![]() ![]() The now 77-year-old poet and singer Edward Sanders remembers attending his first Gaslight reading in 1958 as a young NYU student. Officially, 110 people were allowed, but Mitchell often crammed in way more. Not only Ginsberg and Kerouac, but also LeRoi Jones (later Amiri Baraka), Gregory Corso, Bob Kaufman, Hugh Romney and Diane di Prima were among those who read for an often packed house. A year earlier, Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl had reached national recognition as the result of a widely publicized obscenity trial and Jack Kerouac’s On The Road had finally made it into print. ![]() The Gaslight in the late 50s, with Liz’s 65-cent hamburgers advertised in the window of Caricature (© Photo-File Service)Īt the Gaslight, Beat poets would showcase their radiating works of non-conformity, sex, spirituality and drugs. It followed earlier Greenwich Village artist hubs like Pfaff’s, frequented by Walt Whitman, and Cedar Tavern, where Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning hung out. Initially dubbed the Gaslight Poetry Café, the basement between 3rd Street and Bleecker in one of New York’s most eccentric neighborhoods, soon became a fixture of Manhattan’s bohemian life. Liz would serve many a hungry performer her 65-cent hamburgers even when they were flat broke and was, understandably, widely loved.Īfter finally opening up, Mitchell invited poets to entertain his coffee-sipping crowd. He kept alcohol off the menu, allowing the Gaslight to stay open throughout the night. “Mitchell was the world’s foremost maniac,” blues and folk singer Dave Van Ronk writes in his memoir The Mayor of MacDougal Street, supporting his friend Liz, who ran the small restaurant above the Gaslight called Caricature. ![]() His do-it-yourself approach had made a mess of his neighbor’s plumbing, however, and resulted in the first of many confrontations. After a year he finally got permission to open up, but this troublesome relationship with the authorities would continue to pester the coffee house throughout its existence.Īccording to legend, Mitchell had dug out the accumulated dirt himself in an attempt to make the seven-foot basement a bit more accessible. Since then, an antique store, a plumbing warehouse and several different workshops quickly succeeded one another, as Mitchell argued in a letter that was intended to convince the municipality of the fact that the venue had been used for non-residential purposes before. Throughout the 1920s and ‘30s, the cellar had served as a speakeasy for a mostly gay and literary clientele, frequented by the notorious Jazz Age poet Maxwell Bodenheim, among others. Back in 1957 he had found a shallow basement on MacDougal Street in an 1883 landmark building and saw its potential. That owner was a man named John Mitchell. The wine list is nice, and they have a good complement of other drinks, including some lovely ports for dessert.The stairs that led down to the Gaslight (© Hannah Mattix) In this case, I would have called what I got much closer to medium rare the inside of the steak wasn't pink, but much closer to red. And the steak? Melt-in-your-mouth tender! I always order medium, and it's interesting these days to see what that means to the chef. I had scallops in bacon butter sauce for my appetizer, and they were delicious! The scallops were cooked perfectly: tender, flavorful, and oh so tasty. Beyond that, there's food! It's a steakhouse, of course. The decor is very reminiscent of the burlesque days, with an emphasis (not terribly heavy) on deep, plush reds, as you would expect. They are attired in stereotypical burlesque outfits: one piece outfits that offer an obvious yet respectable amount of cleavage, with fishnet stockings and not too much lace or frills. The waitresses are, well, the reason for the oooo la la title. The waiters are all wearing formal attire - tuxedoes without the jackets. (You're in the home city of Hugh Hefner, remember!) There are plenty of different seating options, including a small semi-private room right at the entrance comfortable booths and a seating area around the bar with a piano and live entertainment. It's a classic old steakhouse, and intentionally invokes the burlesque era. The Gaslight Club is an old, family owned restaurant on the property of the O'Hare Hilton in Chicago. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |