Famous French Chefs at HoJo's - HuNu?

Who knew that Jacques Pepin and Pierre Franey got their start in America at Howard Johnson's in Queens, NY? In an op-ed piece in Thursday's New York Times, Pepin tells the story of being hired by Howard Johnson himself and cooking up giant quantities of HoJo's famous clam chowder, fried clams and other famous menu items. The piece was prompted by the recent news that the Howard Johnson's in Times Square would close sometime this summer.

It's the 6th most e-mailed article of the day at www.nyt.com (registration required). Once again I curse my lack of computer know how and thus the ability to give you a clickable thread to this article. Hopefully someone will be able to provide it, or e-mail me and I can forward it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/opinion/28pepin.html

I went to the Times Square HoJo's last month ... and it sure dissapointed.

Clearly, Jacque's and Howard's concern for quality is a thing of the past.

And the bar? Hideous.

quote:

Originally posted by signman


It's the 6th most e-mailed article of the day at www.nyt.com (registration required). Once again I curse my lack of computer know how and thus the ability to give you a clickable thread to this article. Hopefully someone will be able to provide it, or e-mail me and I can forward it.

http://www.bugmenot.com/ allows you to bypass compulsory registration and access articles without giving away the farm.

It was common knowledge that the Franch chefs worked at Howard John son's . Franey, especially, has madefrequent reference to his stint there while talking and cooking on TV. Niether got his start at HoJo's . They were both established haut cuisine chefs before going for the big bucks and relatively easy working conditions at Hojo's.

What I find interesting is the concurrance of their presence at HoJo's and the start of the decline and ruin of the business . There may be no connection, but one has to wonder...

BTW: Do I detect the start of a comeback for the company in sighting a few new or newly refurbished HoJo Motels as we travel?

Cheers, John

Unfortunately, the orange roof with the Simple Simon logo has all but disappeared. Few of the restaurants left - among them the one in Times Square - are still called Howard Johnson's (the apostrophe indicates one of the early restaurants). For me, Howard Johnson's reliable, modestly priced food embodies the straightforwardness of the American spirit. It saddens me that New Yorkers looking for this kind of gentleness and simplicity will soon have to find it elsewhere. It won't be easy.


Jacques Pépin is the author, most recently, of "Fast Food My Way."

Read Jacques' memoir The Apprentice. He'll tell you all about his time at Howard Johnson's. It's a well written, entertaining book by the sexiest cook in the world.

I walked past the Times Square HoJos last week and was rather surprised to see it there. Didn't go in, but it was crowded at 5:00PM.
Times Square ain't what it was when I was a kid. I had to walk 5 blocks to find a liquor store!
Top

No, neither Franey nor Pepin acquired the skill and knowledge you have seen or read about working at HoJo's. Nor could they, back then, have acquired those credentials anywhere in this country. It's only within recent years that young cooks in this country have anything remotely resembling the skill set of a Frenchman/woman coming out of a formal apprenticeship over there. And Pepin was forced to look elsewhere because he'd been in a major accident which prevented him from working the 70-80 hr. weeks he'd been used to.

My memory may be faulty, but it seems to me that the decline of HoJo (of which I was never a fan, esp. since I hate clam bellies) dates, according to Pepin, back to the passing of control from Mr. Johnson Sr. to Johnson Jr., who was more of a corporate, bottom-line type.