Diners Of New England

Diner food is a characteristic and comforting American cuisine. Urban presents some of the best diner recipes from New England, home of the diner concept. He includes profiles of some of the region's finest diners, and other interesting tidbits.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts was birthplace to the burgeoning "night lunch wagon" manufacturing industry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These horse-drawn food carts eventually evolved into classic American diners. For many years, diner builders like the Worcester Lunch Car Company and J.B. Judkins Company operated in the Bay State, while few new diners opened for business after 1960. This left the state with a high concentration of some of the best-preserved diners built during the early to mid-twentieth century, including the Capitol Diner in Lynn, the Route 66 Diner in Springfield and Buddy's Diner in Somerville. Eatery historian Larry Cultrera discusses this appetizing history and the not-be-missed items on unforgettable diner menus.

New England is the birthplace of the American diner, and this book brings together the best of them and shares with you their best recipes for comfort food, New England style. Celebrate the food, culture, and funky architecture of these scrappy culinary icons with recipes, color photos, interviews with owners, and heartwarming stories from a broad array of customers. Diners were born in New England (Rhode Island, to be exact), and they have a long and colorful history as local eateries of distinction because of both their menus and their buildings. Though many diners have gone by the wayside in the past half century, there are still plenty around, and each has at least a dish or two for which they’re best known and that keep customers coming back year after year. The New England Diner Cookbook celebrates every facet of these diamonds in the rough. Along with diners that have perfected the tried-and-true items like corned beef hash, clam chowder, and malted milkshakes, many have developed relatively sophisticated menus that include distinctly New England delicacies like Lobster Chow Mein, Butterscotch Indian Pudding, and Portobello Mushroom Fries.

Maps pinpoint locations. Comprehensive listings for each region. Includes diner styles and manufacturers.

If you know where to look, you'll find the greatness of the golden age of neon in New England. If you don't, here's your chance! The golden age of neon in New England lasted more than 30 years, from the dark days of the Great Depression through the go-go years of the 1960s, but its spectacular legacy remains. With dozens of original color photographs and informative text, New England Neon takes armchair travelers--and nostalgia lovers--up and down the main streets and back roads of the region, from the shores of Lake Champlain to the tip of Cape Cod. Photographed and written by Susan Mara Bregman, the volume celebrates the style and exuberance of these one-of-a-kind creations in Boston and Brattleboro, Kittery and Cranston, New Haven and Weirs Beach. Evoking an era when New England glowed at night, the book might make you want to go candlepin bowling or grab a hot wiener and a coffee milk.

Over twenty thousand miles of highways and main streets crisscross the state of Connecticut, inviting hungry travelers and locals into the more than one hundred diners that dot the roadways. Among these eateries are some of the most prized American classic diners manufactured by such legendary builders as DeRaffele, O'Mahony, Tierney and Kullman. Author Garrison Leykam hosts a road trip to Connecticut's diners, celebrating local recipes and diner lingo--order up a #81, frog sticks or a Noah's boy with Murphy carrying a wreath--as well as stories that make each diner unique. Tony's Diner in Seymour still keeps pictures of the 1955 flood to always remember the tragedy the diner overcame. Stories like these--of tragedy, triumph, sanctuary, comfort and community--fill the pages in this celebration of classic and historic diners of the Nutmeg State.