Comments on: This Is Not An REM Song

This Is Not An REM Song

scrump — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:07:45 -0800

The Automat was a remarkable, culturally ubiquitous part of the history of both Philadelphia and New York City. The basic concept wasn't unusual, but the Art Deco style was unique. Now, BAMN! Food has revived the concept and the name.

By: scrump

scrump — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:14:19 -0800

And, in the realm of personal anecdote, I've been in love with these ever since I read Frank Conroy's description in Body and Soul, one of my favorite novels.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:19:36 -0800

Revived it? Anybody who has ever been to the Netherlands and witnessed the dreaded Febo will know that the automat never died -- it just lay mouldering in Holland for a few years. Personally, you couldn't pay me to eat from there.

By: evilcolonel

evilcolonel — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:22:58 -0800

Inspired by this thread, no? In any event, I hope they have those giant ribs like on The Flintstones.

By: Dreama

Dreama — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:23:04 -0800

I've always loved the idea. I wonder if I'd really love the execution. It's worth a try though. "Insert money, open door, PIE!" This is a no-lose situation!

By: scrump

scrump — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:24:11 -0800

DOH. Yes, credit where credit is due.

By: TheOnlyCoolTim

TheOnlyCoolTim — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:25:22 -0800

I tried an item from the place (some kind of Pork Roll.) It wasn't as bad as I'd expected, but still mediocre. Considering all the great food available nearby, even if you need it ready in under a minute, there's no reason to eat there. The gimmick of opening the door and sliding your food out isn't that special. The one thing I wonder is what happens if you put in your money and open two doors simultaneously, since all doors in the column are unlocked when you put your coins in. I can't see how they'd stop it except by being very sensitive to the fact that a human will inevitably open one door slightly ahead of the other. I suppose an alarm could go off after the fact, though.

By: pax digita

pax digita — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:32:01 -0800

I very vaguely remember being taken into the city along with a couple of sibs and eating at one of these -- I must've been emerging from toddlerhood. I was fascinated at the "apartment building full of food in the windows" -- it seemed magical, the way everything does at that age.

By: TheOnlyCoolTim

TheOnlyCoolTim — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:33:05 -0800

The new one is also not Art Deco at all. I've heard they actually paid someone who's famous as an architect to design it, which these days of course means it looks like shit. A curvy pink eyesore.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:34:36 -0800

I've been to the BAMN! on St. Marks. The peanut butter empanadas are tasty.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:44:38 -0800

Is the 'N' silent, or does it rhyme with 'Gammon'?

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:48:40 -0800

Scrump, I'm reading that novel now and just thought of the same thing.

By: cacophony

cacophony — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:56:17 -0800

scrump, that is an awesome post title. Though if I have gotten the joke correctly, it should be not an REM album, since there's no song with the name that was implied either. Unless I didn't get the joke.

By: scrump

scrump — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:06:24 -0800

cacophony: ssh, I'm hoping nobody noti...SONOFA *facepalm*

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:28:55 -0800

I saw one of these in Dark City on my way to Shell Beach. It's just past Main Street West to... or is it the Cross... You know, that's funny, I can't remember if it's Main Street West or the Crosstown.

By: dame

dame — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:28:57 -0800

Yay, I inspired something. Will you buy me a crumb cake from the automat?

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:39:15 -0800

You don't know how happy this makes me. I always wanted to eat at the Automat but never went to NYC until well after the last one had been closed. I am so there the next time I am in NYC. : )

By: bardic

bardic — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:40:32 -0800

This looks really neat. /tries to think of an Emeril joke, and fails.

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:53:05 -0800

Isn't BAMN! where the New York Milkshake Company was? They had waffle/ ice cream sandwiches, and I liked those. Also, peanut-butter milkshakes. Most of the food on St. Marks is not great.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:54:03 -0800

tries to think of an Emeril joke, and fails. That old Onion sidebar "Emeril Bams Groupie!" pretty much cornered the market on LaGassian humor, methinks.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:55:00 -0800

Most of the food on St. Marks is not great. Stromboli on St. Marks & 1st makes a nice slice of pizza.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:59:06 -0800

Isn't BAMN! where the New York Milkshake Company was? They had waffle/ ice cream sandwiches, and I liked those. Also, peanut-butter milkshakes. Their milkshakes were really overpriced. If I want liquid refreshment (non-alcoholic) in that area, I go to that place on Avenue A with the 15 flavors of killer egg creams.

By: redteam

redteam — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:05:31 -0800

Holy shit, what's egg cream!?

By: Mach5

Mach5 — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:06:30 -0800

Most of the food on St. Marks is not great. Kenka is totally awesome. Also, BAMN! is pretty good, it's really cheap, they force you to pay with coins (there are change machines), and it's open 24/7 (horray fast cheap drunk food!). I had mozarella sticks, chicken nuggets, and grilled cheese. The grilled cheese was especially tasty, and the rest was decent (i.e. worth the price). Get stuff from the bottom, thats where the freshest stuff is, people always take from the top, and they move up stuff before it's refilled. jonmc: where is this place on ave A you speak of?

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:09:45 -0800

Yeah, what's the place on Avenue A? I still haven't developed a taste for egg creams. (And, yeah, the Milkshake Company's shakes were expensive, but that waffle sandwich ...)

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:10:40 -0800

Holy shit, what's egg cream!? milk, seltzer, and flavored syrup. better than it sounds. jonmc: where is this place on ave A you speak of? just above seventh. This is what it looks like from the outside.

By: dame

dame — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:16:58 -0800

The best real egg cream I've had is made by an old lady with the cheapest diner ever. It's way far from the train in Greenpoint (Nassau & N. Henry). If you're up for an adventure, I think Bea's is worth the trip. I swear they haven't raised the prices or changed their menu since 1940.

By: linux

linux — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:22:49 -0800

Anybody who has ever been to the Netherlands and witnessed the dreaded Febo will know that the automat never died -- it just lay mouldering in Holland for a few years. Are you kidding? I was there last year and the meat pastry for 1 euro was AWESOME.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:25:46 -0800

Holy shit, what's egg cream!? A New York specialty. No egg, no cream, yet the name is oddly appropriate. Allegedly (even in the 80s) you can't get a "real" egg cream except in the outer boroughs anymore. Certainly it is next to impossible to get one anywhere but New York (although I used to get them in Jersey). As for the Automat, I have used these for years. They're called employee break rooms. The one thing I wonder is what happens if you put in your money and open two doors simultaneously, There's an interlock that works just fine on low-tech vending machines, so I don't know why they couldn't use it here. If you try more than one you get bupkis.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:27:42 -0800

Allegedly (even in the 80s) you can't get a "real" egg cream except in the outer boroughs anymore. The ones at the place I linked to are the real thing, even if they come in odd flavors. But that Bea's place sounds intriguing.

By: beagle

beagle — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:28:59 -0800

One thing the automats were known for was the ketchup sandwich. Bread was a nickel a slice, ketchup was free, coffee was another nickel. So for 15 cents, you could get lunch: 2 slices of break, ketchup in between, coffee.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:34:08 -0800

One thing the automats were known for was the ketchup sandwich. My dad, NYC born & raised, after a night of drinking with his buddies, would come home and fix himself a mustard sandwich on white bread and a chocolate milk. Supposedly it was good hangover prevention, I've never tried it. But at his 60th birthday party last year, his sister, my Aunt Annie, gave him a loaf of Wonder bread, a jar of Gulden's and some Bosco.

By: oxford blue

oxford blue — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:35:49 -0800

I love me some break. This automat thing is very 'The Future is Now'.

By: scrump

scrump — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:40:16 -0800

Supposedly it was good hangover prevention,

Yeah, because after eating one, you were determined to never, ever get that drunk again.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:11:50 -0800

jonmc writes "milk, seltzer, and flavored syrup. better than it sounds." Huh. At a cafe I used to frequent on the Best Coast, they just called them Italian Cream Soda. The syrups were the Torani blend, so you could have one of about thirty or so flavours. I loved those things.

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:24:48 -0800

Aww, I remember the old Horn & Hardart automats. When I was a kid we ate there occasionally and it was magic - nowhere else had cool little windows where the food was magically replenished, and nowhere else in my small world could a little kid with a fistful of change actually buy their own food without asking a grownup for help. (I was limited to selections in the lowest row of windows, since that's all I could reach, but it was a delight all the same.) I suppose there must have been food vending machines by the early 1960s, but I don't remember them at all. The automat, on the other hand, was a royal banquet in my memory, thanks in part to the wonderful Art Deco architecture. Custard pie with a soggy crust is fit for a king when ~~served~~ taken from a tiny window in a dining room of chrome, black glass and beige marble. I was sad when the last one closed and delighted to see the unmistakable little windows in the cafeteria at the Smithsonian, only to be crushed when it turned out they were for display only. Oh, and Horn & Hardart made The. Best. Baked. Beans. EVAR. I'm still trying to find the recipe, and I've been know to buy whole cookbooks that promised to have that magic formula. (I'm getting close, but still not quite there, and one can't cook baked beans too frequently, you know...)

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:43:28 -0800

Huh. At a cafe I used to frequent on the Best Coast, they just called them Italian Cream Soda. That's what they call them at bookstore coffee bars too. But, trust me, they were egg creams first.

By: lw

lw — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 19:35:47 -0800

There was an automat in Prague until maybe 1992. The food was pretty grim.

By: rfs

rfs — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 21:43:06 -0800

When I was a kid I read a Hardy Boys book that had a scene set in an automat. It made them sound pretty cool.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 21:56:45 -0800

BAMN! kinda sucks. It's typical fast food fare except they're just *really* obvious about the fact that your food's been sitting there a while. Besides, they don't give you any place to eat it. Presumably, you're supposed to negotiate with the bums on St. Mark's for doorway space. It's no Horn & Hardart's, that's for sure. I'll remember those baked beans, mac & cheese, and harvard beets until the end of time.

By: QuietDesperation

QuietDesperation — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 22:29:31 -0800

Has anyone mentioned P.D.Q. Bach's Concerto for Horn & Hardart? I too remember the Automat, and Quietgal, you're right - it was magic to a kid.

By: AJaffe

AJaffe — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 06:34:42 -0800

The Gem Spa (insert photo of New York Dolls in front) on the corner of St. Mark's and 2nd Ave. makes Egg Creams, as does the place on Ave. A and 7th between where Leshko's was and the old Odessa is. Anyone know the name of the Japanese place west of BAMN that has, among other things, bull penis on the menu (no I haven't tried it) and a cotton candy machine out front? I've had the Mac n' cheese egg roll thing from BAMN -- good drunk food, even as I felt myself edging closer to death from it... St. Mark's does have some good places -- I've always liked Khyber Pass...

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 07:30:34 -0800

Hey, I've been there! It was really fun- the food wasn't overly great but it was decent (I liked the Mac n Cheese Krokets and the Donuts) and a fun place to try. The thing that is REALLY great about BAMN is that they serve REAL shaved ice (not chipped ice that sticks together into one big cube), like you get in Japan. I've been looking for real shaved ice ever since I moved to the city, and had been unsuccessful up until BAMN!

By: AJaffe

AJaffe — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 07:32:17 -0800

and they have frites, but although i haven't had them, i'd guess the ones at the place around the corner (which i've had way too much) are better.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 07:47:37 -0800

The frites are decent but not great; I've heard the ones around the corner ARE better, AJaffe.

By: TheOnlyCoolTim

TheOnlyCoolTim — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 10:32:03 -0800

Anyone know the name of the Japanese place west of BAMN that has, among other things, bull penis on the menu (no I haven't tried it) and a cotton candy machine out front? Kenka. The place on A everyone's talking about with the fries and egg creams is called "Ray's Candy Store," but you have to look at the ATM or the Health Department website to find that. (They have surprisingly few violations.) To round out the list of places better than BAMN, I'll add Cafe Rakka on St Marks near 1st for gyros, falafel, and so on, and Paul's just south of St Marks and 2nd for burgers.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 20:30:00 -0800

Paul's just south of St Marks and 2nd for burgers Tim speaketh truth. Best burgers in New York.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 22:40:26 -0800

Yeah, I'm with jonmc and Tim. Paul's is where its at. Great pickles and egg creams, too.