| Nicky Blair's | |
| Established: | 1986 |
| City: | Los Angeles |
| State: | California |
| Zip: | --> |
| Country: | U.S. |
| Other-Label: | --> |
Nicky Blair's was a high-end Italian restaurant on the Sunset Strip on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, next to Le Dome.[1] It thrived in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was named after the proprietor, Nicky Blair, a bit-part film actor who starred in over 75 movies.[2] He established it in 1986 and ran it until his death from liver cancer in 1998, although he spent his last years in Las Vegas attempting to establish another restaurant there.[3] [4]
The restaurant, with a piano bar, served Italian and continental cuisine, including freshly made pasta, scampi, scallopini, and grilled fish and meat dishes.[5] A 1991 edition of LA Access described it as a "Noisy, crowded, and glitzy singles bar", which was "good for star-gazing".[6]
The restaurant was a favorite evening haunt of numerous actors and celebrities,[7] such as Frank Sinatra, a close friend of Blair's,[3] and the Rat Pack.[8] Sinatra and friends would play poker in the kitchen to escape the attention of fans and the press. In one incident:
Clint Eastwood celebrated his 1992 Oscar success at the restaurant.[9] Sylvester Stallone also frequented Nicky Blair's and would take his dates there.[10]