Twenty-seven years ago, Tony Dee started it all in Wilton Manors with Chardees.  As he’s about to re-open the historic venue, he tells us what “The Drive” was like in its infancy.   

Where did you grow up?  In Dix Hills, Long Island.  How long have you lived in South Florida?  I moved her in 1969.  Back then, I could have bought the whole state for probably $50,000 (laughs).  Well, make it $49,999.  I always like a discount.  Why did you move here?  I had a chain of men’s hair salons in Long Island, but I always wanted to live in Florida.  I came down here for a Christmas party one year, and I was sold.  I was like, “it’s Christmas, and people are wearing bathing suits?”  It blew my mind to see that, coming from all that snow.  I bought a home in southwest Miami, and that was the beginning of it.  What part of South Florida do you live in?  I live in Wilton Station.  I’m a one-man-show, and I’ve always have been.  I’m five minutes away from my work.  What do you like most about living here?  The weather and Wilton Manors.  I’ll never leave here.  What South Florida venue do you miss that’s gone?  For me, personally, it would be Chardees.  I’m not a bar person, and I never was—I don’t drink.  So I never really went to the other places.  Where do you hang out in South Florida, and why?  I love Galanga—it’s a Thai restaurant.  I also love What The Pho? and Sea and Olive.

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You mentioned that you owned salons.  Were you a stylist?  Yes.  My full name is Anthony Deriggi, but everyone kept getting my last name wrong, so I said, just call me Tony “Dee.”  I was the hairdresser for the male stars at the Westbury Music Fair.  I styled all the stars that didn’t have a personal stylist.  What’s your claim–to–fame?  When I first started looking at property in Wilton Manors, it was desolate.  Nothing was there.  I had a vision of a New York supper club, with music and entertainment.  We opened Chardees on October 1, 1990—I was the first there.  I booked Eartha Kitt within six months, and then it just took off.  But it was a lot of work; it took a lot of renovations.  I mean, you still had the air conditioner in the window.  Things like that.  And here we are, 27 years later.  How did you come up with the name “Chardees”?  My former business partner’s first name—he died—was “Charlie.”  So, we combined “Charlie” with “Dee,” for me, and we got “Chardees.”  How would you like to be remembered?  Honesty, it’s corny, but I’d like to be remembered as someone who did it their way.  Will you ever retire?  I’m a workaholic, so I don’t see that in the near future.  What’s the last thing that you looked at online?  I don’t do it.  Call me and I’ll talk to you.  What’s the best place that you’ve visited, and why?  Greece in the 1950s, and then followed by Italy and Spain.

What did you learn from your father?  How to pay your bills on time.  Where you think your drive comes from?  I don’t know.  My parents moved around on Long Island a lot—it was just the three of us.  I used to joke that I came home from the army—I wasn’t in the armed services—but they’d moved.  Maybe it comes from husting from place to place…?  Are you an only child?  Yes, and I’m adopted as well.  I was adopted when I was two and a half years old.  I never met my biological parents.  What performer do you admire?  Eartha Kitt was the best I ever worked with.  I never saw her before or after that one time, but she was the best.  Who’s the most exciting person you ever had dinner with?  Elizabeth Taylor.  I flew to New York for it, and it was about 12 of us.  How do you enjoy spending your time?  I enjoy spending time with my husband, Andy.  I’m two different people.  I’m one way at home, and another way at work.  I’m very high strung, but Andy calms me.  What celebrity do you have a crush on?  Ricky Martin.  What do you admire in others?  Honesty.  Whatever you have to say, just say it.    If you could bring one person back from the dead, who would it be, and why?  Liberace.  He was one of my all-time favorites.  I had a lot of down time backstage with him throughout the years, and if you take away all the glitz and the glamour, he was just such a nice and kind human being.  And he was so talented.

What would your last meal be?  A cowboy ribeye from the Council Oak at the Hard Rock.  What do you worry about?  I worry about aging and the future, because I’ve been healthy all my life.  I worry about pain and suffering that’s inflicted on others.  If you were a musical instrument, what would you be, and why?  A piano.  It’s my favorite instrument.  Who depends on you?  No one.  Who are you closest with?  Andy, and a number of friends, and one cousin.  If this cousin died, I don’t know what I’d do.  What would your autobiography be called?  I Did It My Way.  Do you ever put music on when you’re upset?  No.  If I’m upset, I work or I put on a rerun of the original Will and Grace.   What’s on your bucket list?  To do whatever I have to to make sure that Andy succeeds with Chardees.  I own the building, but he owns the business, so it’s easy to get rent from the tenant (laughs).  What’s your greatest regret in life?  Not having children.  Can you tell me something that you never told anyone else?  I worked with George Hamilton once, but this was when he was younger.  And when I worked with him, he was in his underwear.  I can tell you that it was hard to keep my hands to myself that day.  Where can we see you?  Most nights, you can see me at Chardees.