Restaurants with strange owners

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Maybe the most disappointing pizza I ever had was in Copenhagen. Had one a few days later in the little Swedish coastal town of Strömstad that was one of the best I ever had; the restaurant was run by a Greek family.

I thought this was kind of odd. It reminded me of a restaurant in Brussels which specialised in Congolese dishes. I usually ate in a Senegalese restaurant there, because the music was great, but it was closed that day, so I found this other place. The couple who owned the restaurant told me they were from Cameroun. It was the school holidays so, while I was eating, the proprietors' 2 kids were dashing around; a girl of about 9 and a boy of about 7. After a while I noticed that the kids were speaking English, so I stopped the girl in mid dash and asked how come they spoke English. 'We live in London,' she said.

It seems that the parents commuted weekly between London and Brussels, leaving the kids with a relative.

Any other wierd stories about people in strange places?

MG

[sgcim]

I once went to a place with a rather disturbed young woman in Brooklyn, and she introduced me to the owner, who was an even more disturbed older woman. The place was packed with used junk that had no rhyme or reason. I honestly don't remember what (if anything) they served, but when I said I had to go to the bathroom, they pointed me towards an odd looking room.

I went in said room, and found there were no urinals or toilets- just a place on the floor with a grilled opening which you apparently had to piss in. I've had many dreams (nightmares?) about that urination since.

As we sat on used, broken chairs, an incredibly untalented fellow was on some type of makeshift stage, trying to sing "Dock of the Bay". A homeless Rasta mon walked in and asked, "Is this the dock of the bay?", and the crowd yelled at him to leave.

The young woman i was with took it upon herself to twist his arms behind his back, and literally kick the chap into the street.

The entire crowd gave her a standing ovation.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

MG

[Christiern]

I once went to a place with a rather disturbed young woman in Brooklyn, and she introduced me to the owner, who was an even more disturbed older woman. The place was packed with used junk that had no rhyme or reason. I honestly don't remember what (if anything) they served, but when I said I had to go to the bathroom, they pointed me towards an odd looking room.

I went in said room, and found there were no urinals or toilets- just a place on the floor with a grilled opening which you apparently had to piss in. I've had many dreams (nightmares?) about that urination since.

As we sat on used, broken chairs, an incredibly untalented fellow was on some type of makeshift stage, trying to sing "Dock of the Bay". A homeless Rasta mon walked in and asked, "Is this the dock of the bay?", and the crowd yelled at him to leave.

The young woman i was with took it upon herself to twist his arms behind his back, and literally kick the chap into the street.

The entire crowd gave her a standing ovation.

A place such as the one you describe had a crowd? Were they health inspectors? They should have been.

[sgcim]

Yeah, looking back, they must have been yuppies, slumming or something. This was in the Slope in the early 90s. My gf said the owner was a schizophrenic.

Another seafood restaurant I played at in another Borough was owned by the scariest looking guy I've ever seen in my life.

He had the same LOVE HATE written on his fingers like DeNiro did in that Mitchum remake,Cape Fear, and he sat there, staring at us when we played. My friend, the pianist on the gig, said he was able to buy the place through some pretty nasty deeds.

It had fine, Italian marble all over the place, and was quite elegant.

When we finished, and were waiting to be paid, there was a lot of screaming, and we saw him chasing a woman (his gf) and then beating the crap out of her. I just got out of there and waited for my friend outside.

I never played there again, but my idiot friend kept playing there. One night, a band we played in was booked to play at a party where someone named Gotti was the guest of honor, and my friend had to cancel the restaurant gig.

The owner said something to him that kept him in his house for an entire month- out of fear.