Welcome Back

Welcome back! I invite you to take a seat at my table. I took a break from sharing with you but now I am able to devote more time to reading about your memories and sharing mine with you.

Let’s revisit our memories about our favorite diners.

What if you could have lunch today in your favorite diner, where would you go, and what would you order? Who would you invite to join you and what would you talk about?

In my food memories, I’m having lunch at the Turndale Diner, and I tell Bea, the smiling waitress who always had a pretty floral handkerchief in her pocket folded like a fan, to bring me a hot turkey sandwich and a chocolate milk shake. I’ll look around to see if Uncle Harry is working today and ask him to join me. I ask him questions about what is was like to own a diner and cook for people who aren’t your family. He’s always patient and pretty handsome as my Greek uncle who according to family legend taught his wife (Aunt Tessie) and four sisters-in-law (Rita, Stella, Jennie, Shirley ) how to cook lamb, rice and a new invention, the sandwich.

Having 4 children in the 1960’s, there wasn’t enough extra money to go out to eat except for very special occasions like milestone birthdays and anniversaries. But an occasional trip to the Turndale wasn’t really eating out…it was seeing Uncle Harry and getting the most delicious hamburger and the best french fries. We all fit into the end booth which was circular to accommodate families with the high chair for the baby sister added to the end. This was the chance to order from a menu, even though you knew exactly what you wanted before Dad parked the car.

Although we often think places and people we love just materialize during our time, diners have a history. In the 1870’s, factory workers needed a place that was open 24 hours and served cheap hot meals before or after their shifts. As time went on, the horse-drawn lunch wagons evolved into the diners we know today, being modeled after railroad dining cars, in the Art Deco style with attention to clean lines and interesting futuristic touches, such as sleek steel outside and inside counters and booths. During WWI and WWII, women and families started eating at diners. Fast forward to the 1970′ s , the retro diner that was familiar to young and old, brought comfort to a country that was in the midst of conflict with the Vietnam War and changing lifestyles.

Sharing this food memory with you has taken me back to a time and place where family, food and fun were all intertwined. I look forward to you sharing your memories with me.