A1 Diner: Real Food, Recipes, & Recollections

Published on Sunday, 29 November 2009 14:37

Written by Randy Garbin

by Sarah Rolph

Tilbury House Publishers, Gardiner, Maine
Soft cover, 120 pages, $20.00

In A1 Diner, Sarah Rolph compiles the best recipes from one of the best diners in the Northeast, the A1 Diner in Gardiner, Maine. But that’s not all: She wraps them in heart-warming anecdotes and profiles of customers and owners past and present, and lovingly illustrates them with the fine photography of Jeff Giberson. a

Yet, as a serious diner aficionado, I read these books wondering if they have an appeal to anyone with just a passing interest in the subject, or who never expect to visit Gardiner. Luckily for Rolph and for her readers, the A1 has plenty of lore to enchant even those unfamiliar with the diner or this old Maine mill town.. Take, for instance, original owner Eddie Heald’s decision to perch the A1 on 20-foot steel girders to bring the entrance level with the bridge crossing the Cobbossee Stream Or the more recent opening of the A1 Market To Go, an Italian-inspired ali-mentari where customers can buy wines, cheeses, and other imported foods to take home. To a diner purist this extension may seem incongruous, but only to someone unfamiliar with the diner’s philosophy that raises the standard of comfort food to a new level as well.

Those lucky enough to live nearby can easily sample the extraordinary fare created by Michael Giberson and Neil Anderson, owners since 1987. These meals might include shrimp scampi, Mexican chicken pie, or maybe salmon loaf with egg sauce. Or simply eggs and bacon. Regardless, customers get a meal prepared with a level of care and creativity every diner should emulate.

Rolph approaches the history of the A1 with unusual honesty, documenting in chapter 5, for ex-ample, how Anderson and Giberson’s homosexuality hindered their early acceptance in the community, even as a possible reason for the bank to deny them a mortgage. Today, the food speaks for itself, but a current fan who’s prejudices once kept him away sums it up well: “They put out a good product and they have good service and the rest doesn’t matter.”

True, the A1 Diner is a splendidly preserved example of the Worcester Lunch Car Company at its peak, but without the owners, staff and patrons who have brought it to life, it’s just another building, and buildings don’t necessarily tell the best stories. Rolph has captured everything that a great diner--and especially the A1--is truly all about: history, food, and its role as the heart and soul of a community.

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