The
Orpheum Theatre in Madison, WI is going to show the cult documentary I Like Killing Flies, a film which for me isn't so esoteric since I was in the orbit of the restaurant Shopsin's General Store in the late 80's and early 90's in Greenwich Village. I was pretty friendly with Kenny Shopsin, the restaurant's proprietor and the subject of the film. [Photo: kenny1fx by nycnosh on flickr]
Anyone with a history at Shopsin's is off balance seeing a film, reviews, articles, because Kenny's been hostile to publicity even as he feeds NY media types. He told me he never wants to lose the neighborhood feeling of the place to a crowd of tourists. Of course -- a room full of regulars also gives the man the journalist Linda Ellerbee used to call "The Philosopher King Of Morton Street" an opportunity to hold court. [Photo: avocado milkshake by roboppy on flickr]A Shopsin's Memory: Carl Bernstein was there one night and as he was leaving my friend David gave a small wave and said THANKS FOR WATERGATE!
To get a feel for Kenny, first look at the restaurant's
menu, offering over 900 selections, all scratch-cooked by him. I've personally seen him refuse to serve a guy who picked up this menu and asked WHAT’S GOOD?A Shopsin's Memory: Once John F. Kennedy Jr. walked in, or I should say, rollerbladed in. This was in his Assistant District Attorney days. I have to say, a better looking human being I've never seen. Kenny's wife, Eve, thought so too. To crack me up (and express her innermost thoughts?), she made obscene tongue gestures behind JFK Jr's back for as long as it took him to eat his soup.
Here are six clips from the movie. Much is made of the rules at Shopsin's, especially NO PARTIES LARGER THAN 4. A whole mythology, including a poem, has grown around this rule. But Kenny once told me the reason he originated it. I don't know if it's public knowledge so I'm not saying. I think he enjoys being misapprehended as arbitrary, mean, eccentric, but the real reason is thoughtful and respectful of his customers. [Photo: inside the ebelskiver (spherical pancake) by roboppy on flickr]
A Shopsin's Memory: In the middle of my chemotherapy the phone rang and it was Kenny inviting me to hang out at the restaurant whenever I was up to it, without having to eat. He suspended a rule for me. I could never resist ordering something.
Calvin Trillin is a Shopsin's regular who, regrettably, I never got a chance to meet. Kenny finally consented to let Trillin write about the restaurant. Don't Mention It: The Hidden Life And Times Of A Greenwich Village Restaurant appeared in the April 15, 2002 New Yorker.
A Shopsin's Memory: The walls have original artwork contributed by patrons. My favorite is a cartoon of Kenny stabbing a health department inspector with a chef's knife.
The film keys on the restaurant's forced move from its 32-year home at the corner of Bedford and Morton Streets in New York. I've been to the new place only once and I'm a little nostalgic for the old one. But Kenny -- uncensored, confrontational, imaginatively indulgent, and in my experience, a totally authentic human being -- is certainly a moveable feast. [Photo: kenny2fx by nycnosh on flickr]
Tiltmom, 2:22 PM
My kids have made it all too clear that my skivvers -- while a damn sight better than those made by their father -- are not up to snuff.