Bellevue

The Sports Club Cafe sounds like a private club but isn't. It's perceived by some as a health food restaurant, which it's not. And you don't have to wear workout attire to eat there. Although it's adjacent to the Sporting Club, a serious members-only gym in the Bellevue hotel and office complex, the Sports Club Cafe is open to the public. And because the public does not live by yogurt and oat bran alone, the Sports Club Cafe serves burgers, mayo-slathered club sandwiches and Italian pastries in addition to the calorie-conscious choices.

The Bellevue Stratford's 83-year life will end this afternoon, quietly and without ceremony. Rubin Associates is closing the hotel 27 days ahead of the original April 2 deadline, a spokeswoman said. The union representing hotel employees has accepted the company's $500,000 settlement package and agreed to drop its three lawsuits, prompting the early shutdown of the landmark at Broad and Walnut streets. Owners will give each of the hotel's 350 union workers severance pay and provide health coverage for three months beyond the date each worker was furloughed, said James Small, president and business manager of Local 274 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union.

A pot of flowers outside the Hotel Atop the Bellevue fell victim to the massive security that surrounded President Bush's visit to Philadelphia yesterday. "A police horse began to eat them," reported an amused Chris van der Baars, the hotel's managing director. "But the officer slapped him on the neck and said, 'You're going to get a tummy ache.' " Other than that pot of posies, the presidential visit went off without a hitch, van der Baars said. "The Secret Service really made life easy for us. Two weeks ago, they briefed us on exactly what to expect.

Mere mortals rarely get the chance to enter, much less dine in, the hallowed halls of a historic du Pont family mansion. But when we do, our expectations are understandably high. And where the setting is concerned, Bellevue in the Park - built at great cost on a hill overlooking the Delaware north of Wilmington - meets those expectations in fine style. Lawns are flawless, plantings priceless. The pillared portico has marble underfoot. Ceilings are high, paneling profuse. Each room has its own distinctive decorator color scheme.

Next weekend offers classical music lovers - and other interested individuals - an opportunity to support a real class act, the Philadelphia Orchestra, during the organization's annual fund-raising radiothon, to be broadcast live from the Shops at the Bellevue. You can drop in to the hotel anytime beginning at 5 p.m. March 22, when the radiothon goes on the air on WFLN-FM, 95.7 on the dial. Scheduled throughout the three-day event are live musical performances and interviews with celebrities.

The Bellevue Stratford, the once-regal queen of Philadelphia hotels, will close Feb. 2 - a victim of the city's anemic hotel and convention industry. The hotel's future is uncertain, though the chain that owns part of the Bellevue said the Broad Street landmark will be redeveloped and eventually reopened. Managers gave the employees official notice yesterday, but they refused to answer questions about the future of the hotel. The news stunned workers and sent city convention and meeting planners scrambling to find alternative sites for events.

Gucci, the ritzy Italian retailer, has found a home in Philadelphia at the Bellevue. So too has the Palm restaurant. And Pierre Deux, a home-furnishing store. Gucci, known for its sportswear, leather goods, shoes and accessories, will open a 5,000-square-foot bi-level shop this fall in what used to be the Burgundy Room of the old hotel. For more than a year, Gucci officials scoured Philadelphia for a spot to set down roots. They found a snug fit at the Bellevue - now renovated into a combination of shops, offices and a smaller, luxury hotel - which is anchoring the trendy fashion stores burgeoning along Walnut Street.

The Bellevue reopens today, but don't rush off for your tux. Today, the Bellevue opens for work. The building's first office tenants, the Center City law firm of Astor, Weiss & Newman, were to move into the renovated hotel this morning, marking the Bellevue's latest reincarnation as an office, retail and hotel complex. The 84-year-old hotel closed more than two years ago for the $100 million renovation that will shave the number of hotel rooms from 565 to 173, convert 10 floors to office space and transform the lower three floors into a shopping arcade.

She has been stripped of her fixtures. Her suites have been gutted. Whole floors have been knocked away. The old Grande Dame of Broad Street is getting the complete makeover. Like steamships, grand hotels were always called she. They seemed to take on lives of their own. Indeed, the historic Bellevue hotel has had more lives than a feline. Now, you could say that she's in mudpack and curlers, undergoing a $100 million lift from the sidewalk to the 19th floor. She doesn't look like much yet. But she will.

It's eau de golabki - and not the expensive scent of Gucci cologne - that greets lobby visitors to the Hotel Atop the Bellevue these days. Philadelphians whose lack of appetite for high-priced Gucci fashions led the Italian firm to close its location in the hotel's lobby recently seem to be finding the homey fragrances of Polish stuffed cabbage, pizza, hoagies, fried oysters, fresh-baked pretzels and Chinese food much more to their taste....

BELLEVUE, Wash. - Washington state Republicans will hold caucuses Saturday, hoping to make or break the four presidential candidates' momentum - however briefly, before 10 more states weigh in Tuesday - in the race for the party's 2012 nomination. Though only about 60,000 Republicans are expected to turn out in a state of 3.7 million voters, the political world will be watching closely. Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich all have campaigned in the state recently.

Creme de la crepe "A lot of people think of crepes as fancy food," says Crêpe Town owner Julie Bartfield, who, with her chef-husband Mike, has been operating the stand in the Bellevue food court for a few months. "They are more like street food. Healthy, too. " Mike crisps the ethereal pancake to order, before layering in sweet or savory fillings. The Belgium chocolate-cherry is hard to resist. The crepe recipe was passed down to Mike from his great-grandfather. By spring, the Bartfields hope to be serving their treats in a second, street-level Center City shop.

"A lot of people think of crepes as fancy food," says Crêpe Town owner Julie Bartfield, who, with her chef-husband Mike, has been operating the stand in the Bellevue food court for a few months. "They are more like street food. Healthy, too. " Mike crisps the ethereal pancake to order, before layering in sweet or savory fillings. The Belgium chocolate-cherry is hard to resist. The crepe recipe was passed down to Mike from his great-grandfather. By spring, the Bartfields hope to be serving their treats in a second, street-level Center City shop.

Back about 1930, when Pasquale "Pat" Olivieri invented the steak sandwich, the factory worker and son of Italian immigrants probably couldn't get through the front doors of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. The Beaux Arts landmark on South Broad Street was the bastion of Philadelphia high society. Visiting royalty and wealthy industrialists could enjoy it, but not South Philly sandwich makers, not even one who styled himself the King of Steaks. Yesterday at the Bellevue, however, you could not only buy a cheesesteak "wit' ," you could actually buy one made by Pat's grandson Rick.

Keep your eyes open for Ellen Barkin , who starts work today on Happy Tears , the family drama starring Demi Moore and Parker Posey as sisters. Barkin plays the girlfriend of their father ( Rip Torn ). Shooting has been bouncing around the area, including Prospect Park, Old City, Washington Square West, and Warminster. Cast members have been quite visible over the weekends in the Rittenhouse Square area. Considering that Happy Tears is a modest-budget independent film, Moore and husband Ashton Kutcher have been doing their part to pump up the restaurant economy.

Zanzibar Blue, arguably the city's best-known jazz venue, plans to close April 29 after more than 10 years downstairs at the Bellevue at Broad and Walnut Streets. Robert Bynum, who owns Zanzibar Blue with his brother, Benjamin Jr., said yesterday that the lease was up and that although he was satisfied with the building and location, "we didn't think it was in our best interests to renew. We'd rather own [our] building than lease. " He said the new lease would have nearly doubled the rent, which he declined to disclose.

Called "the grand dame of Broad Street," the Bellevue has graced the corner of Broad and Walnut Streets for 100 years, offering luxury and hospitality to presidents, movie stars, athletes and everyday folk. Yesterday, as the historic hotel continued its celebration of last September's centennial, the Bellevue opened its doors to hundreds of white-tied men and diamond-clad women as it opened its pocketbook to help underwrite the annual Academy of Music Anniversary Concert and Ball, a major social affair.

Ronald Rubin, head of one of the region's largest real estate firms, was asked at a public forum not long ago to name his proudest achievement. "Saving the Bellevue," he replied. He was speaking of the building at 200 S. Broad St. that turned 100 this year - the old Bellevue Stratford hotel. It was long Philadelphia's premier venue for romance, grand balls, celebrities, politicking, and business-deal-making. Today, it remains the site of a hotel, albeit a smaller one, but also contains office space, retail shops, a health club and restaurants.

Santa Mendoza, 43, a delegate to the Republican National Convention from Hartford, Conn., and a member of the prestigious platform committee, needed help with what she conceded was an emergency. "I'm being interviewed on C-SPAN in the morning," said Mendoza, a tax attorney, and former candidate for state attorney general. "They'll be talking to me about my work on the platform committee. But I'm not worried about that - the problem is my hair. " She has long, thick ebony locks that caress her shoulders and shine like the night sky, except when the humidity is 90 percent.

The Center City District's "Make It a Night" program becomes a day-and-night program Wednesday for the entertainment of the delegates and visitors, not to mention us lucky locals. Klezmer music, puppetry and drama come to the Bellevue from noon to 3 p.m. from the National Museum of American Jewish History. Augmenting the performances will be the violin of Carlos Klejman, owner of the Vigant boutique in the Bellevue and a retired violinist from the New York Philharmonic. Other live performances that day will include a rock band at the Gallery, a blues group at the Market East Atrium, and local bands at Tower Records, 100 S. Broad St. Hotel hokum.