See you at Dubrow’s!

This was written by Deborah Dash Moore, who wrote one of the articles in Nosh and Kibbutz. It’s a great history of the significance of cafeterias in NYC in general, I’ve photographed her history of Dubrow’s.  I did not know the original incorporate name was Dubrow’s Pure Food!  

I also didn’t know about the court case against the waiters union in 1932!  This reflects my cousin Joe’s oral history about union busting activity occurring in my family’s restaurant. 

JFK at King's Highway Dubrow's (Close up)

I think that memories of Kennedy campaigning at Dubrow's might win for the memory most commonly reported by people who have contacted me through this blog. It makes sense - it was clearly a big deal, and as these pictures show, hundreds or perhaps thousands of people showed up.

Edit: I found this article in Sheepshead Bites that has a nice description of one person's memory of Kennedy campaigning in front of Dubrow's. It also confirms what my sense was - Kennedy's assassination was one of the most defining event for Baby Boomers, and so many of them have also retained closely their memories of him as president and campaigning to become president.

 "My singular Kennedy experience was when the senator, after winning the Democratic nomination, campaigned in Brooklyn, in the summer of 1960, for New York’s 45 electoral votes. My friend Larry and I went to the rally along Kings Highway that stretched from Ocean Avenue to Coney Island Avenue, and onto several side streets, and waited hours among the jam-packed crowd. As we stood at the East 16th Street intersection, opposite Dubrow’s cafeteria, we were constantly pushed and shoved by others impatiently awaiting the candidate’s motorcade."

(Neil Friedman, Nov 23, 2013, retrieved from http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2013/11/jfk-assassination-remains-a-defining-moment-for-baby-boomers/)

James Madison High

In this old post, I shared a photo Marcia Bricker Halperin sent me from James Madison High School. Today I found in the depths of my computer files an article I never blogged that made reference to a Madison High School reunion in Beverly Hills, which included this great quote:

"Once you're from Brooklyn, you're always from Brooklyn, Richard Bock, Class of 1951, told his former schoolmates, seated at tables labeled to conjure memories: Dubrow's Cafeteria, Plum Beach, The Avalon Theater, Barney's Poolroom, Ocean Ave."  

(Robin Brantley, "Beverly Hills Brooklynites," New York Times)

Reader John Stanton recollects

It's been a long time since I posted anything here - sorry about that. But a reader wrote me to offer recollections of his parents, who both worked at Dubrow's at met there, so I thought that was a good opportunity to jump back in:

"My father was John Stanton (he was known as Jack) and he worked at one of the Brooklyn Dubrow's I believe from the 40's until the 60's, and then worked at the Manhattan location until he retired I think in 1970. My mother's maiden name was Ming Chang, and she started at the Brooklyn Dubrow's (thus why she is in the picture of the cleaning crew, which she said occured on Yom Kippur.) She said she only worked a few months in Brooklyn and then transferred to Manhattan. As to whether my father followed my mom to Manhattan or vice versa, I don't know, but they met while working at Dubrow's. My mom immigrated from China to attend college and she fondly remembers Irving Dubrow who allowed her to have a flexible schedule in order to attend college. She had no set start or end time, he told her to work around her schooling needs, he always needed the help so any time she could work would be acceptable, so my mom was able to come and go and earn money without interfering with her schooling.

My mom laughingly told me the other night that after she graduated she left Dubrow's to work at Metropolitan Life Insurance, and would often go at lunch time to see my dad and the people she used to work with. One day Irving pulled my dad aside to tell him to only charge my Mom half since she was a former employee, and my dad said I have only been charging her half since the day she left! My mother and fathers romance was a true May/December romance, my father born in 1908 and my mother in 1935 so I am sure that people who worked there when they did would remember them since it was such an unlikely couple (my father a hard drinking Irishman, and my mother a petite demure Chinese woman.)

My mom has been in the hospital the last week and I have been visiting her every night and she has been reminiscing about the corned beef and pastrami sandwiches at Dubrow's which is how I came across this blog. I brought her a pastrami sandwich from Katz's Deli Friday night and all she did was complain that it didn't compare to a Dubrow's pastrami sandwich. I barely remember Dubrow's since my sister and I used to go there as young children, but that basically ended in the early 70's.

To give you a bit of trivia and a small laugh, when my parents married in the early 60's my father was interviewed by the FBI to make sure it wasn't a marriage of convenience for immigration purposes due to the disparity in age, and I wouldn't doubt that some of the employees at Dubrow's were also interviewed.

As to what my mom remembers of Richard Hackett, she said he was the driver for old man Dubrow (a.k.a. Benjamin Dubrow - ed.) who would sometimes come in, and greet customers and troubleshoot complaints. Richard Hackett ended up doing some of that and that is why she referred to it as customer relations. (Note: Joe Hackett was the driver for Dubrow's. Richard Hackett is his nephew and a reader of this blog. - ed.)

Unfortunately my father who would be the true treasure trove of information since he worked there so long passed away in 1998, so most of the information I have on Dubrow's is only from my mother who only worked there 3-4 years."

Ming Chang, I hope you recover well in the hospital. You are in my thoughts and my prayers. I've said here before that I think Katz's is the closest thing NYC has left to Dubrow's.

Interesting tidbit about immigration interviews by the FBI - that's the first I ever heard of it. Anyone else recall these interviews?

Dubrow's cleaning crew

Here's the picture of the 1940 cleaning crew which Henry Jablonski refers to in the interview I conducted with him. He says that he is in this picture with his father - he started his career at Dubrow's as a boy and worked as a dishwasher. His father (Henry Jablonski Sr) was a counterman.  

Mr. Jablonski is the the young-looking boy who is fourth on the right.  His father is not in this picture.  The hand-written caption on the picture also names Mike Nagreski (spelling uncertain) and Pete Kolody and "German chef."  

Dubrow's cleaning crew

Another photo from Henry Jablonski: This one is from the Eastern Parkway Dubrow's cleaning crew in 1950.  Dotty Jablonski notes that Dubrow's was closed on the day of the photo because it was a Jewish holiday.

New York Governor at Dubrow's

A little more information about Henry Jablonski.  I am going to schedule a phone call in the coming weeks, but for now here's what I know: 

Mr. Jablonski was born on October 4, 1922.   He worked at the Eastern Parkway Dubrow's from 1947 to 1973, and then at the King's Highway Dubrow's from 1973 to 1978.  

This photo was taken in the 1950's, and the caption says "Simon Stark Mrs. Dubrow Harriman."   However, with the help of Dotty Jablonski I learned that the man in the center of this photo (and in the previous photo) is none other than former New York Governor W. Averell Harriman. He served as governor from 1955-1958.  

Group shot

This is another photo from Henry Jablonski, who it turns out was a manager at both Eastern Parkway and King's Highway.   The captions indicate that the woman sitting in the left corner is "Mrs. Dubrow," which either refers to Rose Dubrow (Benjamin Dubrow's wife) or Fannie Dubrow (George Dubrow's wife).  My guess would be the latter, which would make her Irwin Dubrow's mother.   The Asian man behind her is Nick Yang.  The man on Nick's left is Irwin Dubrow, and the man in the right corner of the picture is Henry Jablonski himself, along with Phil Podell.  The man at the center of the picture is listed as just "Harriman" but turns out to be a former New York governor.

There's obviously a number of people in this shot who aren't named.  Can anyone identify any of them?  If so, add a comment and let us know.

Photo of George Dubrow

Here's another photo from Henry Jablonski's collection. The caption underneath says "Julius Steinberg George Dubrow" -- so I am not sure who the other man is or who the woman behind the counter is.  If anyone out there know, add a comment please.  I'll also be updating these posts with more information from Henry's wife as I get it.

The man in the suit is George Dubrow, and this photo was taken in 1950.  I think he looks a lot like Benjamin Dubrow.  If you click on the "family" tag beneath this post you can find an older post with a photo of the whole Dubrow family, which shows how much George and Benjamin looked alike.

What does Brooklyn need next?

Found this little blurb in New Yorker magazine (Feb 2, 2004):

THE BIG QUESTION
Borough Haul
The Nets, a top Zagat’s pick, maybe even Miranda—what does Brooklyn need next?

Nell Campbell, performer: “Paris—the city, not the hotel heiress. We’ve got a lot of French folk here; why not bring the whole goddamn city? Besides, we need some older architecture.”

Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn borough president: “Bring back Ebinger’s Bakery, Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlor, and Dubrow’s Cafeteria. If not, I’ll settle for Trader Joe’s and the Queen Mary II.”

Mike Albo, writer: “Maybe a flowery communal space with acoustic guitars and brambles and pot for everyone who doesn’t like sports. And thirteen more Starbucks?”

John Turturro, actor: “One thing we need no more of is power plants.”

Gavin Mcinnes, co-founder, Vice: “A half-decent jukebox in Williamsburg? All there is now is Janis Joplin, Morphine, and Santana.”

Matchbooks from Dubrow's

Purchased these off of eBay from two different sellers. The more faded one lists the Eastern Parkway (Brooklyn) and Lincoln Road (Miami) locations on them, and was dated as a 1940's matchbook. The third image is the inside of the more faded matchbook cover - war bonds! Proof that it it is from the 1940's. I love it. I especially love the use of "U'r" which allows it to spell out "DUBROW." The less faded one did not come with a date or have anything printed on the inside of the cover.

Dubrow's Photo

This is another photo taken by the always amazing Marcia Bricker Halperin. It's on display in what looks like a fantastic exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum.

Update: In the past three or four days, I have spoken to Helene and Leonard Dubrow, children of George Dubrow and siblings of Irwin Dubrow. I have also heard from my cousin Geoffrey Green, on the "other" side of the family...all of whom wanted to let me know that this exhibit and in particular, this photo, was featured in the New York Times this week. I am delighted that it is getting such good coverage and attention - and I am thrilled that of all the photos Marcia took for the exhibit, the Dubrow's photo was selected for the article. What wonderful attention it has brought to the memory of our beloved Dubrow's.

More reader feedback (Sue)

Received another email a couple days ago:

"My father who is 84 was born and raised in Brooklyn. He often reminisces fondly about Dubrow's and the shrimp salad he ate there with his friends. Evidently your great grandfather's restaurant plays a large part in the happy memories of many people, something which I am sure you are proud. I was wondering if you had access to the recipe for shrimp salad served there. I would like to make it for Father's Day for my Dad. He thinks it had mayo, vinegar, cream in the dressing. Thanks so much!!"

Anyone recall the Dubrow's shrimp salad recipe?

I would love to track down or hear from some of the cooks at Dubrow's, and put together a collection of recipes for popular dishes. Over the years, there have been a number of requests for recipes.

More reader feedback (MacKenzie)

More feedback from a reader! I love hearing from people.

MacKenzie Allen writes:

"Hi, there...I found my way to your website while looking for old photos of Dubrow's. I was telling my wife and friends about it. I grew up in Brooklyn (1940s--50s) and lived at Avenue "O" and East 16th St...a few blocks up from Dubrow's. When we were kids at Cunningham Jr. H.S. we used to go there on lunch hour. A real treat was to "take out" an order of french fries in a brown paper bag. We'd put ketchup in the bag and shake it around to distribute it. Messy, but delicious. It was always a treat to go to Dubrow's...great memories of a far better time."

Kennedy with Max Tobin

Sanda Bragman Cohen, the woman who mailed me the photos of Kennedy at the King's Highway Dubrow's, had this to say about the photos:

"They were taken by a photographer hired by Max Tobin who owned Dubrow's on Kings Highway. He is the man standing behind President Kennedy. His wife was Minnie Dubrow Tobin who was Sylvia Kaplan's sister. Minnie Tobin died in 1957. My mother, Mary Bragman, is the only woman in the picture. She married Max Tobin in 1968 when my father had been dead for four years. My father is the man that can only be partially seen standing behind Max Tobin. The photography studio was named Renard and it was located in Brooklyn. As far as I know the pictures were not copyrighted by anyone. They belonged to Max Tobin, because he paid for them. They were given to me by my mother just before she died. Until then they were in her home. The pictures were taken in October, 1960 when Kennedy was campaigning. Many politicians made a stop at Dubrows because it was the most popular place in that neighborhood (Flatbush), but I do not have any other pictures. The two men sitting next to Kennedy were Brooklyn politicians, and I used to know their names, but I have forgotten. Standing behind my mother, kind of in the shadows, is Carmine DeSapio (he is the man with the sunglasses) who was a powerful politician at the time. I remember that Kennedy wanted a steak and salad for dinner, which was provided for him. It was not the usual Dubrows food. I also remember that my mother was answering the special phones that had been connected for Kennedy and in that picture she is handing him a message from Robert Kennedy. My parents wanted me to have my picture taken with Kennedy, but I was fifteen and had a pimple, so I refused. Needless to stay I lived to regret that decision. However, I did wear a campaign button that said, "If I were 21 I would vote for Kennedy." I would have too!"

More reader feedback (Darryl)

I've been getting a bunch of emails from readers, which is just fabulous. I can follow the stats as to where people are when they're reading, but I have to hear from you to know WHO you are, and what Dubrow's means to you.

Darryl writes:
"My friend Marty and I would spend many a Friday night at Dubrow's on
Kings Highway. My particular favorite was the vegetable cream cheese
on a bagel. The counterman would dunk the bagel into a tray full of
chopped vegetables that would then stick to the cream cheese. One
night we met an elderly woman named Libby Siegel who had the peculiar
ability to spell any word backwards. We tried to trick her with extra
long words but she never missed.

When I was younger I did go the the Dubrow's on Eastern Parkway and
Utica. Unless I am mistaken, I drove by that corner about ten years
ago and saw a Dubrow's sign still hanging on the Utica Avenue side of
the restaurant. It was an art deco style possibly made of glass . It
was surrounded by all the billboards of the newer stores and was
barely viewable. I wonder if it is possibly still there.

If there are any artifacts around from the restaurant I would
certainly love to be able to get one. I did have one of those white
sailor type hats the countermen wore. The picture of the tray brought
back some memories.

Thank you. My life in Brooklyn during the fifties was a special time
for me and Dubrows was a nice part of it."

More reader feedback (Marty)

Received another email recently, this one from Marty:

Hi Eve,

I was taking a little trip down memory lane and decided
to google Dubrow's. Your great grandfather had a
great cafeteria. I frequented the Dubrow's on Kings
Highway in Brooklyn for many years with my friends.
We would meet late at night for something to eat after
we took home our girlfriends. Sometimes we would just
go there late on a Friday night if we had nothing else
to do. We were in our twenties, while most of the
people there were senior citizens. The seniors loved
it there. It was a place for them to go if they just
wanted to talk to someone. We would hang out and talk
for an hour or two before heading home. Dubrows had
the best rice pudding! I moved out of Brooklyn many
years ago, but still have fond memories of Dubrow's

After I got married, I found out that my wife's late
uncle was a counter man at Dubrow's for many years.

Thanks for the website. It brought back nice
memories.

Marty

Thank you, Marty, for reading and for sharing your memories! I love hearing from people.

A request from a reader (Joe)

I received an email from a reader. Joe asks about another cafeteria very close to Dubrow's:

Yes, it was called the "Famous Cafeteria" and it was very similar to Dubrows, but it was located in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn on 86th St. and now I see that it was located directly across from Dubrows...Maybe you can post a request in your blog?

Here's a quote from another Brooklyn Blog....

"And diagonally across the intersection from Dubrow's was the Famous, a dairy restaurant where delicious dishes like perrogies and sour cream were served. What would today's nutritionists say about that. Better yet, what would they say about "gribbinus" (transliteration), a delicacy made from fried chicken fat. "

http://www.geocities.com/buddychai2/Brooklyn/RememberWhen2.html

Anyone have any more information about Famous Cafeteria to help Joe out?

Community evolved

I found this to be an interesting reflection on the meaning of Dubrow's. This is part of a longer piece about Square One, a restaurant in San Francisco, CA. The owner, Joyce Goldstein, also mentions Dubrow's Cafeteria in the introduction of her cookbook Cucina Ebraica: Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen, as she is talking about the influences on her cooking.

"The shaping of Square One began in Joyce Goldstein's childhood, when the family lived in an apartment building in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Brooklyn. Community evolved and was maintained in the local delicatessen, in Dubrow's Cafeteria, in Roseman's grocery, and in Mr. Silverstein's candy store. On the streets you saw people, she recalls, but in those places you got to know them. "

(Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories About the "Great Good Places" at the Heart of Our Communities, edited by Ray Oldenburg, 2001)

Every customer was a half hour

I found a couple interesting books at the library, and I'll be posting my finds here over the next few weeks. One of them is a collection of oral history of Brooklyn from the mid-twentieth century. Here's three quotes I found about Dubrow's:

DAN LURIE: "On Saturdays, I'd put on a nice shirt and stroll up and down Pitkin Avenue. It was the Fifth Avenue of Brooklyn, with stores like Abe Stark's men's clothing, Fisher Brothers' ladies coats and suits, Dubrow's or Diamond and Coopersberg furniture."

KARL BERNSTEIN: "'You're all a bunch of Kings Highway bourgeoisie,' Miss Deborah Tannenbaum would tell us. 'You hang around in front of Dubrow's getting vicarious thrills out of life.' I didn't understand what she was talking about. Miss Tannenbaum was only about five feet tall, but she was dynamite. She taught only the best English classes at Madison, on such a high level. We read Portrait of an Artist, and I became so scared to death of going to hell, I hardly ever opened my mouth, I was so afraid of that woman. But I sat down and took the English Regents and got a 96."

MARTY ADLER: "A few blocks before Ocean Avenue, just past the Brighton el, was Dubrow's Cafeteria. That's where you ended up on a Friday night. If you were lucky enough to have a car, you kept it down to three guys so there's be room in case you picked up some girls. The Madison and Midwood cheerleaders were there, and they were the prettiest. You'd take them to a movie, or someone's party. Around midnight, you would drop by Dubrow's again to see if any of the other guys were around. You'd tell stories about what happened thatn night and then hook up for a ball game the next day."

(It Happened in Brooklyn: An oral history of growing up in the borough in the 1940's, '50's, and '60's by Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer, 1993)