> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Jay Fiondella: ‘Live fast and leave a good-looking corpse’ - URL: https://www.smdp.com/jay-fiondella-live-fast-and-leave-a-good-looking-corpse/ - Published: 2003-12-29T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T03:25:04.000Z - Author: John Wood - Tags: Government & Politics, Downtown, #archive-import, Homeless *Chez Jay’s has been a favorite downtown since 1959* It was more than 50 years ago when Jay Fiondella first came to Santa Monica. A Seabee stationed in Port Hueneme, he was hitchhiking to Hollywood in search of acting gigs and pretty girls. Today, Fiondella still runs the seaside restaurant and bar “Chez Jay’s” — long a favorite for celebrities, athletes, locals and tourists alike. Housed in a narrow but deep, rectangular building, Chez Jay’s sits on Ocean Avenue across from the Hotel California, on property owned by City Hall. A lot has happened in the last 50 years. Fiondella worked at the local airplane factories and as a commercial fisherman in San Diego. He played roles in several movies and film shorts. And, in 1959, he opened Chez Jay’s, a successful outfit that has attracted national attention. But with a proposed Civic Center Plan to redevelop downtown, connecting City Hall to the courthouse and the Promenade with a lot of open space and parks, Fiondella has been left wondering what the future of his little restaurant will be. Regulars are sure to go to bat to keep it. As for Fiondella, he said leaving Chez Jay’s would be sacrilegious. The 77-year-old son of an Italian father and an Irish mother already suffered a major loss earlier this year. In January, his wife of 22 years, Lucy, 42, died of a kidney infection. “I’ve been keeping a low profile since the loss of my Lucy,” Fiondella said. “I miss her terribly, (as does) my son and my friends. She was a beautiful lady, outside and inside. Forty-two-years old was too young to die. But one thing about death — it doesn’t give you a second chance.” What’s more, Fiondella’s roots in the area run deep. So deep that a conversation with Fiondella is sure to include the names of the rich and famous, and tales of living fast in Los Angeles. Here, the Daily Press asked Fiondella to share some of his past. How did you get into the business of running a restaurant? “I was working as the bartender at Sinbad’s on the (Santa Monica) Pier. It was 1959.... I went in to the Dawn Cafe — where Chez Jay’s is now — for breakfast and my friend, the owner, said, ‘I got problems. The bookies are after me. I have to get out of town. Jay,’ he said, ‘you still want this place?’ I said, ‘Sure, but I don’t have any money.’ He said, ‘I’ll sell it to you for a dollar.’ “So I took (former partner) Francis Weinberg, who ran All-Metal Fabricators, to lunch at the Dawn Cafe the next day and he wrote me a check — sitting in his car out front — for $5,000\. We got a beer and wine license and it took me a couple of months to decorate the place the way I wanted it. “I wanted a place that athletes and movie stars could hang out and not be bothered. A place were there wouldn’t be cameras or people asking for signatures. I just enclosed the place completely so the only way you could look in the front door was to look through a small porthole. “I had a friend, living in Malibu, Hugh French, he was the agent for Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor. He said, ‘I’ll send in all my English friends’... Peter Finch, Vanessa Redgrave, Stephen Boyd, and then the American acting crowd followed them. Chez Jay’s became an in spot, a Hollywood hangout.” Over the years you’ve had a lot of different groups make Chez Jay’s their regular spot. Does any one group stick out in your mind? “Well, when I opened in ‘59, NASA had its headquarters on Pico, in an office building there. So all the astronauts adopted Chez Jay’s and I became very good friends with Alan Shepard (and other astronauts) — and all those guys used to hangout at Chez Jay’s. “My friend Alan Shepard was going to the moon. We were having dinner with some friends and he said he was going to take some golf balls and a gold club to the moon, and he said, ‘Don’t tell anybody.’ There was a basket of peanuts on the table so I said, ‘Take the peanuts to the moon.’... Everyone laughed. “Well he went off and went into training and went to the moon on Apollo 14\. I watched his exploits on TV, read about him in the paper. A month or so later he calls me and says, ‘Fiondella, Alan Shepard here.’ He said, ‘Congratulations.’ He said, ‘I have your peanuts. I took them to the moon.’ I couldn’t believe it.... “So I called the local fish wrapper and the photographer from the Outlook came out and took a photo.... I had the peanuts on the dating game, NBC came down and did a bit on it. I was named the ‘Cosmopolitan’ bachelor of the month in 1970.” Speaking of the Outlook, I understand workers there also made Chez Jay’s a regular hangout. What was that like? 4E6,“All those guys came by, the linotype guys, the reporters, editors.... We had a mixture. The Green Bay Packers hung out at Chez Jay’s. They called it ‘chez lays’ instead of Chez Jay’s because they met so many girls there.” You’ve been involved in a lot of different activities — from the military and law school to acting, exploring and running a restaurant. What’s your philosophy on life? “Live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse. Or my other one, the famous one, the one that got Clinton in trouble — when in doubt, whip it out. “You’ve got to take a chance on life. You name it and I’ve lost money doing it. My real name is Jay Pigeon.... In the old days, if you were part of the pigeon club you were an easy mark. What’s it like doing business in Santa Monica? “Well it’s been an interesting 43 years. They told me 43 years ago that Ocean Avenue was going to be another Miami Beach with all the high-rise hotels and it never did happen, because of our City Council and the zoning people made it tough on people. And I’m glad it didn’t. I’m glad it stayed the way it is. The street maintained its charm, we got a couple hotels but a lot less than they predicted 40 years ago, and our City Council is an interesting bunch of people. How so? “Well we’ve got the Green Party and the business parties. It’s good theater watching them on television. You know all the players and it’s interesting.” If you could change two things about Santa Monica, what would they be? “We’ve got to do something about the homeless again, they’re getting to be a problem. When I first opened up, friends of mine — older people that lived north of Wilshire — used to walk from their homes, have a leisurely dinner and walk back through the parks.... “Then came the homeless people 20 years ago or whatever it was. And they seemed to get a handle on it 20 years ago but it seems to have become a major problem again. People north of Wilshire can’t walk downtown and walk to the mall without getting accosted. There’s got to be a solution.... “I also think we need better crosswalks, cross streets for civilians. My mother got killed, she was in a crosswalk (crossing Ocean Avenue in front of the Loews Beach Hotel). We need more crosswalks and we need to educate the people who don’t know the laws in California.... “It’s not fair to the people who are walking and it’s not fair to the people who are driving. My mother — there were 50 feet of skid marks and she still got hit.” What does the future hold for Jay and Chez Jay’s? “Well, it depends on the City Council and the Civic Center Plan. I’m hoping to stay as long as possible. I want to be the Tavern on the Green in Santa Monica. If you can’t stay, what might you do? “Well, I don’t know. That’s a question I don’t even want to consider. It’s sacrilegious.” What’s your favorite restaurant in Santa Monica, other than Chez Jay’s? “Next to Chez Jay’s? Oh, they really just closed it. It was on Santa Monica Boulevard. It was Bobby Moini’s restaurant... Dee’s Diner. Dee’s and Bobby and his wife — that place was my first love. It reminds me of the beginning with Chez Jay’s. The public’s really going to miss it.... “You know, restaurants come and restaurants go. It’s really the highest level of mortality there is.... It’s a tough business but it’s a fun business. You’ve got to love people.... “(The closing of Dee’s is) going to be loss to Santa Monica. It was an institution. You couldn’t ask for nicer people than Bobby and his wife — kindhearted, fed you if you were hungry and had no money. It was one of the old mom and pop joints that’s gone.” If you weren’t running Chez Jay’s, what would you do? “Oh, doing more adventures. I have two books out now about me. Documentaries — there’s a new documentary coming out.... I’d like to do more exploration and more adventures, and see more exotic places. The man behind Chez Jay’s Jay Fiondella owns Chez Jay’s, a popular seaside restaurant and bar in downtown Santa Monica. Born: August 6, 1926 in East Haven, Connecticut. Residence: Ninth Street apartment. Hobbies: He once made headlines flying hot air balloons, now enjoys traveling and exploring. Family: Daughter Anita, 52\. Son Chaz, 14. Restaurant: Seats 71, including the bar. About 15 workers, most of them veteran employees. Fiondella declined to discuss sales numbers. “Just say, ‘We’re doing well,’” he said. Background: Fiondella fought in WWII before going to law school at the University of Miami. Though he was at the head of his class, he dropped out to move to California and pursue acting in the early 1950s. Jay Fiondella 0 1 88E 2 8C9 1 DBC 2 E40 1 EEF 3 F0D 1 F52 3 F59 1 1139 3 1140 1 12AA 2 1319 1 13FA 2 14A3 1 15FA 2 162A 1 1801 2 1808 1 18A3 2 18E9 1 1CCF 2 1D01 1 1DA1 2 1DC7 1 1E21 2 1E6A 1 2143 2 2178 1 2604 1 00050000000C00000002 0 1 2604 0 0006000000D800000004 1 0ÅÅ E 3 0 *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 29, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/122903.pdf?ref=smdp.com)