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Show Wednesday, December 15, 1976 Pcgo3 ment the Royal Manteghi. Or vice-versa. The names are the same and, at one's whim, interchangeable. . When finished and open for business, the date for which he gives as "before Christmas," Christ-mas," no more, Ali Manteghi estimates he will have spent one point five million dollars to make palpable and concrete this dream he has dreamt for six years. "I had my eyes on the building ever since the first time I came to - Utah, before the Jewish were . even considering selling," Ali tells us. "And before there . ', was even anv hone of hnvinc t m . v U it we had already plans drawn up, changed and drawn up again. When finally it came up for sale many were bidding against us, but we fought hard and won. "For this project no limit on elegance, money or anything has ever been set." - . The Man-Building - The Royal Palace combines, one could say culminates, everything Ali Manteghi has been raised with, studied and UUI1C It 13 MIC BUM lAJLOl Ul his life. It seems to be the top of a flagpole he has been shinnying step by step throughout his breathing days. The structure itself (Temple B'nai Israel was an exact replica of a Jewish Temple bombed in Berlin during World War II) radiates, ' throbs with tradition, some- i' i. i i uung oi wmcn wnen norn Ali was a product. "Tradition "Tradi-tion is very, very strong in . me," he says. "In Iran our family has traced its heritage back more than 1200 years." So the building already has national, even international significance, which, since he is competing oft a; far ttiorel worldly field than the city limits of Salt Lake, the naturalized Arab foresaw as an absolute "must" foundation founda-tion for the project. Colorado When AH came to the United States in the spring of 1964, he came to the University of Colorado at Boulder for the purpose of studying architecture, another background obviously obvious-ly rooted in the Royal Palace. From school he went on to Aspen, where other members of his family owned and worked (and still do) the Associated Design Forum (an architectural firm) and Stnlin Sovsn Tntorinr Design, both of which have been more than just passively passive-ly involved with Ali's current project, and which, along with Ali hmself, come under the collective family title: Manteghi Corporation Enterprises. While in Boulder and Aspen, as by now you've probably guessed, Ali both worked and tasted at many of the fine restaurants for which the cities are, in some circles, famous. That experience was the seed from which grew The Christopher, anA lntor Arvfl Arya, (in Persian meaning "in a manner of Kings") what Ali with some bias but without hesitation simply calls "now the best restau THE ESTABLISHED 1972 Park City's Finest Dining Beef Seafood Lcmb Top of Main Street, Perk City, Utah rant in Aspen," a town noted for the best food for the price in the country, was the conceptual and theoretical trial for the Royal Palace. It worked. Containing six different ethnic dining rooms . -as will the Royal Palace in a larger capacity scale -Arya : was quick to attain fame and popularity. Less than a year; after it opened it had been! reviewed by the New Yorici Times and Bon Appetite. Ali says it is now a "hangout for celebrities." He mentioned household names, smiling with eyes alive. Since the concept had proven successful it was only a matter now of finding the right structure to house his Royal project. It had to be architecturally majestic. It had to have a significant history. It had to be huge and it couldn't be ordinary. But most of all, it had to be for sale. Ali searched the country for the perfect building and found nothing that could win over his affection for the Temple B'nai Israel. And when the Temple came up for sale the matter was closed. The Royal Inside Last week we visited Ali at his stone Temple. With his guidance we imagined through the still framing, sheet rock hanging, perfa-taping, perfa-taping, sanding and plastering plaster-ing construciton, and when we left had visualized the majestic potential of the place, y. ; As we approached the two-man tall entrance he explained the 16 foot enclosed canopy which will stretch from it to the sidewalk, which will be lit by crystal chandeliers and antique New York lamposts, ndthioulghwl&h you will drive to j where valets with walkie-talkies will greet you ' and then take your car to one ' of the spaces and spaces of parking lot. Just inside the doorway is the reception facility, complete with love seats and other odd antique sofas and the Host (Ali's informal, as he likes . things, term for matre 'd you are not the customer, but the Guest) table, another precious antique, an-tique, hand cut crystal, marble. Off to one side is the hat and cloak check room. In Which Country? ' We walked farther, into the main dining room, the American room. Above us -forty-five feet above us is a rounded tunnel-like ceiling. There are four smaller rooms, two to either side each of which will be protected by double unheard of-dollar-a-yard curtains and satin drapes, one side consistent with the color scheme of the room it faces, the other with the other. These rooms are the French room, the Spanish, Italian and Greek. Each has its own color scheme right down to table cloth and napkin. Each has chairs designed especially for it the Green chairs have columns. Each is decorated with antiques Ali bought ($200,000 worth) last summer in that country. fcJ ft OPEN EVERYDAY 6-10 except Clown Day esaStusd from - In back of the American room is a stage enclosed by marble railings from a cathedral in St. Louis. Atop the stage will play the Utah Philharmonic string quartet for your listening pleasure. Farther back, through another hallway, is the "best room, of course," Ali's pride and joy amongst his pride and joy the Persian room. Pointed arches everywhere, Persian rugs, Persian blue tile, fountains, ornate Arabian Arab-ian brass chandeliers, and a matching brass and backlit ceiling . . Mwi sad Seats The menu will include foods from all of these countries but one need not eat the food of the nation in which he is sitting. If he cares to, one may eat cous-cous in Italy, crepes in Persia, pasta in P31 Spain or steak in Greece. Ali says it like this: "You can eat here once a week forever and not have the same meal in the same room twice." These six dining rooms together have a capacity of 500 people. But there are also two banquet rooms, one in the far far back with a separate entrance and kitchen which seats two hundred, and another 60 person room on the second floor which faces out into the American room, enclosed only be five feet in diameter stained glass circles. On the other sides of this open second floor rectangle are a private club, a lounge and another of the rooms, a Persian pillow den for total relaxation, for sipping after-dinner after-dinner brandys, for the 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. crowd. 0 Since January 1st, 1975, residential rates in Mountain Fuel's service area have gone up 52. Actions by the Federal Government and the Government of Canada account for a staggering 84 of that total increase. Only 16 has gone to cover our own increasing costs, for everything from exploration explora-tion and drilling to wages and postage and the hundreds of other things that cost us more money today. The alternative to paying these higher prices is to give up the supply! We can't afford to do that, either. If we did so, our entire service area would suffer-because we would no longer have enough gas to heat our homes, let alone to supply Indus- The Royal Kitchen Now, sharing a wall with the large banquet hall in the far far back sits one of the most astounding features we . found at the Royal Palace the kitchen. When being interviewed up at the TMI Coffee Shop (before our visit) Ali spoke of his kitchen being three times the size of the whole place in which we were sitting. It is at least that large. It is nearly 4,000 square feet large. It cost over a quarter of a million dollars. "With a kitchen like this." Ali says, "it would be a sin to have working inside it something some-thing other than the best. We will have nothing but the best chefs, just like we will have nothing but the best waiters and hosts." There will be somewhere between liA MOUNTAIN FUEL ten to twelve chefs cooking when the restaurant opens. Already Ali has received 20 applications 18 of them from Europeans, several of : them now working for some ; of the finest restaurants in , the world, i.e. the Top of the Mark (San Francisco), the Four Seasons (New York) and the Red Lion (New York.) AGifttoUtah Ali Manteghi wants the Royal Palace to be for the people of Utah, who he feels will be responsible for its success or failure. He wants people who come from other cities to Salt Lake for whatever reason to, upon their arrival home,' tell friends: "We ate at the Royal Palace of Utah." (Ali speaks of a time he visited Aspen and told friends of his n li try-which provides jobs for many of our customers. And the least expensive alternative fuel would cost considerably more than you now pay for natural gas. We can only keep our gas bills as reasonable as possible by conserving in our every use. There is no other realistic alternative alter-native until the government gets out of the business of pricing natural gas. ? Our typical residential customer uses 180,000-cubic feet of gas annually, and pays $233.32 for this service. To do a comparable job with another fuel you'd pay $646.70 for propane, $445.42 for heating oil, $248.93 for coal, and $596.91 for electricity. "AoGAZE total hair care salon 649-9501 endeavor with The Christopher Christo-pher and their "Where is Utah?" reaction.) He wants the Royal Palace to "make news." He wants to make it a place "everyone can look up 11 M? .mm rv j u Esdq Mm Professional hair stylng for both men & women 444 Math JERRY FRKOVICH (OWNER) to," a place known "around the nation, around the world." - It is hard to say he may just succeed. He makes you believe that he will. rf1 now ''ths'i..; )llJll i. W7? |