I have often written of our favorite wine bar Calpurnia on Court St where they did a great wine and cheese spread with very reasonably priced wine. Well they sold the joint and are going out of business.
I always categorize a joint of one of two types of places. A regular guy neighborhood joint or a yuppie scum hipster dofous shit hole. For example Jake's Walk on Smith St it the yuppie scum equivalent of this place where they charge you and arm and a leg and the quality of what you get is just not as good. Now Clapurnia might have run out of stuff and not had everything you wanted on the menu but what you got was good wholesome cheap food. It was the place that the old school neighborhood people went when they wanted to do wine and cheese. They weren't adverse to attracting the yuppies and would certainly serve them but they didn't kiss their ass either. They built up a nice little business and we loved it because they were open late. They even did some open mike nights with music where they started to get good crowds. But like many bars the owners didn't realize the commitment you have to make if you want to run the joint right. You have to be there all the time and keep a real tight handle on your inventory. The woman who owned it has young kids and she needed to be at home so she had a series of bartenders who were not up to the job. Then New York City came around about two months ago and really started to bust balls. The health department went and evaluated all of the food service businesses and required them to post the "marks" of their inspections in the window. So when you walked past a diner or a restaurant there would be a big "A" or "C" or "Incomplete" in the window. What the fuck? Did some douchenozzle from Harvard come up with that shit. You have no idea why someone got the grade they did. It might not be the cleanliness of the joint or the food preparation. It might be bureaucratic bullshit like having to list the nutritional content of the bread they serve. That's right. They got a violation for not having the nutritional content of the bread they served in a bar on the menus. Nanny Bloomberg strikes again. That was just about the last straw.
They sold off to a guy who has about ten or twelve wine and cheese places in Manhattan. It will be corporate cookie cutter all the way. The neighborhood feel will be gone. I won't be going in. Another family run business shuts it's doors and a soulless chain that can comply with the dictates of the bureaucracy takes it's place.
It's not the "Sacred Ginmill" but it was a pretty cool joint.
I guess I will have to invite everyone back to my house for wine and cheese now.
12 comments:
Gebhardt's. That was the German restaurant my family ate in at least once a month when I was growing up. It was located in Ridgewood, close to Myrtle Avenue. Anyway, the important thing in terms of this post is that it was family owned and run and they were there ALL the time. One son ran the kitchen and the other son was the front man and he would stop by our table and kibbitz every time we came in. I mean every time. The food was solid German fare and that's why we kept coming back but it didn't hurt that he massaged my parents. Oh those sides: potato pancakes, red cabbage, even the way they did creamed spinach and apple sauce...I'm fainting...
I am kind of yuppie scum but I love Mom and Pop places.
I am yuppie scum because I make good money and work in the Creative Economy (clouds).
But I always prefer Mom and Pop places. I go to dindin in Revere and Malden and Everett, which are basically Jersey. I don't hang out in the "in" places.
They are cheap, the food is fucking amazing, you actually get a salad with your meal, rather than paying for a separate salad and the bread is to die for.
Thanks.
Clouds.
In Wisconsin I go to "Supper Clubs" with my parents.
Supper Clubs are so Mom and Pop.
Salad Bar with the meal, relish tray with amazing cheese spread, 5 potato options, and Kitty Cocktails for the littlins. Oh and Slaw. Homemade Slaw.
Thanks.
Clouds.
That's the plan of course.
Make everyone work for the big guys.
Easier to track that way.
The restaurants in Mass I go to have Keno and the waitresses call you "hun"
I spend winter in San Diego. NY got the restaurant rating letter system from California[A to C ratings]. They've had it for @ least a decade. Anthony Bourdain ripped the system when he did a show from Korea Town in LA recently, eating in a "C" restaurant.
I had a retired homicide detective work for me back in the 90's. He did a lot of work on Indian reservations. He called Pabst "Indian beer" because that is the most popular brand on the reservations. I can tell you that's a good demographic to dominate for a brewery!
Trooper, Your Jerry Lewis posts were prophetic. MDA just cut him loose and he's pissed. Of course, Jerry is always pissed and Dino was always as cool as the other side of the pillow.
Some of my favorite restaurants have gotten "C"s. It's yet another stupid system designed by people who think they know better.
ndspinelli/
PBR is THE favorite beer of the armed services, mainly because it is the low-bidder for hi-volume bulk contracts. Its been that way since at least the Vietnam era. PBR was big when I was growing up in the 50s in the Mid-west--was advertised heavily on tv with "Friday-Nite Fights" etc., but almost disappeared from the radar screen in the late 50s. I thought it had gone out of business as one didn't even see it carried in stores, etc. (I'm guessing they made the mkting decision to get out of the "premium" beer rat-race, drastically cut their advertising costs and adopt the "low-cost beer" business model) It wasn't until I went to DaNang in 67 that I saw PBR everywhere and from what I see of comments on the milblogs it's still is all-pervasive throughout all the service branches/dominates through to today..
It seems to be making a comeback tho in the civilian world, tho they STILL don't advertise. I started seeing it on supermarket shelves in New Orleans in the mid 90s--don't know what the trends are nation-wide. I'm not a big beer drinker.
Virgil, men in uniform are another good demographic to have for a beer company. Thanks for your service. I moved to Wi. in 1983 and found PBR on tap in many local bars. However, in the past decade or so I see more cans being sold in bars and stores. You're right..I never see any ads. It's always been a good, blue collar beer.
The reason why it is cool for hipsters is that it is cheap. Most of the bars are selling it for $2.50 a can when a Bud goes for five bucks.
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