A history tour of the Bellevue Hotel

Koren Martin: There’s a historic building on Broad Street, just a few blocks south of City Hall, that many Philadelphians may only know as an exclusive hotel. But around-the-block reporter Alicia Miranda recently took a tour of this spot and found out how it plays a unique role in Philadelphia’s story as a city known for its dining and hospitality. Alicia brings us this story:

Alisha Miranda: One of my favorite cocktails. Was invented right here in Philadelphia in a building called the Bellevue. It’s a grand hotel on Broad and Walnut Streets that I recently learned not only has a deep connection to the Clover Club cocktail, but also laid the groundwork for hospitality and entertainment in downtown Philly. And that story starts with a guy named George Bolt.

David Kurlander: He was born in 1851. On an island in the Baltic called a Rugin. His parents were involved in managing the hotels. And when he was 17, he boarded the ship by himself and headed to New York to attempt to make a career as a hotel maven and had a frustrating few years of trying to break into this business by himself.

Alisha Miranda: That’s David Kerlander, who’s been studying Bolt and the Bellevue as part of a two-year archival project and forthcoming book. In fact, he’s the building’s resident historian and unofficial storyteller. He says without Bolt, there’d be no Clover Club cocktail and no Bellevue Hotel.

David Kurlander: Bolt, from his perch at Parkers in New York, started hearing more and more about Philly. So He actually makes the move and he manages to get a job as an assistant steward at the Philadelphia Club, this kind of eminent gentleman’s dining club, which is just a couple blocks away on 13th and Walnut. Very quickly, he gets a cheering section that loves his cooking, that loves how he plans events, that loves the way that he communicates. So in 1881, They help him finance his own hotel. And that is the original Bellevue Hotel. And he also started working with a club that was called the Clover Club.

This was an all-male club, first chartered as a journalism club, but you also saw a lot of politicians, a lot of industrialists in there. Passed around a loving cup at their monthly dinners that was filled with huge amounts of alcohol. Bolt became their leader and their mascot. And he developed all sorts of recipes that were custom-designed for them, including the Clover Club cocktail, which emerged probably sometime in the late 1880s or 1890s. The recipe has changed over time, but the standard Clover Club is a half lemon’s worth of lemon juice, a unit of gin, a splash of raspberry, and egg whites.

That cocktail came to personify Bolt’s very close relationship with this club and also just the type of culinary innovation that he was taking on.

Alisha Miranda: Kurt Lander says the Clover Club and its namesake cocktail are part of what’s made the Bellevue a social hub for so long. He started taking people on tours of the Bellevue earlier this year. And over the summer, I joined one where he took visitors throughout the building and explained how, for more than a century, it’s been a place where Philadelphians have come to be seen, to drink well, and to celebrate their biggest moments.

David Kurlander: This really was party central for the city from the time that it opened in 1904. I have people come on the tours every week who had their high school prom here, who got married here, went on a very memorable first date here, and celebrated New Year’s here, celebrated Valentine’s Day. The list goes on.

Alisha Miranda: In the 1990s, Kerrlander says an upscale steakhouse called the Palm became a hotspot inside the Bellevue. And ushered in a restaurant renaissance. It was open for over 30 years and once featured hand-painted cartoon caricatures of lots of Philadelphians on its walls, many of whom were Palm regulars.

Katelin Beck: The opening of the Palm, which was 89 into early 90, I mean, that was transformative for the city and for South Broad in having sort of a truly Colorful watering hole on this street. The district attorney dining with a defense attorney, dining with the mayor, dining with a suspected mafia member.

David Kurlander: It was a real melting pot of the famous and infamous in the city, and it had this old world feel to it.

Alisha Miranda: I recently joined Curlander with locals and out-of-towners on a tour. Inside the Bellevue, where several folks shared their memories at the hotel.

Bob: My name is Bob, and with these two fine gentlemen, we worked here from 1979 when the hotel reopened as a Fairmont after the

Katelin Beck: three-year closure. And we were here until 1986 until it closed again, unfortunately. We had great experiences here, through a lot of great Friendships, you know, this will always be my favorite hotel. Since the palm’s closing during the pandemic, Kerlander says the Bellevue has gone under a transformation to bring back extravagant dinner and a show

Alisha Miranda: vibes to the ground floor hotel. A new supper club, restaurant, and bar called Mr.

Katelin Beck: Edison opened earlier this summer, and he thinks it will bring back the energy the palm once had. Adrian Hardy is Mr. Edison’s entertainment director. He says the restaurant is reviving the Belleby’s nightlife scene. In 1904, the building was electrified by Thomas Edison and allowed the city to kind of socialize late into the night. And that concept kind of parallels that idea, right? Where it’s you come in early evening, you come for dinner, but you stay for the show, you stay for the energy, the liveliness, and Every seat in the house can have a good view.

You can have a view of the bar, view of the stage. We’re doing live entertainment seven days a week. Towards the weekend, when things get busier and livelier, I’ll be bringing in larger jazz ensembles. Mr.

Alisha Miranda: Edison is just one example of the many changes that Bellevue has seen in 120 years. Now, Kerrlander says that Bellevue continues its evolution from luxury hotel. To mixed-use building.

David Kurlander: Got 155 rental residences. They’re fully leased and the residents are so cool. And it’s like a very tight-knit community. I think they should have a reality TV show. But it’s brought this real sense of community to the hotel. Sporting Club got a full redesign and is amazing. Then you’re gonna have a bar in the old palm space that’ll be a little bit more. Accessible in terms of price point and also just be sort of a meeting place and fun place to party. And then in the 90s, part of the whole mixed-use renovation was putting a food court in the bottom level.

That’s now gonna all be a giant spa.

Alisha Miranda: While the Bellevue may have once been for politicians and socialites, it now welcomes the whole city into its future. Even if you can only afford a drink inside like me. To find out more, visit thebelleviewhotel.com and click on the events tab. Mr. Edison is open every day for dinner, drinks, and live music starting at 5 p.m. For Around the Block, I’m Alicia Miranda.