Michele StuevenThe crowning glory atop the newly renovated Fairmont Breakers Long Beach Hotel is the historic Sky Room restaurant, which re-opens this week after closing its doors in 2018.
Originally opened in 1938, the return of the Sky Room is a revitalization of a venue that has been an integral part of the city’s history and a storied haunt for old Hollywood stars like Clark Gable, Elizabeth Taylor, Cary Grant, and Rita Hayworth as well as traveling sailors
The original Sky Room (Courtesy Fairmont Breakers Long Beach)
Local Chef Maxwell Pfeiffer puts an updated spin on some classic menu items like Wagyu Wellington, Oysters Rockefeller, and Clams Casino. He has transformed the original chilled relish tray into a crisp crudite platter bursting with color and flavors. The iced plate includes Habanata peppers—sweet habanero peppers with no heat—wax beans, heirloom and purple ninja radishes, served alongside a classic California green goddess dressing made with house-fermented onions. The jumbo shrimp cocktail comes with lemon aioli.
The whole roasted rack of lamb is served with a mint jelly made from green tomatoes and fresh mint, and the Liberty Farms duck from Sonoma County is broken down to confit the legs, sear the breasts with crispy skin, and utilize the hearts to make a duck confit dirty wild rice which gets finished off with a winter citrus sauce, a play on the old school duck à l’orange.
The opulent blue and gold dining room has sweeping views of the Long Beach harbor and the bar looks out in the opposite direction as far as downtown Los Angeles. While the 60-cent martinis are gone, you will find classic and craft cocktails and an extensive wine list.
Upon entering the Sky Room, you’re greeted by a wall that serves as a time capsule with original menus, vintage cutlery, old photos, and the restaurant’s storied history.
The Sky Room at Fairmont Breakers Long Beach (Michele Stueven)
The Breakers Luxury Resort opened in 1926 and closed soon after the Depression and the devastating Long Beach Earthquake of 1933. Conrad Hilton bought what was left of the hotel in 1938 and renamed it the Hilton Hotel Long Beach, opening the Sky Room restaurant. During the war In the 1940’s the Sky Room became the AirWatch Headquarters for Long Beach Harbor, complete with rooftop gun mountings for defense. One historical pill box remains today. Hilton sold the building in 1947. After many reinventions, including serving as an assisted living facility and retirement home, Pacific 6 took over the facility in 2017 and restored the designation landmark to its original grandeur.
“I’m a preservationist by nature,” Executive Chef Jared Reeves tells L.A. Weekly over hamachi crudo. “I love discovering artifacts, and seeing that old menu just got me excited. It took me mentally back to that time and place, the people who were here, and what was popular at the time. We brought some of those things back to life with the rebirth of the Sky Room.”
Executive Chef Jared Reeves, left, and Sky Room Chef de Cuisine Maxwell Pfeiffer (Michele Stueven)
Sky Room crudite (Michele Stueven)