleague. I stumbled across Riordan's Tavern, a restaurant owned by former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. "Wow," I said, looking at the picture of Riordan that is part of the tavern's logo, "I think this place must be owned by the former mayor of L.A. ... I've met that guy." And indeed I had. Many years ago, while he was on the campaign trail, I met him at a popular local restaurant. He came over to my table, sat with me for a while and asked what I did for a living. At the time, I worked for a PR agency. "You don't say," he replied, "I own a business that needs PR ... if you give me your business card, I'll get in touch with you to see whether your agency can help us out." Naturally, I was thrilled ... and naively told my colleagues at the PR agency that Riordan might have a new business opportunity for us. But weeks went by, and I didn't hear from him. I called his office several times to follow-up, but no one ever got back to me. Now, nearly 20 years later, I had my chance. "Wait here," I said to my colleague, "I have some unfinished business to attend to." I walked inside and asked the bartender, "Is Richard here?" He wasn't. "Tell me," I said, undaunted, "Do you stay open late?" "It varies," said the bartender, "But depending on traffic we stay open until midnight." "Great," I replied, "I'm here with a large group ... 30 visitors from Europe and they all drink like fish. Can you save a spot for us at the bar? We'll probably arrive at about 9:00. We're likely to take up the whole bar, drink nonstop and stay until you close!" And with that, I left. Don't get me wrong, I do plan to bring a group to Riordan's someday... just as soon as Richard gets back to me regarding that "new business opportunity."