Never fear-this is not about parking lots and Walmarts and is not an environmental screed; just an example of not knowing what you have until it's gone.
I've been working close to some of my old stomping grounds this week, and had to chuckle today when I drove by the site of a restaurant I worked at in the early 80s. Its name was Victoria Station and it was the brainchild and creation of some students in California. The idea was based on trains and train stations in the UK; maybe the founders were just looking for a reason to go to England and roam around collecting trains and train stuff, because that's just what they did.
One of the several dining rooms was an old railroad car, and the place was loaded with railroad signs and memorabilia, sort of like TGIFriday's except all the kitsch was real and came directly from the British Isles. This crazy place just happened to be the best bartending job/restaurant work experience of my life!
I had been tending bar for several years when I got the job; one of my good friends from high school worked there as a waitress and put in a good word for me. I always preferred working at restaurants; clubs were more lucrative, but I didn't want to deal with obnoxious drunks and ear-splitting music. I loved my regulars at happy hour, the people having a drink before or after their dinner, and getting home in time to watch Letterman (back then he was on at 12:30 after Johnny).
Some real characters came to my happy hour; memories of one of them are still with me. Steve was Hungarian and had come over in 1956. I was never sure if he had family here in the US or if they were all back in Hungary, but at some point he had learned the printing trade and owned a printing shop down the street from the restaurant. Steve could down Iced Teas like nobody's business, but he never seemed that drunk-we shared many laughs over the bar! (Yes we know why he could drink like crazy but won't go there here LOL) Mark would come in occasionally after work and we had a blast. Sure, I was working, but enjoying myself too!
One day something happened out in California, and it was all downhill from there. Rumors that the place was going to close swirled around for months, and then the hammer fell. Mark and I came home from a couple days down the shore to find a message on the answering machine; Victoria Station was closing-by the time I heard the message, the place was closed and my job gone. It wasn't until years later, when I had moved on from the the restaurant business, that I realized what I had lost.
So-the title says something about Sportster's and Commerce Bank, and I haven't mentioned either. After they knocked down the train cars, someone hopped on the latest craze and opened a sports bar called Sportster's. I worked there briefly with some of the people from VS, but it was never the same. I moved on to selling real estate and lost touch with everyone except my one friend from high school. We moved down the shore in 1991, so I didn't even drive by the corner anymore. I don't know what happened- maybe another restaurant moved in, maybe not, but eventually a man named Vernon Hill decided he needed a bank there, and put up an antiseptic new building that still sits there today; I've passed it on my travels this week.
Wow-a little trip down memory lane-didn't I warn you that this is really for me anyway? Hope you enjoyed it too!
I've been working close to some of my old stomping grounds this week, and had to chuckle today when I drove by the site of a restaurant I worked at in the early 80s. Its name was Victoria Station and it was the brainchild and creation of some students in California. The idea was based on trains and train stations in the UK; maybe the founders were just looking for a reason to go to England and roam around collecting trains and train stuff, because that's just what they did.
One of the several dining rooms was an old railroad car, and the place was loaded with railroad signs and memorabilia, sort of like TGIFriday's except all the kitsch was real and came directly from the British Isles. This crazy place just happened to be the best bartending job/restaurant work experience of my life!
I had been tending bar for several years when I got the job; one of my good friends from high school worked there as a waitress and put in a good word for me. I always preferred working at restaurants; clubs were more lucrative, but I didn't want to deal with obnoxious drunks and ear-splitting music. I loved my regulars at happy hour, the people having a drink before or after their dinner, and getting home in time to watch Letterman (back then he was on at 12:30 after Johnny).
Some real characters came to my happy hour; memories of one of them are still with me. Steve was Hungarian and had come over in 1956. I was never sure if he had family here in the US or if they were all back in Hungary, but at some point he had learned the printing trade and owned a printing shop down the street from the restaurant. Steve could down Iced Teas like nobody's business, but he never seemed that drunk-we shared many laughs over the bar! (Yes we know why he could drink like crazy but won't go there here LOL) Mark would come in occasionally after work and we had a blast. Sure, I was working, but enjoying myself too!
One day something happened out in California, and it was all downhill from there. Rumors that the place was going to close swirled around for months, and then the hammer fell. Mark and I came home from a couple days down the shore to find a message on the answering machine; Victoria Station was closing-by the time I heard the message, the place was closed and my job gone. It wasn't until years later, when I had moved on from the the restaurant business, that I realized what I had lost.
So-the title says something about Sportster's and Commerce Bank, and I haven't mentioned either. After they knocked down the train cars, someone hopped on the latest craze and opened a sports bar called Sportster's. I worked there briefly with some of the people from VS, but it was never the same. I moved on to selling real estate and lost touch with everyone except my one friend from high school. We moved down the shore in 1991, so I didn't even drive by the corner anymore. I don't know what happened- maybe another restaurant moved in, maybe not, but eventually a man named Vernon Hill decided he needed a bank there, and put up an antiseptic new building that still sits there today; I've passed it on my travels this week.
Wow-a little trip down memory lane-didn't I warn you that this is really for me anyway? Hope you enjoyed it too!
I just searched for Victoria Station restaurant, and found this website and book by a long-time Victoria Station employee. Turns out that the owners went to Cornell hotel school together and started the restaurant in San Francisco. They also ended up bankrupt-I might just have to buy the book and find out what really happened!
http://www.vicsta.com/
http://www.vicsta.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment