April 28, 2005

HoJo's

Who'd have thought that Jacques Pépin spent 10 years working at Howard Johnson's?

Travelling across country in 1962, we stayed at a lot of Howard Johnson's motels, compete with the orange rooves. It may have been at a HoJo's that I finally overcame my dislike of green salad, astonishing the hell out of my parents, who'd been trying to persuade me it was good (not just good for you) for years. Even then it had to be drowning in Thousand Island dressing for me to eat it, but nonetheless, eat it I did.

Anyway, the HoJo's in Times Square is closing, and it's caused both M. Pépin and me to dredge up some memories.

Posted by Linkmeister at April 28, 2005 12:01 AM
Comments

Yes, Linky,
I read the Pepin article. I found it very interesting, especially that Mr. Johnson evaluated the eaterys on a regular basis.
I used to love their fried clams when I was younger. They would probably do me in now...

Posted by: Toxiclabrat at April 28, 2005 09:34 AM

Yeah, I listned to the audiobook of Pepin's book and learned about this. It was pretty entertaining!

Posted by: Lisa Williams at April 28, 2005 10:17 AM