Donald Hiscock | Articles | Essentially America
Diners
The word ’diner’ to English ears
conjures up an image of a particular American world set somewhere in the past,
one part myth and two parts reality. Easy on the nostalgia and hold those
fake retro fittings.
Entering the shiny metal and neon world of some
of America’s diners and glancing at the menu will have you flipping
for a glossary of terms. If you end up ordering a Stack with Vermont and a
Blonde with Sand then you are doing all right. But it is worth ordering Adam
and Eve on a Raft, wreck’em, and a spot with a twist.
Confused? You don’t have to be. Top up
that coffee mug and take a journey through the great American diner experience.
Plain and simple grilled food is what you get
in a diner. But it is more than just a place to eat. Enter a diner and you
enter a scene from an American movie. The celluloid loners, romantics, gangsters
and women on the run have all been here. With a little imagination you can
appreciate the endless dramatic possibilities a diner holds.
For the purposes of my own personal road movie
I am only really interested in the classic diners. They are recognisable by
their railroad car shape. Long and thin, they seat the customer close to the
action. There are no cheap seats in a diner, no restricted views. You are
in a Technicolor, widescreen world.
My journey is in the form of a triple bill,
from coast to coast in the space of a day. We will take breakfast in New England,
lunch in the midwest and dinner close to the Pacific.
Burlington, Vermont is a fine place to be on
a cold bright morning. I aimed for a close up on Henry’s Diner on Bank
Street. Its wooden interior was home to a cross section of Burlington folk.
Men in caps, lumberjack shirts and work boots sat at the counter talking and
laughing. Next to them people in business suits. At the tables sat lone characters
with their private stories. I had the basis of a good thriller here.
The roar of steam, the folding of newspapers,
the radio singing and the clatter of rapidly served breakfast plates defined
the feel of the place. The smell was everything I hoped it would be. This
was Vermont after all, so the sweet aroma of maple syrup tickled my nostrils
and made up my mind for me. I went for the big stack of pancakes.
I failed to consume the entire stack. Call me
a limey wimp, but I don’t care. These mammoth diner breakfasts are the
one time when I am happy to revel in defeat. You need to be able to burn up
a lot of calories in a morning before you are ready for lunch. But let’s
head west to Michigan for feature number two.
Rosie’s Diner in Rockford is run by artist
Jerry Berta. He has another diner next door that he uses as his studio. Rosie’s
has featured in many films and TV programmes and is famous in its own right
for being featured as itself in a television commercial for a brand of kitchen
towel.
Rosie’s is a classic shiny diner, shaped
like a railroad car with curved glass bricks at each corner. It was built
in 1946 by the famous paramount Dining car company, The distance from the
door to the counter is but a few strides. Within seconds you can be seated
and offered coffee by one of the pink uniformed waitresses.
“ Do you want to buy a diner?” Jerry
asked when he saw me admiring one of his ceramic diner teapots on display
in the studio.
“ How much are these?”
“ No, a real diner. Rosie’s is up
for sale,” he said.
After having the tour of his studio and then
retiring to the diner for lunch Jerry explained over a chicken salad and coffee
that he wanted to spend more time on his sculptures. There was obviously not
a lot wrong with the food side of his operations as the numbers coming through
the door seemed to confirm. But that was the problem. Jerry was spending too
much time working in the diner itself rather than on his diner-themed art.
While he waits to find a buyer for the well preserved shiny diner people keep
coming out from Grand Rapids to eat. I had found the perfect setting for a
family drama.
Evening is the best time for photographs as
the diner faces west. The large red neon sign on the roof glows in the dusk
as the building reflects the sun back into the parking lot. It is a near perfect
vision for those in search of diner nirvana.
If Jerry Berta has taken the classic diner and
declared it art then take a look at what is happening over in San Francisco.
A city renowned for its cuisine has also accepted the diner’s place
in American culture. But for the third part in our movie trilogy expect a
twist in the plot.
Down on Lombard Street where it forms part of
the busy Highway 101 is Mel’s Drive-in. This is the variation on the
diner, where the American love affair with the car meets that other great
passion, for fast food. And a visit to Mel’s will take you to the place
where some of the scenes in the movie “American Graffiti’ were
filmed.
Mel’s Drive-In has a bright interior,
with booths down one side and tables either side of a central counter. Every
table has its own juke box selector and the records come cheap at a quarter
each. The place attracts those drawn by the American Graffiti associations
and those who are obviously filling up on their way out someplace for the
evening. Ironically, they do not provide a drive-in service nowadays.
All your diner food favourites are served here
but the reminders of the film and the 1960s are all around you. This is bordering
on the diner as a theme park. You expect the waiters to burst into song. But
burger, fries and Californian merlot might strike those diner purists back
on the east coast as just too fancy.
Go to the Embarcadero near Pier 35 and you will
get really fancy food served up inside a restaurant made to look like a diner.
This is the twist you were waiting for. The Fog City Diner has its own bar
and smart business crowd that makes it more than just 3,000 miles away from
Henry’s in Vermont. It makes the diner decidedly new wave. Here you
can order blue fin tuna and rocket salad.
You might have to wait in line for some time
at The Fog City Diner, so it is best to book ahead. Sitting at the cocktail
bar offers a good vantage point to survey the creative types from nearby design
practices and also staff from the headquarters of Levi-Strauss which is only
a few blocks away. Although the place looks like a diner, it feels more like
a trendy Californian restaurant.
But we are in a fitting location for the end of the journey. The lure of the diner taps into the psyche of all sections of the American population. Its style is imitated and re-cycled. From budget to fine dining it stands as the quintessential American eatery. Like any good film it has mass audience appeal. And it is happening at an American city near you. Enjoy the show.
Essentially America
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