Drape Yourself in Musso & Frank Red

Learning from the best-dressed servers and bartenders in L.A.

I know enough people that live that “coastal lifestyle” between New York City and L.A. that I’ve started to divide people up between the types that say the one place they always have to go to is an In-N-Out and the ones, like me, who have to at least stop and get a martini at Musso & Frank. The famed grill has been my Los Angeles must for going on ten years now, ever since one of L.A.’s finest, Matthew Specktor, took me there and did all the ordering. I don’t recall too much of the evening except for the very drunken feeling that if I turned around and saw the ghost of Dashiell Hammett or William Faulkner I wouldn’t have been too surprised, and also that I couldn’t stop looking at the jackets the servers and bartenders wore. I kept thinking, “Now that’s a uniform!”

Even though Musso & Frank has been around since 1919, the jackets were introduced in the 1940s to go along with the red leather that had been installed in some old banquettes in the restaurant during a renovation. The people who work the bar at Bemelmans wear similar coats, but my mind always goes to L.A. when I see that shade. The red jackets blend effortlessly into the environment at Musso & Frank because there’s so much brown all over the place (wood, brass, meat) that the red feels like the most vibrant color you see besides the flames coming from the grill. It’s a comforting feeling, especially when you come in from the tourist hellscape that is Hollywood Blvd. The color is “tricky because you immediately think ‘bartender’ or ‘valet’ but that is part of the appeal,” Dave Schilling, one of the first people I go to on all matters L.A., told me when I asked him if he’d ever consider rocking a Musso & Frank jacket. Dave has never worked at Musso & Frank, but if you read his newsletter or follow him on Instagram, you know few people appreciate a good blazer quite like he does. He thinks the color is catching on in part because “People are realizing they have positive associations with the service industry.”

I was curious because I started seeing the Musso look popping up all over. In November and December, I noticed people rocking more luscious red whenever I went out. Then I started noticing it at galas and in magazine spreads. First, it was Jon Bernthal in a velvet blazer at the Academy Gala earlier this month. Not long after, Esquire gave me not one, but two very different types of looks that both reminded me of Musso & Frank: Lenny Kravitz was first on the cover of the magazine. And he did it in typical Lenny style with the shirt replaced by a vest so he can yet again remind us that even though he’s almost 60 and has a name like an old Jewish man who has been banned from every Seminole casino in the state of Florida for being a card shark, he’s still ripped and way better looking than almost all of us. Then, one of the funniest people on the planet, Gary Gulman, also shows up on the Esquire Instagram, rocking a coat that also had a real Musso feel.

Given the time of the year, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something about the color having less to do with a world-famous steakhouse and maybe more to do with Santa Claus and the color of stockings people hang by the fireplace when he’s supposed to visit. “I think there’s something fun and celebratory about this deep shade of crimson. Of course, the holidays allow for more room for exploration of color, with red being so closely associated with it,” Kamau Hosten says. Kamau is another person whose thoughts on suits I trust 100 percent, but the Brooklyn-based designer doesn’t see Musso Red as strictly a December thing. “Its vibrancy and richness really balance out the other pieces of formalwear quite nicely. Traditional black tie dictates that you blend in, while this says, ‘fuck it, I’m feeling myself, I wanna stand out,” he also adds, “I am seeing more men’s wanting to take those risks and embrace being seen, and red is an easier entry into that during the holidays.” He is especially a fan of the shade when it’s in velvet.

So yes, we’re in the “dead week” of 2023 as we hurdle toward 2024, and Pantone may have picked Peach Fuzz as the Color of the Year, but none of that matters when it comes to Musso & Frank Red. Rock it whenever.