Elaine's by Amy Phillips Penn

Elaine's by Amy Phillips Penn

Author:Amy Phillips Penn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2015-05-10T16:00:00+00:00


The Good Penny

Curt Block

Curt Block couldn’t resist contacting me with this role-reversal story. His date, after trying to make nice to Elaine with dismissive responses, finally told Elaine to “fuck off.” Tables were turned, and none were in Siberia.

Curt Block worked for twenty-four years in the NBC Press and Publicity Department in New York with responsibility for entertainment, news, and sports. Block also spent five years as a sportswriter at United Press International and worked on many other impressive media accounts.

He’s not quite sure if he visited Elaine’s after this night.

MOST OF MY earliest visits to Elaine’s were with Jessica Burstein, a close friend for many years. I had been introduced to Elaine several times but never had the feeling that I’d had made any lasting impression on her—or, in truth, any impression.

One night, in the late 1990s, I visited the restaurant, sans Jessica, with a stunning young woman named Penny. She was aware of the restaurant, but had never been there. To my surprise, our meal was better than any other than I’d had at Elaine’s. Truly unexpected. Preparing to leave, I asked my date if she would like an after-dinner drink at the bar. It was relatively early so there was plenty of room there.

I suddenly noticed Elaine seated alone at a table directly opposite the bar and whispered to Penny that I thought I should say hello to the proprietor. I approached the table to ask if I could join her. She gave me a quick once over and said: “Suit yourself”—clearly not a warm greeting, but still, not a rejection, which I’d often seen with so many others who’d approached her.

Having twice tried to compliment Elaine, Penny had received no reaction or eye contact and she looked at me as if to say “Get me out of here.” Within a minute, however, she’d had enough, turned to Elaine, and in a voice loud enough for anyone in the restaurant to clearly hear, said: “Fuck this!” and bolted from the table.

Having more invested in Penny than Elaine, I quickly paid the bar bill and looked for Penny, who was by this time already outside, on Second Avenue, flagging a cab.

This story has stayed with me, because knowing how intimidated most people were of her over the years, I’ve wondered how many customers’ actual last words to Elaine were to “fuck off.”



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