Posted on 05/17/2011 11:04:27 AM PDT by Red Badger
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Elaine’s, the Famous Eatery, Will Close After 47 Years Elaine’s, the Famous Eatery, Will Close After 47 Years 420x316-alg_elaine_kaufman4 05/17/11 12:27pm Roger Friedman 0
I am sad to report that Elaine’s will close next Thursday after 47 years. Diane Becker, the manager who inherited the restaurant from my dear friend, Elaine Kaufman, called to give me the news this afternoon. Facing a long summer, Diane felt that she couldn’t make it without Elaine sitting in the dining room, greeting guests and friends every night. The closing will be a blow to the regulars, to the past customers, to the neighborhood on the way upper East Side. But restaurants so identified with their owners never survive for long without them. Toots Shor’s is a case in point. The ’21 Club’ goes on, but no one is really identified with it anymore. For the next week, Elaine’s will be like another sitting shivah– Elaine died on December 3rd. In three weeks, I will celebrate my own birthday for the first time in fifteen years somewhere else. Elaine’s now becomes an official part of New York history and lore, never ever to be forgotten.
PS A memorial service for Elaine was being planned and still is for late June. Details to come.
Big Shot
Artist(Band):Billy Joel
Well, you went uptown ridin’ in your limousine
With your fine Park Avenue clothes
You had the Dom Perignon in your hand
And the spoon up your nose
Ooh, and when you wake up in the mornin’
With your head on fire
And your eyes too bloody to see
Go on and cry in your coffee
But don’t come bitchin’ to me
Because you had to be a big shot, didn’t cha
You had to open up your mouth
You had to be a big shot, didn’t cha
All your friends were so knocked out
You had to have the last word, last night
You know what everything’s about
You had to have a white hot spotlight
You had to be a big shot last night
And they were all impressed with your Halston dress
And the people that you knew at Elaine’s
And the story of your latest success
You kept ‘em so entertained
But now you just don’t remember
All the things you said
And you’re not sure that you want to know
I’ll give you one hint, honey
You sure did put on a show
Yes, yes, you had to be a big shot, didn’t cha
You had to prove it to the crowd
You had to be a big shot, didn’t cha
All your friends were so knocked out
You had to have the last word, last night
You’re so much fun to be around
You had to have the front page, bold type
You had to be a big shot last night, Oh oh
Oh Oh whoa whoa oh, Oh Oh whoa who-oo-oo-oo-ah,
Oh Oh Oh whoa whoa oh, Oh Oh whoa.
Well, it’s no big sin to stick your two cents in
If you know when to leave it alone
But you went over the line
You couldn’t see it was time to go home
No, no, no, no, no, no
You had to be a big shot, didn’t cha
You had to open up your mouth
You had to be a big shot, didn’t cha
All your friends were so knocked out
You had to have the last word, last night
So much fun to be around
(LIVE VERSION ON 3RD CHORUS ONLY: “You know what everything’s about”)
You had to have the white hot spotlight
You had to be a big shot last night, Oh oh
Oh Oh whoa whoa oh, Oh Oh whoa.
Big shot … Big shot … Big shot … Mmmm … Big shot … Whoa whoa!
Big shot …
Beat me to it.
To what?..........
Sic transit gloria. :(
Somehow, just SOMEHOW I think my neighborhood will survive the closure of the way overpriced, elitist establishment. Hopefully another Irish bar will open up in it’s place where my friends and I can play beer-pong.
Gloria got sic at Elaine’s?.....
I ate there a couple of times, food was good, but tab was high.
Or a good Chinese Take-Out................
What you said.
Are you saying that Elaine’s, the famous eatery, will close after 47 years?
No, I’m saying that Elaine’s, the famous eatery, will close after 47 years.............
Ambiance is expensive................
Gloria barfed on the subway yesterday?
Looks like Stone Barrington and Dino are about to go on diets.
Big deal.
Toots Schorr’s, Jack Dempsey’s, and Sparks is gone too.
They had much better food, and Spark’s was where Big Paulie Castellano got it.......
All things must come to an end...........
Yeah, where *are* they gonna eat? Opening a book with the line “Applebees, late” just doesn’t have the same ring to it...
Okay, maybe “Ruths Chris, late.”
That song is the only reason that I ever even heard of Elaine’s.
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