Really excellent. Something I’ve been thinking about a lot are that most modern restaurants are not true small businesses, they’re the 3rd or 4th outpost of some restaurant group. They’re well branded but there’s no SOUL, no reason, no sense of place. I love the idea of rethinking how our economy works to provide what matters to us.
I miss what I call “plastic-tablecloth” cafes, with their all-day egg breakfasts and bottomless cups of coffee. And wait staff who remembered your name whenever you came in.
Worship of Capital has stripped away much of the soul of our society, largely by substituting private spaces for public ones, and commodifying everything. No wonder we’re lonely and depressed -- happiness is always just another purchase away.
These stimulating reflections have a your-community-here universality and sent me clicking, curious to see more of the backstory.
Thanks to a vividly detailed February 2022 post by Brian Huber at Hudson Valley One, I now know that Tony Saccoman, founder of the iconic Kingston spot with his first name, lost an arm in a New Jersey factory accident. "But that didn’t stop him from starting the pizzeria on Broadway when he returned to the area. In the early 1950s, he sold the business to Sparky Greco and opened up Saccoman Jeweler’s, also on Broadway. Greco later sold the pizzeria to his brothers Charlie and Sal. . . . Nealey Farrell and Dylan Kennedy owned the pizzeria for the last decade."
The bar area hasn't changed since the 1930s-40s when her grandfather ran it, Linda Saccoman told the Ulster Publishing news site.
Thanks for an evocative jaunt, Sara, through time and along the Broadways, Main Streets, Front Streets and similar avenues that light the corners of our minds.
Thanks so much, Alan! I’m so glad to know it resonated because I definitely didn’t mean for it to be just about my town. And I’m glad you enjoyed reading about the history of Tony’s. I enjoyed reading about it too for this piece.
Fantastic post, Sara. I think about third spaces a lot, as I too live in a city. The closure of cafes and restaurants really saddens me since the pandemic. And nothing seems to be replacing them.
Separately, I am actually grateful to Substack for the ‘From the archives’ link that they have going on now! That’s how I was provided a link to this via Notes.
Thank you, Sarah. Sorry to hear so many places are closing where you are too. And yes, the "From the Archives" feature has been great and brought a lot of readers to this newsletter.
The death of third spaces in general is a tragedy. Restaurants and bars used to be more informal places to socialize for the working class, but everything is all about the money now so everything is designed for the rich nowadays.
I worked in the restaurant industry for for almost 20 years before I started having children and the way the industry had been forced to evolve since the pandemic fascinates me. I often think about how the staff interacts with regulars now. How has it changed since so much business has moved to "togo" service? To bartenders only chat with those there are opening and closing? and also, when did everyone start saying "welcome in" ?? I never said that once in all my time in the industry and it seems to be the standard greeting now. Also, also, I know this post is from a while back, but I just found your Substack and I'm loving your writing!
Wow, this literally brought tears to my eyes as an old restaurant brat, and especially once I saw Hopper's "Nighthawks," which I was just looking at a few weeks ago, not exactly sure at the time why I couldn't look away. My folks owned a few restaurants over the years, with decor that wasn't always the best, but it had people that were always the best, with some even to this day who talk about our "cookie skillet," or my dad's famous BBQ sauce. Damn, I'm getting emotional just writing this, thinking about how much I hated washing dishes, and cleaning the bathrooms, but how much I loved cooking bacon in the morning, and watering the potted plants first thing, and seeing that small group of old men come in each Tuesday to talk and pray for each other, and helping that one old lady with her very specific instructions for the leftovers, and watching my dad have a steaming cup of coffee in the dining room by himself before we opened. I too hope that we can save the bar and grill, and with posts like this, we may just have a chance.
On the Upper West Side of Manhattan the sort of restaurants you're celebrating are an endangered species. In the space of a few weeks my favorite diner, ristorante, and falafel joint all shuttered. There are more survivors in my midwestern hometown, such as a charming family-owned diner I always make it a point to patronize, but even they're in danger now because a customer has tried to make an instance of somewhat gruff service into a racial issue.
I'd argue against federal subsidies for restaurants, though -- the money would inevitably flow to politically connected restaurateurs rather than those true community pubs and cafes, and probably even help crowd them out.
After watching beloved places close and be replaced with what deceptively looks like a “local,” only to find it is a variation on a theme, a “sister” location of a major conglomerate, I feel the real demise is of the small business owner. Be it chefy or diner, what sets apart the places I love is their onliness, the intimacy in that. While it may be hard to make a profit in a small restaurant, the big machines are doing fine. Our country’s capitalism, long loved as the corner coffee shop, has morphed into a thing eating away at so much of what makes us human.
I live in Cleveland, and just went to our regular bar and grill for dinner last night. There are plenty of the hip places with wine bars and provisions stores around here, too, but I think the bar and grill is faring a little better out here than it is in Brooklyn. Just another thing I love about my city.
Glad to hear that the bar-and-grill is thriving in Cleveland. I don't live in Brooklyn. I'm in a small city in New York State called Kingston, and the last few years have been brutal on our restaurants.
Oof sorry, I completely misread that. It has been a tough few years for restaurants in general and I’m sure smaller towns really feel it. To have a regular haunt close down in a place with fewer alternatives must feel like a huge loss. ♥️
You came to my neighborhood spot, Betty, which I adore! But it still is more than $65 for a burger & 2 drinks which kinda makes it spendy to be a regular. I love the idea of a true local. And I have a buddy who is an architect who spent a year driving all across the country and asking people in suburbia “Where is your town center?” And the answers were all pretty sad. We need more come-as-you-are togetherness spaces!!
Really excellent. Something I’ve been thinking about a lot are that most modern restaurants are not true small businesses, they’re the 3rd or 4th outpost of some restaurant group. They’re well branded but there’s no SOUL, no reason, no sense of place. I love the idea of rethinking how our economy works to provide what matters to us.
Thank you! Yeah, in my experience many of the places are NICE and I enjoy going, but something is missing.
I miss what I call “plastic-tablecloth” cafes, with their all-day egg breakfasts and bottomless cups of coffee. And wait staff who remembered your name whenever you came in.
Worship of Capital has stripped away much of the soul of our society, largely by substituting private spaces for public ones, and commodifying everything. No wonder we’re lonely and depressed -- happiness is always just another purchase away.
Yes, the plastic-tablecloth cafes!
These stimulating reflections have a your-community-here universality and sent me clicking, curious to see more of the backstory.
Thanks to a vividly detailed February 2022 post by Brian Huber at Hudson Valley One, I now know that Tony Saccoman, founder of the iconic Kingston spot with his first name, lost an arm in a New Jersey factory accident. "But that didn’t stop him from starting the pizzeria on Broadway when he returned to the area. In the early 1950s, he sold the business to Sparky Greco and opened up Saccoman Jeweler’s, also on Broadway. Greco later sold the pizzeria to his brothers Charlie and Sal. . . . Nealey Farrell and Dylan Kennedy owned the pizzeria for the last decade."
The bar area hasn't changed since the 1930s-40s when her grandfather ran it, Linda Saccoman told the Ulster Publishing news site.
Thanks for an evocative jaunt, Sara, through time and along the Broadways, Main Streets, Front Streets and similar avenues that light the corners of our minds.
Thanks so much, Alan! I’m so glad to know it resonated because I definitely didn’t mean for it to be just about my town. And I’m glad you enjoyed reading about the history of Tony’s. I enjoyed reading about it too for this piece.
Fantastic post, Sara. I think about third spaces a lot, as I too live in a city. The closure of cafes and restaurants really saddens me since the pandemic. And nothing seems to be replacing them.
Separately, I am actually grateful to Substack for the ‘From the archives’ link that they have going on now! That’s how I was provided a link to this via Notes.
Thank you, Sarah. Sorry to hear so many places are closing where you are too. And yes, the "From the Archives" feature has been great and brought a lot of readers to this newsletter.
The death of third spaces in general is a tragedy. Restaurants and bars used to be more informal places to socialize for the working class, but everything is all about the money now so everything is designed for the rich nowadays.
It is such a loss.
I worked in the restaurant industry for for almost 20 years before I started having children and the way the industry had been forced to evolve since the pandemic fascinates me. I often think about how the staff interacts with regulars now. How has it changed since so much business has moved to "togo" service? To bartenders only chat with those there are opening and closing? and also, when did everyone start saying "welcome in" ?? I never said that once in all my time in the industry and it seems to be the standard greeting now. Also, also, I know this post is from a while back, but I just found your Substack and I'm loving your writing!
Emily, thanks so much for writing and I'm sorry I missed this earlier! Very interesting to get your perspective on this!
Wow, this literally brought tears to my eyes as an old restaurant brat, and especially once I saw Hopper's "Nighthawks," which I was just looking at a few weeks ago, not exactly sure at the time why I couldn't look away. My folks owned a few restaurants over the years, with decor that wasn't always the best, but it had people that were always the best, with some even to this day who talk about our "cookie skillet," or my dad's famous BBQ sauce. Damn, I'm getting emotional just writing this, thinking about how much I hated washing dishes, and cleaning the bathrooms, but how much I loved cooking bacon in the morning, and watering the potted plants first thing, and seeing that small group of old men come in each Tuesday to talk and pray for each other, and helping that one old lady with her very specific instructions for the leftovers, and watching my dad have a steaming cup of coffee in the dining room by himself before we opened. I too hope that we can save the bar and grill, and with posts like this, we may just have a chance.
Wow, that is beautiful! Thank you for sharing that.
On the Upper West Side of Manhattan the sort of restaurants you're celebrating are an endangered species. In the space of a few weeks my favorite diner, ristorante, and falafel joint all shuttered. There are more survivors in my midwestern hometown, such as a charming family-owned diner I always make it a point to patronize, but even they're in danger now because a customer has tried to make an instance of somewhat gruff service into a racial issue.
I'd argue against federal subsidies for restaurants, though -- the money would inevitably flow to politically connected restaurateurs rather than those true community pubs and cafes, and probably even help crowd them out.
After watching beloved places close and be replaced with what deceptively looks like a “local,” only to find it is a variation on a theme, a “sister” location of a major conglomerate, I feel the real demise is of the small business owner. Be it chefy or diner, what sets apart the places I love is their onliness, the intimacy in that. While it may be hard to make a profit in a small restaurant, the big machines are doing fine. Our country’s capitalism, long loved as the corner coffee shop, has morphed into a thing eating away at so much of what makes us human.
It’s so sad. I don’t mind the small regional chain. If they make it a welcoming place to be.
I live in Cleveland, and just went to our regular bar and grill for dinner last night. There are plenty of the hip places with wine bars and provisions stores around here, too, but I think the bar and grill is faring a little better out here than it is in Brooklyn. Just another thing I love about my city.
Glad to hear that the bar-and-grill is thriving in Cleveland. I don't live in Brooklyn. I'm in a small city in New York State called Kingston, and the last few years have been brutal on our restaurants.
Oof sorry, I completely misread that. It has been a tough few years for restaurants in general and I’m sure smaller towns really feel it. To have a regular haunt close down in a place with fewer alternatives must feel like a huge loss. ♥️
No worries! I’m happy to know there are places where they are still doing well!
You came to my neighborhood spot, Betty, which I adore! But it still is more than $65 for a burger & 2 drinks which kinda makes it spendy to be a regular. I love the idea of a true local. And I have a buddy who is an architect who spent a year driving all across the country and asking people in suburbia “Where is your town center?” And the answers were all pretty sad. We need more come-as-you-are togetherness spaces!!
I loved Betty! And sadly $65 for a burger plus two drinks is ... not outrageous. I want to talk to your friend!
Hi Sara, for me $65 for a burger and 2 drinks is outrageous.
Fair!
OMG, did you hear about Dear Kingston? Abruptly closed today.
Whaaaa?
https://gofund.me/411a11ae
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw0XANOAcdV/
Nooooooooo!
Shocking. And they're not talking. Something's fishy. Great piece, and more timely than you knew!
Yeah, it does seem fishy. Such a rotten thing to do to the staff. Thanks for your nice words about it--I wish it wasn't so timely!
Thanks for sharing this, Randy, and sorry I didn't see this comment before!
Yes exactly!