Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Another Closing, Another Show


There is a bit of nostalgic news today that once touched my life ... that famous celebrity bistro, Elaine's, is soon closing ... after Elaine (Kaufman) herself died this past December.  See: Elaine's Closing.

Now for the nostalgia -- back when I was single in New York City, I was a bit of a regular at a bar called Tinker's at 74th Street and Second Avenue.  One evening in 1964 at around nine in the evening, a rather heavy-set Jewish woman with horn-rimmed glasses came into this bar and started chit-chatting Tinker (Ward).  They appeared to be close friends.

After a bit, both she and Tinker told most of us bar regulars that we were all invited to go to another bar further uptown ... a bar that this imposing woman was just opening.  We all piled in a few cabs and tumbled out somewhere in the high eighties.  We then previewed what appeared to be another nondescript bar that was about twice the size of Tinkers.  I say “previewed,” because, there were just a few other people in the bar arranging tables and getting ready for the real opening in a day or two.  I took no real notice of the bar’s name.  We were all treated to a few drinks ... I can’t remember who bought, Tinker or this woman ... and then filtered back to Tinker’s to finish our evenings in our usual libertine manner. 

I found out much later, after this new bar had become quite famous, that what we had previewed was “Elaine’s.”  Maybe it was my imagination, but I always felt that the few times I went into Elaine’s thereafter, Elaine would look at me sideways ... like she was trying to remember who I was.  I never told her.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The last time I went there in the early '80, there were separate spaces one for the gawkers and one for the celebs. So we sat in the bar area where Robin Williams preceeded to hit on my, quite beautiful, friend from North Carolina. I am sure he was married at the time (before the nanny).
the wife

George W. Potts said...

Read the comments about Elaine on this N.Y. Times article:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/memories-of-elaine-an-appreciation/

One comment even mentions Tinker.

Anonymous said...

James Allen Ward (Tinker)"s brother was Donald ward the founding partner of Elaines thus the connection.
I worked at Tinkers in '64. At best our crew would be called eccentric and 'of alternate lifestyles'.
In his book "Songs From The Night Before" Tony Tuttle calls Tinkers a "Light-up Bar" I assume refering to thde fact all the help was stoned 100% of the time and mostly drunk the other 70% of the day.

George W. Potts said...

I was at Tinker's most nights during this period ... and I don't remember smelling any Mary Jane. There was plenty of tippling however. And they did have the best burgers on the upper East Side.

Is Tuttle's book worth the read?

Anonymous said...

Sure it's set in Joe Allen's on 73rd and Third.
While not a Pulitzer piece if you played in "The Sandbox" it will bring a smile or two to your face.
Available from internet booksellers for row jeffersonbills or so.
Not unusual to have an open tab at all the joints on the block- Frank Ward's Tinker's, Barry Skolniks Golden '20's, John Cobb's Joe Allens, Joe and Ray Santini's FitzChumley's and The Central Tavern.
DaddyPops chili was the star--
In '64 FitzChumley'd burger was better as was the burger at Sparks on Second ave79/80- English radio host Don Spark had an indoor charcoal grill and The Kessler Sisters Quando-Quando on the Scopeitone!!

George W. Potts said...

For more about Tinker's see: http://purprose.blogspot.com/2012/01/tinkers.html