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SILVER SLIPPER'S 55TH ANNIVERSARY JOGS GOLDEN MEMORIES
Dorothy Clifford
Tallahassee Democrat
Published: March 28, 1993
A LOT STILL SLIPS BY BEHIND THE VELVET CURTAINS AT TALLAHASSEE'S LEGENDARY STEAK HOUSE, WHERE PRESIDENTS HAVE DINED, LEGISLATORS HAVE BEEN WINED AND PROM-NIGHT SWEETHEARTS HAVE HAD A GOOD TIME
The University of West Florida in Pensacola was conceived in a secluded room of a Tallahassee restaurant.
A bill allowing minors to work in parent-owned restaurants that serve alcohol was born because of that same dining spot.
The restaurant, of course, is the Silver Slipper, the capital's legendary steak house, which begins a monthlong celebration of its 55th anniversary this week.
More significant legislation may have been determined in the Slipper's private dining rooms than in the halls of the Capitol.
"Prior to the Kirk administration, no legislation ever passed without first being discussed there," declared former Gov. Claude Kirk this week from his car phone in North Palm Beach.
During his term, in 1969, tighter restrictions were placed on lobbyists, forcing them to account for money spent on legislative entertainment. Before that, lobbyists freely roamed throguh the Slipper's private dining rooms picking up checks.
Nonetheless, maintains Kirk, "I made the family rich."
His special sessions kept them in business, he says. The first Republican elected since Reconstruction Days, Kirk called his first special session during his inaugural speech. He's lost count of the number that followed, he says, only that they went on constantly.
Casual observers won't see any big-time lobbyists paying for tabs these days, but city, state and national VIPs do still meet and eat at the popular Greek restaurant.
Three of the nation's last four presidents -- George Bush, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter -- have addressed groups there.
After her space ride, astronaut Sally Ride made her first public appearance, outside of Washington, at the Silver Slipper.
Ride and the presidents were guests of Capital Tiger Bay Club, which meets at the Slipper unless the anticipated crowd exceeds 350, forcing a move to the Civic Center.
THE FIRST SLIPPER
Said to be the state's second-oldest restaurant owned continuously by the same family, the original Silver Slipper was built in 1938. It was a "dine and dance club" on South Monroe Street about a mile from the Capitol with 10 private dining rooms.
Jimmy Kalfas, who came to this country from Greece as a penniless teen-ager, began managing the restaurant in 1942. Two years later he became a partner. His wife, Mama Frances Kalfas, helped with the cooking. In 1947 Jimmy became the sole owner of the capital's most colorful night spot.
Some say the unpretentious brick building on South Monroe originated as a house of ill repute, which, perhaps, inspired Papa Jimmy's decor. Red velvet-flocked paper cover the walls and velvet curtains were drawn across individual dining rooms for privacy, handy for sneaking a bootlegged drink or a secret meeting with a legislator -- or whomever.
THE ADMIRAL'S CABIN
The largest of the private rooms -- and the most private, through the kitchen and up rickety stairs -- occupied much of the second floor and was named The Admiral's Cabin in honor of Rear Admiral Phil Ashler.
The dapper Tallahassee civic leader, then a representative from Escambia County, often gathered 20 or 25 people there for "discussions among certain interested parties." That's where he and the late Chester Ferguson of Tampa, chairman of the Board of Control (forerunner of the Board of Regents), plotted the establishment of the University of West Florida. The institution awarded Ashler its first honorary doctorate.
Ashler's naval memorabilia and his admiral's flag, which were displayed in the Admiral's Cabin, were lost when the old building burned to the ground early on the morning of Feb. 17, 1974. "My heart went up in smoke," says Ashler, with more nostalgia than humor.
"All was lost in the fire," says Chris Kalfas, who inherited the restaurant from his father. Chris and his second wife had left their wedding celebration at the restaurant less than 12 hours earlier.
"When I got there at dawn, there were all kinds of people standing around watching it go up," he remembers. "They were all crying."
Jimmy Kalfas died six months later. "They say dad died of cancer," his son says. "He died of a broken heart."
Before his death, the older Kalfas moved the Slipper to temporary quarters in the lower level of the Northwood Mall. He began design plans for a new building.
THE PRESENT SLIPPER
Now in its third location, the present Silver Slipper was built in 1984 at 530 Scotty Lane, between North Monroe Street and John Knox Road. The brick building, with its fancy high-heeled-slipper sing, looks more like a classy shoe store than a retreat for the politically elite.
Papa and Mama's eldest son, Chris is the Slipper's controlling partner and general manager. Chris' sons, Bill and Jimmy, have key roles. The fourth generation also helps out: Bill's son and daughter, Wess and Angel, and Mason Runge, son of Tina Kalfas Leonard.
The impressive 1,600-square-foot establishment can accommodate some 700 in combined dining and banquet seats. The ballroom holds 350 or 400 for a seated dinner or 1,000 for a cocktail party.
Nineteen private dining rooms encircle the recessed main dining room, which serves about 150.
There's still an Admiral's Cabin, a favored spot for wedding rehearsal dinners and small club meetings.
The new Admiral's Cabin is bare of personal mementos, but a big portrait of Ashler, former secretary of state and state treasurer, hangs on one wall. About a dozen women, who call themselves the SNOB (Sophisticated New Options for Business Women) Club, toast him once a month, according to one of the group.
The group of "power" women include WCTV personality Anna Johnson, Mary Kay cosmetics high-roller Maxine Sandvig, realty agent Cassandra Harbin and attorney Paula Walborsky.
Opposite the Admiral's Cabin is another meeting room, which is named for Allen Morris, clerk emeritus of Florida's House of Representatives and author of "The Florida Handbook."
Often, guests in the room get to compare the room's namesake with the young Morris who's pictured on the walls.
There's one of him with Gov. Bob Graham on one of Graham's earliest work days as a busboy and waiter at the Slipper. Graham, now a U.S. senator, is serving steaks to Morris and Mary Friedman, long-time friend and neighbor. Until their deaths, Mary and Howard Friedman, public-relations director for the state education department, routinely joined Morris for Friday dinners at the Slipper.
Still regulars, Morris and his wife, Joan, state archivist, are generally joined by Democrat editorial page editor Bill Mansfield and his wife, Marge.
The room also features a picture of Gov. Fuller Warren with press members on the eve of his 1949 inauguration. "The press had not supported Fuller and he wanted to start out on the right foot," recalls retired Supreme Court Justice B.K. Roberts, a key Warren campaign aide.
B.K. ROBERTS GOT STUCK WITH A $345 BILL
Roberts made arrangements for 100 steak suppers, at $3 each, for members of the regular Capital press corps and all other news representatives in town for the festivities.
"It was a splendid evening, with everyone partaking liberally," Roberts recalls. When Warren had to leave early for another appointment, Roberts had to take care of the $345 bill.
"Of course, I paid it," Roberts says with a laugh, "I was just beginning my practice in Tallahassee, and I'd spent most of my time campaigning instead of earning money."
It turned out to be a very sound investment for the struggling attorney. Later that year, Warren appointed Roberts to the state's highest court.
Justice Roberts' signed photograph, of course, is among the 150 or more dignitaries whose pictures line walls of the restaurant.
Former governors Reubin Askew, Hayden Burns, Wayne Mixson, Bob Martinez and Kirk are prominently displayed in the lobby, along with former presidents Carter, Reagan and Bush.
Gov. Lawton Chiles' portrait is hanging around the corner under another, and larger photo of President Reagan.
They've all dined at the Slipper.
"When Papa Kalfas asked me for a signed picture, I felt like I was really in. I'd arrived."
--Jim Tillman
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"I don't know what you had to do to make the wall," says Jim Tillman. "When Papa Kalfas asked me for a signed picture, I felt like I was really in. I'd arrived."
The lobbyist for the Florida Hotel & Motel Association and PariMutuel, World Jai Alai went to the Slipper for the first time in 1957. Fresh out of the U.S. Air Force, Tillman had enrolled in Florida State on the GI Bill. His girlfriend's mother was coming to town, and the young veteran wanted to impress her with dinner at the popular restaurant. They've all dined at the Slipper.
Tillman remembers it this way: "I was broke, so I went by earlier and asked Jimmy if he'd extend me a little credit until my GI check came in the first of the month. He told me just to sign my name but to leave a good tip. I scraped up $4 or $5 for the tip, took my money by later and have been going to the Slipper ever since."They've all dined at the Slipper.
Tillman was able to repay the favor a decade later. In 1969 when Leon county went wet, the Kalfases got the first license to serve liquor. They've all dined at the Slipper.
And Tillman, a Republican representative from 1964-1974, teamed with other legislators to rush through the bill that allowed young Bill and Jimmy to work in their father's restaurant.They've all dined at the Slipper.
"Not that many politicians go there anymore," says Tillman of the Slipper, which today remains his favorite haunt. "But I still see college students and high-school kids in their tuxes and pretty dresses. They've all dined at the Slipper.
"I sent my kids to the Slipper for their prom nights. I figured they'd take care of them there."
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