Fieri - Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

EST. 1946 (AS HEALDS DINER), RE-EST. 1988 * THE GOURMET DINER ON STILTS

This diner in Maine is up on stilts, and the food is on another level, too. In 1946 the Worcester Lunch Car Company built diner number 790 and delivered it right here, to Gardiner, Maine. Now under its fourth owner, this local legend is serving up way more than traditional diner fare.

* TRACK IT DOWN *

3 Bridge Street Gardiner, ME 04345 207-582-4804 www.a1diner.com

Theyve got the basics like eggs sunny-side up, chili dogs, or meatloaf with gravy, but then theyve also got specials like Szechuan beef saut, lamb tagine with couscous, or chicken Marbella. Co-owner Mike Giberson says you can blame that on Kenneth. Kenneth Harrison is a Seattle transplant whos given free reign by the owners to do what hes feelin in the kitchen. (Being an owner myself, I can say this is a sweet deal.) He does a Greek flank steak roulade stuffed with garlic, spinach, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper, and feta. Its bananas. And as Kenneth notes, Bananas is good.

The locals have responded well to the new dishes, and at a diner thats been running for sixty years, theyve got some serious regulars. In revitalizing the diner they had to attract a younger clientele, plus they wanted to make the food they liked. Like mojito-glazed duck, for example. Kenneth lets the fresh mint leaves settle into the sugar that makes the rum glaze. Weve all had moments when duck has gone wrong; but this is ducklicious.

But dont think they ignore the diner classics. Mike tells the waitstaff to get a menu into peoples hands immediately, lest they think all the diner serves is mojito duck or Asian corn fritters. Among many other items, they make banana walnut pancakes; chicken pot pie with fresh, hand-pulled chicken, fresh veggies, sage, and a scratch-made crust; and some money biscuits whipped up by Bob Newell, the hashman whos been working here for more than half a century.

A1 DINER HISTORY

Originally the diner was named Healds Diner, owned by Eddie Heald. After ordering it in Worcester at the factory (Eddies daughter Marguerite remembered it was top of the line), they set it up on twenty-foot stilts next to the bridge over Cobbossee Stream in the center of town. Hed cut the front part of a former garage off to make room for itthus the kitchen, in whats left of the building, is much larger than a normal diners. The second owner was Maurice Wakefield, who bought the diner in 1952, renaming it Wakefields. Maurice would run it for almost thirty years, totally dedicated to making real-deal pies and gravy for the workingman of Gardiner.

Mike Gibersons father, Albert, known as Gibey, was the diners third owner, buying it in 1979 on a whim and renaming the diner Gibersons. His wife, Elizabeth, did the books and he did the cooking, soon hitting his stride making donuts at three AM and New England boiled dinners on Thursdays. When his thoughts turned to selling in the mid-eighties, he called his son Mike in LA, who promptly said he was coming home. Mike became the fourth owner of the diner in 1988, along with his partner, Neil Anderson. They met while working at Legal Seafood together in Boston. (Mike had been cooking, even in secret, since the age of ten.) They renamed the place A1, inspired by an A1 Neon sign that Neil had once given Mike, who is a big fan of neon. The art moderne interior, in mahogany, tiles, sunburst stainless steel, is all original, including the specials board. Mike says, I can no longer buy the red letters [on the board]; those red letters are special to me.

Getting here was quite a trip. I take a flight to Maine, coming from the West Coast in my tank top and flip-flops. I think I had a T-shirt with me. I get there and step into six inches of snow. I dont know what happened, but somehow I didnt have tennis shoes. So there I am at midnight in Maine and we have to drive thirty miles up to this place from the airportbut it took three and a half hours, it was snowing so bad. So I come walking into the lobby of this place in flip-flops, and they see methey thought I just got off planet Pluto. Great people.