2011, photo by reader Beck O.
A mix of Grouse Scotch, Cynar, and Cocchi Americano, a trendy aperitif among "craft" bartenders, the drink is listed at the bottom of the cocktail menu, under the Black Squirrel Old Fashioned (an ode to a motel in Wisconsin), where it replaces the Mr. Graves Pendleton cocktail--"The spirit of the South and our pal Alex's grandpappy."
The Fedora Dorato's tagline reads: "The spirit of the West Village." It's named after the longtime owner of this once legendary place, recently deceased.
It costs $12 (like all the cocktails on the menu), just $1.95 less than the old Fedora's dinner special, which included appetizer, entree, salad, dessert, and coffee.
2010
Further reading:
Fedora's Goodbye
A Night at Fedora
A Regular Remembers
Faux-dora
Fedora's Last Days
Fedora Returns
Oscar & Fedora
It doesn't make these guys not jackasses, but it's nice that they are at least doing something to acknowledge the legacy of the woman on whose back they have built their hipster joint. Is it enough? No. Is it something and at least a grudging sign of respect? Yes.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe it's just a sop to try to shut some of us up. Who knows.
Cheers.
Al
No.
ReplyDeleteSorry, this doesn't make me feel any better.
They've never shown an ounce of respect to either Fedora's restaurant or her clientele.
This is just more marketing...they're still co-opting someone else's history.
I don't think it honors her memory since they don't even acknowledge who she was on the menu. A more fitting tribute would be a picture of her in the bar with a plaque saying that she along with her husband was the founding owner.
ReplyDeleteIt's garbage and a rip off. Oh well, the clients are dumb and tacky so it works. The spirit of the West Village indeed.
ReplyDeleteMarty -
ReplyDeletethere is a photo of Fedora in the center of the bar. there is also an original caricature of Henry hanging in the restaurant as well.
@Anonymous 9:12 PM: I didn't see them the time I was in there, but it's nice that they put those up. What's not nice is what they've done to the place. If they wanted to truly honor her memory they would've held true to the two things they promised her they'd do, leave the original sign and close early during the week.
ReplyDeleteSorry to correct you, but they never promised to leave the original sign up. It's in the garden and it's falling apart. It was unsafe.
ReplyDeleteThey also never promised to close early during the week. Fedora, herself, was at the Community Board 2 meeting to support the current hours. Fedora never closed early when Henry was alive and when the restaurant was in its heyday...Fedora used to leave the restaurant around 12:00am and Henry used to come up later, sometimes, much later. The original liquor license had no hours at all and sometimes he used to stay late and then go to breakfast at Katz's with the bar regulars.
Fedora drank scotch so I suppose this is an updated version of what she would be drinking.
@Anonymous 1:08 PM: You're not really correcting me, you're correcting what Fedora told me when I spent an afternoon with her shortly before it closed. You can read it right here and look at the pictures of the sign in the post, it doesn't look too dangerous in those photos. And I know for a fact she often closed at 11:00 PM.
ReplyDeleteMarty,
ReplyDeleteI know you mean well, but doesn't it occur to you from the comments that I must know what I'm talking about when it comes to Fedora from all the inside information I have. Yes, she closed at 11:00pm because there was no business, but when the business was in its' prime, it stayed open much later. I know. I was there. Nobody is co-opting anyone's history, they are trying to make their own. The family is very happy with Gabe Stulman as the new owner. So maybe it's time to give it a break. Fedora loved Gabe and Gina. She was even thinking about them when she was in the nursing home in her final days.
@madstarsilver: All I'm doing is stating what Fedora told me. I posted that in 2010. Has that occurred to you? You seem awfully defensive and somewhat passive/aggressive. You have "inside information" and I have words that Fedora said to me in the summer of 2010. And you have the new Fedora and Gabe. Good luck with all of that.
ReplyDeleteAllow me to introduce myself, Amanda, her granddaughter. It saddens me that when I do a search for my grandma's name, hoping to find a nice article, comment or mention of her, my first result is this.
ReplyDeleteI understand being upset with the way the Village has changed. I am too. I miss what it once was.
But to stay on topic with this particular thread, my grandma would be THRILLED to have a cocktail named after her. Absolutely thrilled. She had scotch smuggled into her at the nursing home. Honestly, this is a terrific tribute and made me smile.
She really liked Gabe and everyone involved in the new Fedora. Gabe, his wife Gina, Brian and everyone was VERY kind to her, and still are to my family. I cant imagine a nicer person to have rented the space out to.
I carry some guilt about not being able to follow in her footsteps and continue her restaurant, but my life has taken a different path.
Do you know what she really wanted, HER dream? What she told me countless times growing up? To retire with my grandfather, and walk hand in hand on the streets with all their free time. When my grandpa passed away, all too young I think, that dream was lost. Had he been alive, they would have closed Fedora years sooner than she did. She continued to work after his death because she knew nothing else.
So while I understand mourning the loss of a neighborhood you once loved, I can't help but feel that your anger or resentment towards the new owners and employees of Fedora is somewhat misplaced. Because I know a lot of asshole restauranteurs and chefs in NYC, and these people are absolutely not part of that group.
Please know my grandma, Fedora, was happy overall with the way things turned out. And again, she would have loved a cocktail named after her.
Some things to note: The original sign was falling apart. Yes, the neon lights worked, but the metal itself was very badly rusted. The person hired to fix it was able to stick his hand through the metal, like it was nothing. Have you considered the fact that Gabe did not need to replace it at all?
The floor in the restaurant is the original floor from the building, what was under layers of that red linoleum on top. If you want to get technical, it is the original floor from Charlie's Garden, and before that too.
The restaurant was in very bad shape, and many structural repairs had to be made.
The original bar is there. They hired amazing craftsmen to recreate the original bar so it could be extended. But the original bar is right there, just with the extension next to it. It is beautiful, and my grandpa would have loved tending bar behind it.
What they could save, they did. Truthfully, they did.
I think they showed a LOT of respect to the restaurant, while making it their own. And they are entitled to do that. As for my grandma's former clientele, I understand it is more expensive, more frilly, and not the same. But I bet, if you went in, they would treat you with respect and kindness. It is certainly not garbage, nor a rip off. The food is very different, but very good.
True, nothing can compare to my grandma's chicken cutlets or soup. And when I joked about this to the chef, he genuinely wanted me to teach him how to make it. Im sure many of you will think he was blowing smoke up my a$$. But I did not get that impression at all.
Truth is, I can't teach him because I could never make it as good as she could. Even in the same kitchen with the exact same ingredients. She was one-of-a-kind in every way. So mourn her loss, and mourn the restaurant's loss like I do. But it's wrong to take it out on Gabe and his crew.
Take care.
Amanda, thank you for taking the time to write. i appreciate your viewpoint and sharing your personal experience. i also understand that your grandmother and your family chose Mr. Stulman to take over the restaurant and were pleased with the results.
ReplyDeleteas a former customer, i miss being able to go there and enjoy the ambiance, and i wonder about all the senior citizens who used to be regulars--the new place is prohibitively expensive and thus not accessible to many people. and that's a sad truth. perhaps inevitable, but worth having strong feelings about.
your grandmother was a lovely lady and she is remembered with fondness by many people.