The Legacy Continues

Originally Written Between 2017-2020                                

 

It was a beautiful building.  Located on the southeast corner of Broadway and Main Street.  The building housed a restaurant, a bar, and on the second floor a five-bedroom hotel.  My dad was employed there as a bartender.  The owner, Mrs. Hendrickson, was a very good friend to my dad because after a couple of years working for Mrs. Hendrickson, dad bought the building and changed the name to Vogel’s Restaurant, Bar, and Hotel.  This happened in the 1940’s.

 

I remember my mom bringing my brother, Steve, my sister, Joanne, and me to the café many times to have lunch.  We would always sit in the back booth so we wouldn’t disturb the paying customers.  I also remember Steve being so embarrassed and hiding under the booth because of his sisters’ antics.  I was around eight.  Joanne was five.   And Steve was 11.  Joanne and I would take the waitresses pad of paper and take the customers’ orders.  Of course, all of the customers knew who we were and played along with us!  I remember getting tips!  Poor Steve. So embarrassing!  I still giggle just thinking about those days!

 

Mom and dad ran the restaurant, bar, and hotel for many years until one day, a fire broke out in the kitchen and the building was destroyed.  Although devastated, my parents decided to tear down the burned building and rebuild on that site.  The new business became Vogel’s Supper Club.  I have vivid memories of watching mom pick out the dinnerware, silverware, tablecloths, the color scheme and all the other decisions that had to be made prior to the Grand Opening.

 

Dad hired an excellent chef and one of the items I distinctly remember enjoying was called “The Sputnik.”  The Sputnik consisted of a head of cabbage with a small hole on top that housed a can of Sterno.  The chef then placed cocktail wieners on toothpicks and stabbed them all around the cabbage head.  So – it looked like a Sputnik.  One would grab a toothpick and hold the cocktail wiener over the lighted Sterno can.  Just like camping out!  The customers really enjoyed this little appetizer while they waited for their entrees.  

 

I don’t remember eating in the Supper Club very often.  But, my brother, Steve, sure remembered working there!  His job was to stay in the basement and wait for the empty beer bottles to slide down a chute.  He’d then pick up the bottles and place them in the beer cases.  What a awful job!  He came home every night with the smell of beer all over his clothes.  And, if I knew my brother….. probably the smell of beer on his breath, also!

 

Dad sold the Supper Club to a group of seven men around 1960.  They renamed the restaurant Der Lach House.  German food and décor.  Very successful.  But, that building, too, burned down just a few years later.  Various restaurants have since then existed on that same location.

 

Which brings me to today.  My brother’s older son, Brian, has been in the restaurant business for 30 years – starting out as a bus boy and then moving up the management chain ending up being a General Manager for the past 15 years or so.  Brian moved to Scottsdale, Arizona about four years ago.  He decided this spring to realize his dream of owning his own restaurant.

 

Brian’s last name is Vogel.  He could easily continue the Vogel Restaurant chain by naming his restaurant “Vogel’s.”  But, he didn’t.  “Why” you ask?  Well, the word “Vogel” means “bird” in German.  And so, Brian has chosen the name “Raven Gastropub.”  I love it!

 

Next Monday – July 23, 2018 – Norm and I will travel to Scottsdale to attend Brian’s Grand Opening of Raven Gastropub.  In addition to a Grand Opening, Brian intends to sponsor a Fundraiser for Parkinson’s Research in honor of his dad, my brother Steve at his restaurant.  I’m so excited to represent the Vogel family on this wonderful occasion.  My dad would be so proud to see his Vogel restaurant legacy continue.  We’ve come full circle.