The Countertop

The Diner Holocaust

Category: Preservation

Published on Wednesday, 15 February 2012 14:50

Written by Randy Garbin

As a fan of not only diners, but also of design, quality, history, and heritage, few things crush my heart more than seeing that photo of the once-pristine diner where its owners have seen fit to completely obliterate all those traits that made us fall in love with such places. You cannot, of course, turn back the clock, but if at any moment I wish I had Superman's powers to reverse time, I would have moved it back a month to just before the point just before the worker applied the crowbar to the Deepwater's facade.

In the twenty-odd years of Lou-Roc-ian infamy, some have yet to get the message. Some never will, of course, but I have to think that too much of this insult to our landscape comes from simple ignorance. People just don't know better. Perhaps we spread the message a little too well that we have no one left to do proper and affordable restoration work. When faced with the difficulties of finding the right contractor who will properly restore the diner as opposed a more expedient solution to keep the losses to a minimum, the owner walks the path of least resistance. Plus, when the contractor comes up and sells "modernization" because that's all they know, the operator with little or no knowledge or appreciation of the diner's inherent charms and marketing advantages hears a siren song too seductive to resist.

Of course, it doesn't help matters that those of us who carry this torch don't actually work in the business. Who's going to listen to a group of whiney preservationists in numbers too small to fill a Greyhound, and who among themselves can't even seem to get along?

Frankly, I don't get that last part of it. I never did. My original goals for Roadside were pretty simple: Get more people to appreciate diners and get them together to speak with one voice. Sadly, some among us have chosen instead to co-opt this effort for their personal gain, taking more from the community than they have given, and in the process caused a pointless schism that has effectively diminished our collective voice.

Read more: The Diner Holocaust

The Cap City closes

Category: Eat in Diners

Published on Saturday, 28 January 2012 03:07

Written by Randy Garbin

Several news outlets reported today that your last chance to get a meal at the Capital City Diner comes this Sunday. With the opening of a new Denny's a stone's throw away coupled with the diner's ongoing struggles in a marginal neighborhood, co-owner Matt Ashburn finally rests the spatula.

As many already know, Matt and former partner Patrick Carl bought the Avoca, New York Silk City diner on eBay at an inflated price of $20,000, and immediately stumbled into and through repeated hurdles establishing their business in a dicey part of town.

Read more: The Cap City closes

Occupy Main Street for Christmas

Category: The Countertop

Published on Sunday, 18 December 2011 22:32

Written by Randy Garbin

With the passing of yet another tumultuous year, we see the slowly unfolding spectacle of some particularly nasty chickens coming home to roost. I'd like to think that in the face of all this, we as a people hold out hope that our pride, determination, and ingenuity will carry the day.

From where I stand, we live in such troubled times because of a crisis of accountability, a value derived from simple respect for those affected by the actions we take. Every good parent knows to teach their children that bad behavior has consequences, and that rewards come from respecting not only their elders, but their peers as well.

Read more: Occupy Main Street for Christmas

The Kullman I knew

Category: Tribute

Published on Saturday, 10 December 2011 06:34

Written by Randy Garbin

During the last half of the 1990s and into the next century, I had the good fortune of working with Kullman Industries. Thanks to my experience publishing Roadside Magazine, the company hired me to design marketing materials, including their website and a few brochures. I also counted them as a major advertiser in the magazine.

Kullman was the first to build "retro" diners, and the Silver Diner seen here from Rockville, Maryland was the second such unit. The first called the American City Diner they installed not far away in D.C. proper. This Silver Diner is now closed and awaits demolition.

Read more: The Kullman I knew

Remembering Kullman ephemerally

Category: Tribute

Published on Saturday, 10 December 2011 04:50

Written by Randy Garbin

From our modest collection of Kullman ephemera

Sam Kullman watches as an employee cuts the cake during the celebration of his company's first anniversary in 1928.

The newswires announced today that the assets of what we once knew as Kullman Diners, Kullman Industries, and then Kullman Buildings will go up for auction, ending more than 80 years in the diner and modular building business.

Here, we present you with a few images we have in our collection.

Read more: Remembering Kullman ephemerally