Rick Browne - A Century of Restaurants: Stories and Recipes from 100 of Americas Most Historic and Successful Restaurants

T his book , and the two-plus years it took to accomplish it, is dedicated to some very special people who believed in me and in this ambitious endeavor to capture the essence, history, and soul of one hundred of Americas oldest restaurants. They generously supported me with their hearts and minds, and many of them with their pocketbooks. I am deeply indebted to each and every one of the following for their contribution to A Century of Restaurants : Lynn Johnson, Steve Marsden (LHS 64), Dennis and Melinda Young (LHS 64), Janet Stafford Myers (LHS 64), Kathy Baker (LHS 64), Dan Macey, Clare and Ken Adair, James Barggren, Chris Peterson, John and Kathy Angood, Jim and Barb Smith, Dr. Thomas Kovaric, and Chris Browne.

Additionally, my heartfelt thanks and gratitude go to Andrews McMeel publisher Kirsty Melville, to my patient editor and fellow barbecue aficionado Jean Lucas, editor Lane Butler, and to Sandy Frye, who designed this beautiful book. Ive reserved a special hug and a plate-load of thanks for my agent and dear friend Dennis Hayes, who was key in making this happen.

And finally, a banquet of thanks to my family, especially my wife, Kate, who is my unofficial editor, traveling companion, co-foodie, and love of three-plus decades. Also there to support and encourage me were our daughters Kara and Tricia, their husbands Stephen and Reed, and our sons Christopher and Kevin.

Mom and Dad: This is what comes of your taking me to Schulers in 1962 and starting me on the delicious road Ive wandered ever since.

A Century of Restaurants copyright 2013 by Rick Browne. Photography copyright 2013 by Rick Browne. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews.

Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC

an Andrews McMeel Universal company

1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106

www.andrewsmcmeel.com

ISBN: 978-1-4494-0783-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011944563

Photography by Rick Browne

Design by Sandy Frye

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j Contents k

A Century of

Restaurants ~ Menu

Appetizers

Number of restaurants in America: 960,000

Number of fast food restaurants: 160,000

Number of fast food restaurants that failed in 2009: 164

Number of independent restaurants that failed in 2009: 2,685

First Courses

Amount spent daily in U.S. restaurants: $1.7 billion

Amount spent yearly in U.S. restaurants: $604.2 billion

Overall impact of restaurant industry on U.S. economy: $1.7 trillion

Number of people employed in the U.S. restaurant industry: 12.8 million

Entrees

Side Dishes

Photographs taken: 14,455

Words written: 126,000

Hours spent writing: 1,600

Hours spent editing images: 1,400

New friends made: Hundreds

Desserts

Favorite desserts: Raspberry Pie (Breitbachs, Iowa), Warm Brown Sugar Cakes (Red Lion Inn, Massachusetts), Blueberry Cream Pie (The Publick House, Massachusetts), Cannoli (Ferrara, New York), Boston Cream Pie (Omni Parker House, Massachusetts), Brandy Ice (Wilmot Stage Stop, Wisconsin), Moravian Gingerbread (Old Salem Tavern, North Carolina)

* I was unable to find century-old restaurants in two states: Hawaii and Alaska, and in four states I felt the places I did find werent of the same quality and standard as establishments in the 44 states I did visit.

Restaurant statistics provided by the National Restaurant Association 2010 Year-End Report. Restaurant failure statistics from a joint survey by Michigan State University and Cornell University business schools.

The Bright Star

Bessemer, AL ~ Est. 1907

I n the early 1900s, Bessemer was a booming steelmaking town and Alabamas eighth largest city. Between 1901 and 1910, more than 9 million people, many from Eastern and southern Europe, arrived in the United States to seek their fortune. Over 150,000 were from Greece, and among them was young Tom Bonduris, who joined one hundred or so of his countrymen already living in Birmingham. He began baking pies in a suburban restaurant called the Bright Star. A year later, he moved to Bessemer and opened a small restaurant of the same name, consisting of a horseshoe-shaped bar and a row of iron barstoolsthere were no tables or booths.

Two years later, two other Greek immigrants, Bill and Pete Koikos, bought the restaurant and ran it until 1966, when their two sons, Jim and Nick, took over. They have managed it for the past forty-four years. Jimmy greets the customers, and Nicky supervises the kitchen.

When asked why he thought the restaurant has survived, despite the demise of the steel industry when its raw materials were mined out, and the subsequent loss of the towns population, Nick said, We do everything to please our customers and make sure they have a great meal and a good time. I have to admit that early on we didnt pay as much attention to food costs as we should have. We just wanted our customers to have a great experience and come back.

Wanda Little, Marie Jackson, Evelyn Rembert, and Anita Moore have a combined 75 years in the Bright Star kitchen.

They have certainly achieved that goal. Bright Star has grown from a twenty-five-seat caf to a restaurant that seats 350, with a bar, a large banquet room, and several smaller dining rooms. The main dining room is a relic of the early 1900s, with its leather booths, dark wood wainscoting, large mirrors, dramatic lighting, and WPA-era murals of the Old Country that are nicotine-stained from the early years.