Wednesday, June 3, 2015

I Forgot My Cigarettes

 So it's a brand new business and pretty busy and somewhat overwhelming... Marcie volunteers to be in charge of inventory and ordering so we go for a walk around the large old wooden stockroom, her with a clipboard in hand. The Depot was bigger than it is now - we actually went from 5600 sq. feet to 2900 sq. feet in the new building. We weren't even half way through and Marcie says "honey I've got to go up front" I had been gone nearly 5 years and I wonder - could she have aged that much that fast? I ask if she's okay "What?" she says loud and annoyed, I repeat "Are you okay, do you need me to get you a chair to sit down?" "Hell no" she responds "I just forgot my f***in cigarettes."

-Enjoy The Wooden Rollercoaster

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Accolades to Harper Lee

WOW - I just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird - the impact was much more intense than in Martha Jones's English class in 1982 - I was 17 then. I know longer want to be Earnest Hemmingway when I grow up. I want to be Harper Lee. This is the art of tonalism in ink! If I chose one American novel to put in a time capsule to read 1,000 years from now that represents a 20th century American novel at it's best - this is it! Kudos Harper Lee & thanks!
                  
                       Tony York - Restaurateur, Art Curator, and Student of Life !

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Naming the Restaurant, Gritting Teeth, & Following Command

So it's January 2003 & I'm back in Kentucky - a cold return from South Florida & I'm eager to get started. First thing is a name. I've eliminated many from a list providence and settled on "Café Americana" - I share this with Marcie her response - it's a depot - the next day having thought about this overnight she is waiting for me when I get to the restaurant.
       "The Depot might not be the fanciest name or the most upscale name but it is a Depot! Sunny moved an old house here - added an overhang & placed it on the site of the original Depot. Hell the L&N Magazine even did an article on it as a working old Depot!" Marcie exclaimed "I'm gonna finance this for you & when you pay me in full you can call it any f***in this you want but until that day it's the f***in Depot."
         "Yes ma'am" - I tucked my tail between my legs like the whipped pup I was & had a sign made.
                                           The Depot
                             "A Fine Dining Bistro"
           She didn't like the bistro at first but by the time she saw it on the building - too late. We threw white linens everywhere, got so many flowers it smelt like a funeral parlor, used crystal & silver plates & made an overwhelmingly large menu, placed an enormous food order, trained a staff for two days - most of which was prep & opened on a Sunday to a overwhelming reception of patrons who waited patiently for hours for their food. We had to open, my $30,000 I had brought back to open with was gone, I had less than $1,000 left. But I sold $3,000 my first day. The old Depot was reborn!
                                                                 Enjoy the Wooden Roller Coaster

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

1 Day - 1 Life

It doesn't matter what time of day you wake up the important thing is that you do wake up.
 *Coming Soon: Gritting Teeth & Following Command*

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Spring Is Here

Spring has sprung in Glendale and that means warmer weather and hopefully no more snow, we now offer al fresco dining so you can enjoy the food, scenery, and occasional train.
 
* Look for More Post to Come*

A Breif History of Tony York

Tony was born in the foothills of Appalachia Kentucky but grew up on a farm in Sonora - the youngest of ten children. Graduated high school right here in Glendale & then attended E.C.C. in Elizabethtown as an English major. He started his career in the food service industry as a waiter in college - since then he has resided and worked in Gatlinburg, TN, New Orleans, South Florida, Bar Harbor Maine, & San Diego, California. Restaurant backgrounds varied - Ocean front with large volume, quaint fine dining, culinary instruction, & Chinese - yes Chinese. During the Fall of 2002 Tony called Marcie Hatfield at the Depot Restaurant to ask for a Thanksgiving recipe, she replied "That's at work honey I'll get it for you tomorrow, but while we're on the phone, do you want to buy the restaurant?" His reply was no - I just want the recipe. But by March of 2003- with Marcie's persuasive help- Tony was back in Glendale preparing to reopen the Depot which Marcie had closed the previous December.

* Look for new post coming soon *