Cafe basks in its 15 minutes of fame

Voter Marianne Pernold, holding a microphone, asked Clinton the question that triggered an emotional response. (AP Photo)

PORTSMOUTH - The New Hampshire primary is over and the political spotlight has moved on, but Café Espresso, the Portsmouth restaurant where Hillary Clinton had her misty moment, is still basking in reflected glory.

On Jan. 7, Clinton seemed close to tears in front of more than a dozen TV cameras in the cafe while fielding a question from a voter who asked: "How do you do it? How do you keep up?" amid the rigors of campaigning. Some pundits credited the emotional moment for vaulting Clinton to the head of the Democratic field in the next day's election.

Any chance of the cafe cashing in on the moment?

"You didn't see the posting for our chairs on eBay?" David Hadwen said last week. But he was only joking. He said he has no intention of taking advantage of the cafe's current notoriety, though he said one customer suggested he have T-shirts made that read "Café Espresso: Food So Good It Makes You Cry."

Hadwen, who described himself as "manager, owner, and chief bottle washer" of the Islington Street eatery, said business is up significantly since Clinton visited, but he couldn't put a figure on it.

"The image has been shown over and over on the Internet and TV and people are curious," he said. "This could only have happened in New Hampshire. "

Four years ago, candidates Howard Dean and Bill Richardson visited the cafe during the primary "but nothing like this," said Hadwen.

Clinton's visit was not unexpected.

Hadwen said her campaign called the day before and asked if it would be OK for her to meet at the restaurant with a handful of women. He said OK.

The morning of the event he got a call from a representative of "Good Morning America."

"They wanted to know if it would be OK if they brought in cameras. I said, 'Sure, where are you?' They were parked outside."

"Good Morning America" was joined by other news operations and the restaurant was soon filled with about 125 representatives of the print and electronic media from Toronto to Tokyo, along with about 15 cameras and 30 customers.

When Clinton took a seat, the cameras began rolling, strobe lights flashed, and the Secret Service began turning customers away at the door because they feared the restaurant was overcrowded.

"Some people think the event was staged, that she didn't really tear up, but I don't agree," said Hadwen. "I think the emotion was genuine. She was feeling the stress of the campaign. It was interesting to have a front-row seat to a little piece of political history."