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Making Good Copy
A reader who’s old enough to know called to remind us that our own Patricia Neal was once romantically linked to the late Ronald Reagan. According to her autobiography, Just As I Am, Neal met the 15-years-older Reagan around 1948 when they were working together on the film John Loves Mary. They costarred in a second movie together, The Hasty Heart, which was filmed in England. Reagan was just divorcing his first wife, actress Jane Wyman, and the studio ordered him to go out with Neal to make some “good copy.” Neal says Reagan made “a delightful and interesting companion” but claims it never got hotter than a few steak dinners. She was, at the time, heavily involved with Gary Cooper, and “sensed that [Reagan] was still carrying a torch for Jane Wyman.” She recalled their conversations tended to be political, “which meant it was not a conversation but a monologue. I just listened in fascination to the budding giant.” She didn’t hear from “Ronnie” until many years later when, at a fundraiser for Knoxville’s Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center, she received a note from the president: “Our lives have changed drastically in the past 30 years,” it began. Maybe Neal will reminisce about Ronnie for the Turner Classic Movies show, Private Screenings on June 28; she’ll be the special guest that night.
An Art Outlet for Our Own
There’s a new gallery devoted to works by local and regional artists in Tate’s Gallery Shopping Center in the 1000 block of N. Cedar Bluff Road. Called the Joe Tate Studio, it features artwork in the form of upscale gift, household and personal items, including carvings, jewelry, wall-hangings, stained glass, hand-painted furniture, cedar-lined chests, one-off handbags, and bowls and goblets. Open only a few weeks, the studio caters to what it calls a “discerning clientele.” Let’s hear it for the locals.
Hashing Around Some More
Soho Café (formerly China Noodle) will be opening a second location on the Cumberland Avenue strip to complement its current Western Plaza location. In its initial stages, the staff is currently working on the menu and remodeling the former Joe’s Pizza Pasta & Subs space at the intersection of 17th Street. The restaurant will stay open later than at its original location and will feature a bar with live music to cater to university students. A target opening date hasn’t been set.
Giant Panda Chinese restaurant on Bearden Hill (in the space that formerly housed Copeland’s) will close June 14 and reopen under new management as Palms Grill. The new digs will have a tropical atmosphere and serve decidedly American fare (burgers and fries, etc.) with a feel similar to RJ’s Courtyard on Alcoa Highway. Giant Panda has no plans to relocate at this time.
The folks responsible for Riverside Tavern and Westside Tavern, broke ground recently on Northshore Drive near Concord Road in Farragut for a Lakeside Tavern. At best guess it will open in November, according to the organization’s marketing arm. In addition, Parkside Tavern in the former Hops location on North Peters Road is scheduled for a July opening, and a new Italian concept restaurant, Johnny Carino’s, is slated to open on Lovell Road behind Wasabi, also in July.
June 10, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 24
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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