Word: diners
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Simply arriving at a Larry Ellman restaurant can be a challenge to belief. A diner bound for Manhattan's Orangerie, for instance, can be picked up and delivered at the restaurant by a customer-service Citroën painted all over with orange blossoms. In the foyer he passes a concierge ready to order theater tick ets or call home to see if the wife and children are O.K. Seated on a black vinyl banquette beneath the leaves of a plastic orange tree, he swills down a triple martini poured from a Boodles bottle and served in a pitcher...
Stagecoach Rides. Ellman's flair for this sort of thing, based on a canny assessment of the average diner, has made him one of the most successful restaurateurs in the U.S. Starting with a $2,000 investment in ten Coke machines in 1949, Ellman built up a thriving vending-machine and cafeteria business that he sold for $50,000 in 1958. He then sank the proceeds into a modest Man hattan steak house. He redecorated it in dude-ranch western, renamed it the Cattleman, promoted it fiercely with various gimmicks, including free stage coach rides for the kiddies...
Later on in the summer the keys were not handed across the counter, and the waitresses in the diner were not on duty, but that first evening the Fates (or whoever controls such things) were smiling...
...almost time to go home when the sun comes up. First there's a 5 a.m. breakfast in the local all-night diner, where the waitresses groan as they see Shorty bringing up a truckfull of oil-oozing smudgers ("Oh God the smudgers-- close up quick"). Then back to the groves to put out the pots and clean up the ones that have exploded. The darkness is over now and so is all the mysterious excitement of the smudgepot fire-dance. The smudgers are tired and dirty, and maybe beginning to think that they won't be around when...
Paradoxically, the ultimate is the talking menu. Instead of relying on the nonsensical literary sell, a waiter recites what the chef will offer that day. All very well; if the diner is not familiar with a dish, he has merely to inquire. However, in a few fancy restaurants, the answer is chillingly familiar. "This, monsieur, is a delicate blend of exotic ingredients...