Will Bush dis The Palm? It s iffy right now

Published October 18, 2007 4:00am ET



15 months to go

President George W. Bush

only has roughly 15 months left in office. Which means he has only 15 months to head to The Palm restaurant, lest he become the first president since Nixon not to make a stop at the famed power spot.

So will it happen? “It’s iffy right now,” said Palm maitre d’ Tommy Jacomo in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “The owner of The Palm is very good friends of the Bushes. We might get him yet.”

In the interview, Jacomo couldn’t decide which deal brokered at his restaurant was the most important, but he cited the 1973 agreement to get the Concorde to land in the United States and the 1976 signing of running back John Riggins to the Washington Redskins as top examples. But as for a favorite moment, Jacomo has a clear winner: Sparring with Muhammad Ali in the restaurant. Although Jacomo says he “almost never takes photos with my guests,” the photo of him and Ali sits prominently in his office.

Other highlights from the interview include lobbyist Jack Quinn calling Jacomo “more powerful than Michael Bloomberg,” and Jacomo explaining the restaurant’s political neutrality: “I call myself Switzerland,” he said. “I’m right down the middle.”

Jacomo was the first interview subject in Bloomberg’s new “Power Broker” series, which is featured on the “Money & Politics” show.