So, what makes a diner a diner?
Server Rita Scott and patron Randy Rhoda at the Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown. A warm welcome is an essential part of the experience.
(BILL POLO/GLOBE STAFF)
September 27, 2007
Richard J.S. Gutman, director and curator of the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales in Providence, said a diner has to be a prefabricated car. "I like the definition of a building that's built in a factory that has a counter with stools, that has food being prepared right behind the counter in front of you.""Diner Don," also known as Don Sawyer, an artist who paints watercolor pictures of diner cars, said homemade food and counter service are important, but what he really values is human contact. You could sit between a homeless person and the governor and it would be a normal diner experience, said Sawyer, whose website is dinerdon.com. "It's probably the most egalitarian of all American institutions," he said. "Everyone's welcome at the diner."For Kathy D'Alessandro, who grew up in her parents' Ted's Diner in Milford, a diner must have classic, homemade food. But there's also a welcoming atmosphere and welcoming hours. "A true diner is a place where all ages can go and break bread together without fear of someone breaking out into a fight," she said. "The other thing about a diner is it needs to be open when you want it to be open." And colorful waitresses don't hurt either, she said.LISA KOCIAN
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
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