Behold the tyranny of progress
On a recent shopping trip to Warrington, Pennsylvania, we actually walked from the new Target to the Bed, Bath & Beyond. The photo above shows you the "streetscape" we encountered during the walk.
We publish this picture as a not-so-subtle reminder to our readers that though we do publish a great deal about the wonderful world of the diner, the real issue remains the state of our built environment. Our society has come to accept the above as the norm, and sees little cause for concern when our greatest retailers throw up (almost literally) large, plain, windowless boxes as setting for our mainstream shopping experience.
Not too long ago, the anchor stores at malls at least had some vestige of the display window next to their entrances. This Target and its single entrance has done away with even that. The adjacent BB&B follows suit, so that walking between the stores almost suffocates the hapless pedestrian under this architectural oppression.
The title above comes from graffiti spray painted on a highway bridge under construction in Michigan. Indeed, if this is progress, please show me to my cave.
Issue 6 line-up announced
By the Way Magazine returns to Pittsburgh to shine a proper spotlight upon one of that city's greatest places: Klavon's Ice Cream Parlor. Ray, the grandson of the original owner, dusted off the shuttered 1920s-era ice cream shop and pharmacy, and restored the space and the sweetness to Pittsburgh's Strip District
We also visit the Silk City Diner in Stephens, Pennsylvania, review three new books, present a fresh recipe from the Red Arrow Diner, the latest news from the roadscapes of America, and more.
Due out in July, get it at your favorite diner or subscribe today!
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The former White Tower remained mostly intact until very recently. Seen below, workmen clean up the space, but the counter and stools will probably end up in a dumpster before too long. |
Syracuse White Tower threatened
The new owners of the former White Tower on James Street in Syracuse, New York tried to get away with demolishing much of the interior without a permit until a concerned citizen blew the whistle on them. The new owner plans to turn the near-pristine building into a downscale Italian joint, and immediately started to rip out the counter and much of the original fixtures.
As it stands now, the work has stopped pending further inspection, but area residents have expressed outrage.
Our correspondent on the scene writes:
The guy who took over the White Tower (Sam's Place) went out of business within a year. His only remodeling blunders were replacing the booths, lighting and painting the exterior. He added creepy Norman carriage lamps and an awning, but you could still tell it was a White Tower.
It had been vacant only a few months and I noticed the "available" sign down and craft paper covering the windows. Yesterday I popped my head in the door and found a bunch of workers demolishing the counter apron with a demo bar.
To make a long story short, I grabbed the lights, pie shelves, back bar out of the dumpster. But the structure itself is beyond repair. They want to make it into a pizza place with all seating/no seating, they haven't decided.
I suppose the best line came from when I was standing by the dumpster, sighing. The guy came out to dump a load and said, "If it was MY place, I would have left it the way it was." I said, "Yeah, and the guy before you spent a lot of money changing the place thinking he was making it better. Now you're spending even more money and his efforts end up in a dumpster."
Charlie's Diner closes
No surprise, but we wanted to note for the record that Charlie's Diner in Pittsburgh has closed. Owner Charlie Huwalt is currently looking for a buyer for the diner and/or property. We have the details at www.dinerforsale.com.
The only Charlie's Diner on our list left open now is Charlie's Pizza, a Paramount, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
Jersey ozoner to reopen?
We almost missed it, but thankfully faithful reader Michael Rosol of New Jersey pointed us to a rather cryptic mention in the New York Times of a drive-in theater restoration under way in Hammonton, New Jersey. According to the last paragraph in an article about outdoor movie showings in a May 18th article, writer Gretchen Kurtz makes a passing mention of this development.
She writes: "...drive-in lovers who are still mourning the demise of New Jersey's last outdoor theater more than a decade ago will be happy to hear that ... the Circus Drive-In in [Hammonton] is under restoration and is scheduled to open in 2004." Frankly, we regard the news as momentus, deserving screaming headlines across the front page, but what does the Times know?
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For years, Amos has greeted Zinn's Diner customers with a smile and a dose of Amish wisdom. |
Zinn's Diner to be sold
The restaurant grapevine, which rarely fails us, recently revealed that budding diner mogul Lyndon Quinn, owner of two Lyndon's Diners has purchased Zinn's Diner in Denver, Pennsylvania. Lyndon, featured in Richard Gutman's American Diner Then and Now, currently owns operations in Manheim and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Adding Zinn's would prove quite the feather in his cap, as Zinn's has largely become a veritable roadside institution. We featured Lyndon in a 1995 issue of Roadside Magazine not long after the purchase of his brand-new DeRaffele Diner. We wish Lyndon the best of luck and hope that he keeps ol' Amos out front to greet the customers.
Corner Lunch gains notice
The Worcester Telegram & Gazette bestowed some well-deserved praise upon the Corner Lunch Diner in Worcester, Massachusetts last Sunday. As we previously reported, owner Stephan Chios has introduced sushi to the diner's menu, and the reviewer took advantage of this diner-first. "I usually dragoon an expert when the subject is sushi, but how wrong can you go when it's a simple salmon maki with spicy sauce for $4.95? Not wrong at all - it was delicious; tasty even if you're not a trendy sushi grazer. Take it easy on the accompanying green wasabi mustard and go crazy with the refreshing, thinly sliced ginger."
The review also grants high marks for the diner's deep fried pickles, homemade fresh mango iced tea, and the Oreo ice cream pie for $3.95. Read the review by clicking here. Visit the diner's site at www.cornerlunch.com.
Diner Don works the crowd
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Don Sawyer describes his latest roadside experience to a potential customer. |
Painter and friend Don Sawyer worked the busy crowd in West Hartford, Connecticut last weekend during the Celebrate West Hartford event. Don does the circuit of car shows, town fairs, and art exhibits during the warmer months in the Northeast, and judging by the activity at his booth in the hour we spent with him, he does pretty well selling his matted prints at $15.00 a pop.
This upcoming weekend, you'll find Don at Hildene Meadows in Manchester, Vermont or you can visit him online at www.donsawyerart.com.
Pennsylvania's lower road
A recent drive back from Pittsburgh took us off the usual beaten paths of Route 30 or 22 or even the Turnpike. Instead, we pointed the car towards the lower road of state route 16, that holds its own for scenic beauty and, as it happens, interesting roadside attractions.
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Do NOT pass by the Greencastle Coffee Roasters in Greencastle, Pennsylvania. Under that white tent in the foreground, proprietor Charles Rake roasts coffee in a Victorian era roaster. |
Most of the towns just east of the Allegheny Mountain range have a distinctly rural flavor, and one would expect to find few signs of urban-oriented food trends in these places. So, the sight of an antique coffee roaster churning away on the sidewalk in Greencastle stopped us dead in our tracks. The Greencastle Coffee Roasters features "traditionally roasted coffees from the four corners of the earth," and a lot more. The eclectic shop also supplies exotic teas, fresh-roasted jumbo peanuts, rare spices, and promises "no country music in our store!!! Never!!"
Proprietor Charles Rake originally hails from Bucks County, Pennsylvania but apparently escaped to Greencastle to get "where my ex-wife couldn't find me." He also credits the town's largely laissez-faire attitude towards small business as a catalyst for establishing at that location. If you can't drive out there, then by all means visit their site at www.greencastlecoffee.com.
When our good friend Les Althouse claimed to have found a near-pristine 1950s Master diner in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, we almost didn't believe him. You don't find it in Brian Butko's Diners of Pennsylvania. Well, it's there. The Mountain Shadows Restaurant has sat on this location since Michael Pryor's parents brought it there brand new. Though his family has capped the diner with a pitched roof, most of the rest of the structure remains in very original condition.
Turns out, traffic pours through Blue Ridge Summit as an alternative back route into Maryland and once served as a main road to Baltimore. The restaurant also features occasional live acts. Michael claims that many 1950s rock and roll greats made appearances at the diner/restaurant in its heyday. He hopes to get legendary performers Jan & Dean there soon for an outdoor, cruising night event. For more information, call the diner at 717-794-2705.
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Diner historian Richard Gutman stands before a near life-size image of Granville Stoddard at "Diners: Still Cookin' in the 21st Century" at the Culinary Archives at Johnson & Wales University. To see the image in its entirety, turn to page 56 in American Diner Then and Now. Stoddard served as the treasurer of the Worcester Lunch Car Company. |
Roadside Special Report
Monday, June 9, 2003
Last Saturday's presentation by Richard Gutman at the Culinary Archives at Johnson & Wales University entertained both novices and geeks in the diner world. Gutman's double slide projector show had an autobiographical theme this time around, with the "Diner Man" reaching back into his archives from his earliest diner explorations.
Gutman penned his thesis on diners while a student of architecture at Cornell University, from which he began a career as a spokesman for their preservation. During a period when perhaps a mere handful of people recognized the architectural and cultural value of these uniquely American buildings, in the 1970s Gutman began to give increasingly frequent lectures and presentations that raised awareness of the danger of losing so many fine examples. Eventually, Gutman authored the first compiled history of diners. That book, American Diner, published in 1979, traced the lineage of an industry to a Providence street vendor named Walter Scott that in 1872 fashioned a horse-drawn freight wagon into a lunch cart.
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A loyal customer of the Central Diner built this replica and later donated it to Gutman. |
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Dave Waller restored this classic with the considerable help and resources of the Culinary Archives. |
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The exhibit highlights the history of Kullman Industries, a family-run builder of diners and other structures since 1927. |
Saturday's fifty-minute-plus presentation traced the progression of Gutman's interest and vocation from his childhood, through his Cornell years and the more notable of 75 diner restoration projects, to his current curation of the exhibit on display at Johnson & Wales.
Gutman cited his methods of research -- which in the early days consisted mainly of extensive road trips to spot diners in operation, hidden under dubious remodelings, and abandoned in fields. Among his early travel companions besides his wife Kellie and dog Willie was artist John Baeder, whose book Diners came out only months before Gutman's.
The exhibit shares a similar structure and flow of Gutman's book on the topic, American Diner Then and Now, with the added features of a mock diner installation designed for children and children-at-heart to imagine a life behind the counter, the original and restored Moody's Diner neon sign courtesy of Dave Waller, lavishly illustrated display panels, and the Ever Ready Diner which the Museum plans to restore. Purchased, salvaged, and donated in the late 1980s by esteemed restaurant architect Morris Nathanson, the Ever Ready has already suffered the ravages of vandalism and theft from its period of outdoor storage.
Museum director Barbara Kuck (pronounced "cook"), tells Roadside that a fund-raising effort for the diner's restoration is under way, but unfortunately fire codes will not allow them to put the diner back into operation within the museum building. Kuck has proposed to install an operating diner on the property outside the Museum.
Gutman tells Roadside that he and the museum plan on scheduling a series of special events over the five-year run of the exhibit, including additional presentations and a symposium. Stay tuned to this site for future announcements. Also visit the Museum's site by clicking here.
The Culinary Archives are located at 315 Harborside Boulevard in Providence. For more info and directions, call (401) 598-2805.
Charlie's Diner to close
Charlie’s Diner in Pittsburgh will close on June 18. Owner Charlie Huwalt had leased the business and property to Mike Nernberg in 2002, but Charlie reports that Nernberg is now “deeply in default” of his obligations, forcing Charlie to reclaim ownership. In his 70s and hoping to retire, he has no desire to continue running the business, so he’s looking for a buyer.
Nernberg made many changes to the diner’s menu – introducing many natural food items and raising the prices – but the local market didn’t respond too favorably. Also, as reported in issue 5, Nernberg installed a web cam. Our correspondents reported a basically good experience but puzzled at Nernberg’s reluctance to interact with customers.
Charlie's is a rare early 1940s National diner.
An Oasis of wisdom
We’ve never met him, but we think we’re in love with David Lines. David owns the landmark Oasis Diner in Burlington, Vermont, and in the April 27th edition of the Rutland Herald he displayed a refreshing amount of wisdom regarding the built environment and the fate of the surrounding area. In a series of articles examining the state of the state, the Herald paid a visit to the 1952 Mountain View, speaking at length with Lines. The report also extensivly quotes Burlington's Mayor, Peter Clavelle.
Lines observes, “I don’t spend a lot of time in traffic – I walk or ride my bike whenever I can. But when I’m in traffic, I notice it’s ugly and unfortunate. Chittenden Country is total Sprawlsville. It’s really the suburbs that are growing. You see it in acres and acres of generic, architecturally challenged housing tracts.” Further, regarding downtown Burlington, “We’ve got plenty of restaurants and the three C’s – candles, coffee, and chocolate. But if someone needs a hammer and nail, you have to drive a mile to get it. What does that day about downtown Burlington? Is it a prop for tourism, or a vital life center?”
Finally, “Maintaining a vital retail sector, a local core, a local mentality in the face of these incredible global and multinational corporations is challenging. What are your choices?” (Thanks to Myron Gittelle)
Sit Down Diner reverts ownership
The Sit Down Diner is back on Kullman's chair. Last week's auction of the diner in Hadley, Massachusetts and its lease did not attract any other buyers, so the modular design-build company will take back ownership of the 140-seat diner built in 2000.
The sale price of $1.3 million equals the amount still owed the company, and the auction and transfer of ownership allows Kullman to dictate its own terms for a future sale.
The Sit Down closed last January when owner and operator Jim Tourtelloite closed both the Hadley and Danbury, Connecticut operations without any warning to employees.
Essay on owning a movie theater
Mick sells shoes in Lawrence, Kansas, but he's always wanted to own and run a classic movie theater. When the Stella went up for sale, he jumped at the chance and bought it. On Mick's website, you can read all about his eye-opening experience of trying to rescue the Stella. Click here and then click on the Mick's Essay's button to read more.
New readers nominate Cool Spots
Our newfound popularity has attracted a number of people who have kindly sent in their nominations for Roadside Cool Spots. We thought we'd share some of the more tantalizing.
From Rose Ellis in Blytheville, Arkansas:
The Malt Shop
Leachville, Arkansas
Because: It is family owned. Looks like a small ice cream place. It has drive up window. Inside eating. It has a great buffet . That has a lot of meat items and great vegetables with an extraordinary salad bar. Banana pudding and cobbler for dessert. It is in a small town with very few people. It is our every Sunday meal (almost) It is not open on Saturday and Monday. It closes on Sunday at Two O'clock. What is really strange is it is not a big buffet. We have not found any food there that we did not like. It seems to be very small but it will hold quite a few people. We try to get there, on Sunday, Before Church lets out. So we can eat and be out of there way. On Sunday they open at 11:00 and close at 2:00. We met one fellow who drove from Memphis, TN every Sunday just to eat here. He drove a truck. He said he accidently found The Malt Shop. Quite a few years back and has had to keep coming back. Well hope this is enough information. If for no other reason, you need to check it out just for the food. It will make you want to return.
From Patricia Ferguson in Redding, California:
Jack's
Redding, California
Because: It looks like a hole-in-the-wall from the outside, but the steaks and entire menu are outstanding. All the locals eat there, even waiting in line for an hour (and this is a relatively small town).
From Michael Hogan, Minneapolis, Minnesota:
The Five Eight Club
Minneapolis Minnesota
Because: The building that the 5-8 club is in was built around 1910 and was a speakeasy during Prohibition. It has undergone a few changes over the years but the building is structurally the same and they have a great patio. We don't even mind the planes flying overhead. (It's a few miles from Minneapolis St. Paul airport) because the great burgers and cold beer as well as the funky setting provide for a great time every time. If you go, be sure to try the Juicy Lucy (2 beef patties with melted cheese in the middle). It's very family friendly and it's a neighborhood institution.
From Julia Walters, Asheville, NC:
Double decker bus coffee shop
Asheville, North Carolina
Because: Its a real double decker bus that was real controversial. Something about the zoning and they had to put wheels on it even though it does not move. Good coffee too. Recommend the Milky Way mocha.
From Cynthia Stone of Lockport, New York:
Old Man River's
Tonawanda, New York
Because: It has a whale on the roof, a pirate ship in the parking lot, the ice cream shack is a VW beetle cut in half, and it has a pond. The lamps and tables are retro 40's and the food is great!
From Vicky Prouty in Mountain Home, Idaho:
Rattlesnake Station Steak House
Mountain Home, Idaho
Because: Great service, great steaks, and every diner gets a magic marker to sign their name on the walls! You can see who celebrated their birthdays, anniversaries, and out of towners on vacation. The decor is right out of the wild, wild, west but "new". Owners are Dave and Jan Bergh, along with their children, who cook and serve up some fine food!
From Bridget Verret, Baton Rouge, Louisiana:
Liberty Theatre
Eunice, Louisiana
Because: It features 1 1/2-hour live radio program (LAISSEZ LES BONS TEMPS ROULER AU "RENDEZ-VOUS DES CAJUNS" CAJUN RADIO & T. V. SHOW) featuring Cajun and Zydeco music, local recipes, and Cajun humor every Saturday night. The entire show is in French (Cajun French) and you can dance with the locals.
Join the fun and send in your own Cool Spot recommendation today!
New Roadside Online Feature: Minella's moves
On May 15, Roger Hacker purchased and moved Minella's Diner for future installation and reuse in Lake City, Florida. RoadAge Media files a video report.
You will need Quicktime software installed, and a broadband internet connection will help the experience immensely.
We plan to experiment more with online video, so we invite you to send your comments regarding our efforts so far. View the video by clicking here. Visit our other features here.
Nominate a Cool Spot, get Roadside
In preparation of a (hopefully) hot summer, we're looking for cool places to visit. And we need your help. Nominate a Roadside Cool Spot, and we'll send you a free sample copy of the latest issue of Roadside.
We already know where just about all the diners are, so we'd like you to send us your favorite NON-diner spots. And it doesn't have to be just about food. Send us your Roadside-approvable stores, museums, taverns, or wacky roadside attractions.
Nominate your spot by clicking here.