{"id":110791,"date":"2021-11-21T11:03:02","date_gmt":"2021-11-21T16:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=110791"},"modified":"2021-11-21T11:03:02","modified_gmt":"2021-11-21T16:03:02","slug":"joes-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=110791","title":{"rendered":"Joe’s Restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First, an apocryphal tale.  Way back to a time perhaps in mid-19th<\/sup> century, the Baron de Rothschild was approached by a man on the streets of Paris who pleaded his need for financial assistance.  The good Baron listened attentively to the man\u2019s story and the explanation of the dire circumstances that brought him to ruin.  Moved by the details of woe, and after thoughtful consideration the Baron imparted, \u201cYour story, sir, has moved me greatly, and while I am not prepared to provide recompense, I will walk across the floor of the Bourse with my arm on your shoulder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so it was that Sandy and I recently dined at Constantine\u2019s in Woodbury after my buddy Joe offered high praise of their Saturday Night Prime Rib of Beef Special.  Joe and I go back a few years.  We joined the River Walk Athletic Club a week or so apart, and more importantly, we were both born on February 2, 1950.  So you can well see, that on several levels we are kindred souls:  by sharing life\u2019s experiences & key reference points over the past 71+ years,  by our commitment to mild athletic endeavors, and by sharing an interest in thick-cut standing rib roasts of beef.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are just a handful of eateries in Woodbury, and I would say they are just about evenly split between \u201chigh ticket\u201d and \u201cmoderate ticket\u201d establishments (we have no fast food<\/em> joints).  Constantine\u2019s is shaded  into the modest <\/em>category.   I had only been to Constantine\u2019s for dinner one other time, and that was well over a decade ago.  It was an unmemorable dinner in a dining room devoid of charm.  But since that time, the owner has upgraded both the exterior and interior of the restaurant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these fancy improvements?  Is that why Prime Rib Saturday<\/em> is now featured on their weekly dining itinerary?  Joe advised me that if I wanted to guarantee getting an order of RB I would have to call by Thursday the latest, to reserve<\/em> a slice, because it\u2019s an immediate sell-out.  This I did.  And he wasn\u2019t kidding about the RB selling out.  We were at the restaurant at 5:00PM, and just after we sat down,  a couple (clearly \u201cregulars\u201d since Nancy, the server, greeted them by their first names\u2026 more on Nancy in a bit) and they wanted to order the Prime Rib, too.  Nancy had to deliver the bad news: \u201cSorry, the Prime Rib is sold out\u2026\u201d Cue the frowny face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The restaurant has two dining areas.  To the right as you enter is the \u201cmain\u201d dining room, alluded to above.  And to the left is the bar area, so noted because of its proximity to the postscript sized <\/em>bar that you immediately encounter upon entering the restaurant.  It took only a few minutes to recognize that Nancy was the denizen of the left side of the restaurant.  She checks your res, she takes you to the table, she takes your drink order, makes your drinks, takes your food order, delivers your food, and probably if asked, could whistle the \u201cColonel Bogey March\u201d.All this, in addition to carrying on chit-chat at each and every table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully Joe had prepped me for this circus scene.  He explained that service could be \u201cslow\u201d because it looked like Nancy was the only member of the staff not<\/em> in the kitchen slicing up prime rib.   Joe also noted that Nancy constructed a stupendous Dry Manhattan (more on this anon), which made the wait relaxed and oh so comfortable<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did not have Baron Rothschild\u2019s arm on my shoulder when I went into Constantine\u2019s.  But I did carry Joe\u2019s virtual letter of introduction<\/em> and the name of his server. <\/em> When Nancy approached our table I said simply, \u201cYou must be Nancy, and my good friend Joe says that you make an outstanding Manhattan!\u201d  With this Nancy\u2019s smile beamed with pleasure, \u201cJoe!  You know Joe!\u201d  And then to seal the deal she confirms, \u201cManhattan, straight up!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A brief sidebar here.  Just as a veteran big league fastball pitcher develops an off-speed pitch late in his career to help keep hitters off balance, I have developed a second<\/em> cocktail.  By my most recent calculation, I have consumed 18,743 Tanqueray Martini\u2019s since 1973.  A year or so after Martini\u2019s came into my life Bernie & Kathleen Stone moved into the flat above ours on 96 Mayflower Avenue in Stamford. With them they brought their Irish Setter Sazerac and their love of Manhattan\u2019s.  So my recent decision to add an occasional Manhattan to my repertoire had a distant association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We return to the corner booth in Constantine\u2019s bar.  When I make a Manhattan at home I use Canadian Club whisky, but Joe prefers Maker\u2019s Mark Bourbon.  OK, when in Rome<\/em> (and you know the rest).  This was too easy, \u201cNancy, I\u2019ll have it Joe\u2019s way!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who needs a Rothschild when you have a Joe \u201copening the door\u201d for you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First, an apocryphal tale.  Way back to a time perhaps in mid-19th century, the Baron de Rothschild was approached by a man on the streets of Paris who pleaded his need for financial assistance.  The good Baron listened attentively to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110791"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110792,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110791\/revisions\/110792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}