Thursday, December 29, 2011

A POEM CELEBRATING SHOPSIN'S RESTAURANT


I just watched a terrific Netflix documentary called "I Like Killing Flies" about Shopsin's, a hole-in-the-wall Greenwich Village restaurant that's run by an eccentric cook who's famous for kicking people out when they don't obey "The Rules."

What are The Rules? Only the owner knows, he and a few regulars. One of those rules is the subject of this post: The Party of Five Rule. A New York poet named Robert Hershon wrote a poem about this rule, and it's a falling down classic. I'm going to  memorize it. See what you think....


PARTY OF FIVE
by ROBERT HERSHON


you could put a chair at the end
or push the tables together
but don't bother
This banged-up little restaurant
where you would expect no rules at all
has a firm policy against seating
parties of five
And you know who you are
a party of five
it doesn't matter if one of you
offers to leave or if
you say you could split into
a party of three and a party of two
or if the five of you come back tomorrow
in Richard Nixon masks and try to pretend
that you don't know each other
it won't work: You're a party of five
even if you're a beloved regular
Even if the place is empty
Even if you bring logic to bear
Even if you're a tackle for the Chicago Bears
it won't work
You're a party of five
You will always be a party of five
A hundred blocks from here
a hundred years from now
you will still be a party of five
and you will never savor the soup
or compare the coffee or
hear the wisdom of the cook
and the wit of the waitress or
get to hum the old-time tunes
[among which you will find

no quintets.]

P.S.: Shopsin's recently moved to fancier digs, and that's what you see in the picture above. Long time Shopsin's fans might prefer the older greasy spoon location, which was unbelievably grimy and filthy. Good food, though.


5 comments:

Michael Sporn said...

Shopsin's used to be across the street from my studio. It always seemed a touch too expensive for what was offered. However, the place that replaced them is in a different bracket altogether. The neighborhood seems to be getting trendy, like everywhere else in Manhattan.

Anonymous said...

Damn. Didn't think this was real until I looked it up on Wikipedia. Wish I could eat there just to check it out. Have you been there yourself, Eddie?

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Michael: Apparently a lot of people were put off by the prices. I just watched a video where Shopsin defends his price policy. He says he wants to be free to experiment when he cooks, and he doesn't want to be limited to low cost ingredients.

Maybe the prices have something to do with the high rents in that area, or maybe small restaurants have to charge more because they don't bring in many customers, even when they're full.

I feel sorry for shop owners who have to pay rent. They go to a lot of trouble to get customers, then when the store succeeds the rents double and triple and they have to start over again somewhere else.

Roberto: No, I've never eaten there. I said the food was good because so many people seem to have that opinion, and because putting that qualifier in would have destroyed the rhythm of my sentense.

Anonymous said...

I looked up some Shopsin's videos on YouTube. I have got to see the documentary on this restaurant. The chef's philosophy is very true in a lot of ways, and the eclectic, unusual stuff on the menu is something that I have to try out if I have the chance to go to New York in 2012. Those Slutty Cakes sound strangely delicious. Hopefully the owner isn't as strict on eating there as he may have been in the past.

Just in time too. Been watching a lot of food related stuff, since I have nothing better to do for the break.

Pete Emslie said...

Hey Eddie, the next time that you, John, Kali, and Mike head out to Shopsin's for lunch, do you mind if I join you, huh?