Stamford Scribes

Stamford Nostalgia (III) – Food

Let's see, what do I miss …

The popovers at Chimney Corners.

The Atlantic Market. Originally on Atlantic Street close to where Tresser Blvd. is now. Urban redevelopment sent the market (and his neighbor Karp's Hardware) to Hope Street. Ernst (as in Ernst Buggisch) Senior was the original "German butcher," and not only would he prepare German-style meat cuts, he would give you the recipe also. Good turkeys with the recipe too, come Thanksgiving. And then there was all that German imported food, especially around Christmas time. And he had a local baker at hand with excellent pastries. Later, he opened the Heidelberg, and I found this write-up in the Times from 1989: DINING OUT; 'Teutonically Inspired' Fare in Stamford. Alas, Ernst eventually retired to North Carolina. His son Ernst ran the market for a while, but then got into the restaurant business, and sold the store. It closed a few months ago, not much lamented. Now I'll have to hunt around for a decent Christmas Stollen …

La Bretagne in its heyday. We used to know one of the owners (name escapes me) when he was maitre-d' at the Country Kitchen. He and his partner opened the restaurant in the Town & Country shopping center, replacing a Chinese place. The best meal for my German boss Gottfried and me was the Steak Tartare. They would prepare it at one's table, with a choice of spirits … this of course was before the time that everyone became health conscious about "raw" food. And the cheese came always at room temperature. They catered Gottfried's wedding too. The restaurant later moved to the post road, close to the Greenwich border, and is still there today, under a different management.

The Country Kitchen on Long Ridge Rd. In the olden days, it had an excellent chef, and the then owner, a Mr. Sendele, was an even better one, which we discovered when we had booked a small but important private party and the chef was sick, and Sendele took over the kitchen.

While this is not actually Stamford, my very first dining out in this country was at Emily Shaw's. But then again, Pound Ridge originally was part of Stamford.

And then there was Hugo's …

Retail Nostalgia (II)

All this nostalgia thing, BTW, started when I posted Holding a book in one's hand before buying and Anne and I bemoaned the long ago demise of independent bookstores in Stamford, and we went on a roll talking stores in general. Although we are a generation apart, there are a number of places we both miss. Such as the Cheese Shop in the High Ridge Shopping Center…today, you'll have to drive to Darien to get the same kind of personal service, and it's closer for Anne than for me.

Back to independent bookstores: The Barrett Bookstore, now in Noroton, started out in Stamford, on Summer Street, in the free-standing building just below what was then the Stamford YWCA (of which I also have a memory, for another day). I was a steady customer there. The advent of the Mall drove the store to the High Ridge Shopping Center, to a cozy little place which David Rose took over from a little old lady who was ready to retire. And then came Bassett Books (now Borders), and that was soon the end it, and Barrett's moved to Darien.

 
The Phonograph Shop (click to enlarge and look for the Magnavox sign)

Similarly, the Phonograph Shop on 66 Broad Street, around the corner from Summer Street, was an early casualty of the Mall. The owners were James Perez and Richard Sorenson, though I don't remember anymore who was who. But whoever it was, he was a friend in need! I'd see a music review in the Times and would walk over to order the record, and James (or Richard?) would say, "Oh, I got that for you already!"

 
Sherry, Wine & Spirits (click to enlarge)

Another friendly couple were the Rubinsteins, mother and son, who ran Sherry, Wine & Spirits on Bedford Street, about where the Capriccio Café is now. The son dispensed sage advise on wine; and over a cup of coffee or two, Mrs. Rubinstein and I would talk classical music, endlessly …

So, what are your memories?

Photos courtesy The Stamford Historical Society.

Retail Nostalgia

Make a Smilebox photobook

I've lived in Stamford a long time. Long enough to remember when this was a place where independent storefronts could do well, before every mall and shopping center in America became exactly the same.

It was back then that Stamford had two side-by-side shopping centers: Ridgeway and Town and Country. When I was a pre-teen, it was a huge rite of passage to be unleashed on these shopping centers with $10 or $20 of babysitting money burning a hole in your pocket. Eventually, Ridgeway became a more generic strip mall that is identical to those found in every other town across America, with the world's most insane parking lot, and Town and Country was razed to become a hotel.

But anyone who lived in Stamford back then probably has fond memories of a few of the places within these centers—businesses that would be unlikely to thrive in today's consumer climate, with high retail rents that allow only big chain stores into accessible shopping center storefronts instead of a more interesting mix of chain and indie. So let's take a walk down memory lane; a walk that doesn't include having to navigate the currently insane Ridgeway parking lot by car.

What kid or teen in the 70s or early 80s in Stamford didn't have ...

a customized iron-on t-shirt from The T-Tree in 40 Boutiques?

a fringed leather bag from ... that store that sold the fringed leather bags and western-style belts?

a pile of books and records to exchange for another pile of books and records at the Record and Book Exchange?

happy memories of Major the myna bird in the candy store?

a story of getting yelled at for peeking at naughty greeting cards in Pilgrim Stationery?

a steady history of birthday cakes from the Cottage Bake Shop? (These cakes, as far as my sisters and I are concerned, set the gold standard for birthday cakes and have been unmatched since, though we are still searching for an adequate replacement these many years later.)

a job at at least one of the stores? (Me: Waldenbooks, plus a brief gig selling kitchen supplies at a sidewalk sale for the culinary shop that used to be on Sixth Street)

a first Major Embarrassing Purchase at Syl-May?

a thrill upon going in through the turnstile at Discount Records?

a birthday party outfitted by paper goods at Paper Palace? (perhaps stopping for fries at the lunch counter after making the stressful choice of party supply theme)

a feeling of really, truly, actually being in a streetside cafe in New Orleans or even --- gasp! --- Paris! --- while having lunch in the cafe at 40 Boutiques?

a memory of sitting at a wee wooden table at the Union Trust, flipping through Little Golden Books while enjoying a lollipop?

several pairs of shoes (and balloons) from Barry's? (Barry's was the last holdout from the Glory Days of Summer Street shopping, but sadly the store closed in 2007, just before my son was old enough to need his first pair of shoes)

a Halloween pumpkin or a Christmas tree from Franco Gardens?

a deep fascination with the rolling conveyor belt that carried your groceries out of Gran Central Market so you could pick them up out back?

an undying wish to ride the mechanical ponies outside Sears, no matter what your age?

What are your memories? Please share!

All photos courtesy of the Stamford Historical Society.

Touching Soggy Trucks

While Irene spent her weekend taking in the symphony, I spent mine shepherding my determinedly enthusiastic little boy through the Stamford Historical Society's annual "Touch a Truck" event. Unfortunately, the rain started pouring down just as we arrived.

Still, a cheerful Stamford firefighter gave Sam a fire hat, explained this year's Fire Prevention Week theme, and helped him climb up into the truck. Sam also checked out one of the Glenbrook fire station's historic trucks, which had no roof, so he sat right on the wet bench. Just like actual historic firefighters would have had to do on a rainy-day call! Meanwhile, even the most truck-enthusiastic adults huddled under a tent.

The weather was a bummer, to say the least, as this event is a great one for the Historical Society. The good news for Sam was that there wasn't a whole lot of competition for coveted behind-the-wheel time, since most [sane] people bolted when the rain started.

Considering Glenbrook

More than 70 years ago, Whitman Bailey sketched a view of Church Street in Glenbrook, in which both the artist and a marvelously-hatted woman are gazing toward hope. Or, rather, toward Hope Street. What might they have been thinking? Bailey's accompanying essay reads, "Old Church Street, which dates back to those days when this highway was a rural winding road, is now one of the busy centers of Glenbrook, for on this present thoroughfare is the large and attractive building of the Union Memorial Church and also numerous up-to-date stores lie within a stone's throw of this immediate neighborhood."  He concludes, "Although Glenbrook has grown extensively in the past 10 years, it is still a friendly little village and a place where one always loves to visit."

Yesterday, I stood in approximately the same spot and captured the same view. I wasn't wearing anything nearly as fabulous as the woman in the hat, though now I think I have my fall fashion wish list set. 

But I was gazing toward Hope Street, and thinking about the neighborhood where I now live. So for my inaugural Stamford Scribes blog post, I thought I'd build a bit upon Mr. Bailey's Glenbrook musings.

Although Glenbrook has grown extensively in the past 73 years, "it is still a friendly little village and a place where one always loves to visit." I live here now, although I was barely aware of Glenbrook during the years when I was growing up across town.

Mostly, what I love to do is wander the streets of Glenbrook and just ... consider it. Much as Whitman Bailey has done in his sketch, and much as his subjects in the image seem to be doing as well. My favorite time to do this is in the evenings, just as it's starting to get dark, and the streets are quieter but not abandoned. In fact, Glenbrook evenings are characterized by a sort of quiet energy; I'm often out walking or running along with several other walkers (with or without dogs), runners, strollers, seekers of late-night doughnuts, take-out-dinner picker-uppers, and revelers at Monster B's. It's satisfying to wander the sidewalks of this friendly little village with its variety of happenings and its pockets of beautiful old architecture.

Sometimes I think that Glenbrook is Stamford's best-kept secret. Perhaps even Stamford's neighborhood of the future. It's a walkable village, after all, with  sidewalk access to public transportation and just about everything else you need to live, play, and eat. (Even if you're a parrot!) Studies show that neighborhoods with high walkability are increasingly more valuable; they command higher real estate prices in many (most?) areas (except Stamford, apparently) and experts say that the future trends in real estate are toward the mixed-use, walkable village. 

That's good news to me. And it's good news for Glenbrook, which I hope will be rising to the occasion. A long-range vision exists for Glenbrook and Springdale to enhance these livable, walkable villages. Is it a plan or simply a vision? That I don't know, but I'll be keeping my eye on it. The plan would bring the neighborhood back full circle to the view Bailey had of it, and the view I still see when I take my time to wander its streets.

I mostly hope the plans include bringing the obelisk back to Church Street.

Whitman Bailey sketch courtesy of the Stamford Historical Society.