Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The Great American Disaster

That was the name of a trendy restaurant in 1970 Swinging London. It was the Ur American hamburger place and a precursor to the Hard Rock Cafe which opened a year later on Picadilly (and the Disaster closed). It was always packed, with lines around the block, and if you had ever tasted an English Wimpy Burger you'd see why. The place had framed pictures of things like the Hindenberg crash, the Lusitania sinking, Custer at Little Big Horn, that kind of fun stuff. Today, it would probably give a whole wall to the BP Oil Spill and keep CNN on all day. American disasters seem to come along quite regularly, such as 9/11. What can we do about it? Nothing, as far as I can see. I don't know anything about deep water drilling and I don't have my own private foreign policy. We are just horrified onlookers like the radio announcer who saw the Hindenberg crash, repeating: "Oh the humanity, the humanity!" And so we echo him with, "Oh the plume, the plume!"
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6 comments:

  1. Long Ben AveryFebruary 18, 2020 at 3:20 AM

    I loved The Great American Disaster, I used to eat regularly there, as I was managing a friend's shirt shop almost next door to them. The shop was called Millions of Shirts! As you get older you sometimes feel like I'm drowning in memories.

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  2. StevieJuly 14, 2020 at 2:45 PM

    I used to be a grill chef there it was a lot fun we were right across the road from the pub that used to give us ice teas in a jug .. we were so busy I worked with so many people Mel London Karen from Australia and a good looking manger who drove a sports car we all went to have photos done can’t remember why but it was fun x

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  3. StevieJuly 14, 2020 at 2:45 PM

    I used to be a grill chef there it was a lot fun we were right across the road from the pub that used to give us ice teas in a jug .. we were so busy I worked with so many people Mel London Karen from Australia and a good looking manger who drove a sports car we all went to have photos done can’t remember why but it was fun x

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    Replies
    1. Shamir JamesMay 30, 2021 at 4:47 PM

      Hi Stevie I suspect the manager you mention was me - then known as Jimmy from New York. I was a manager for 9 years at Fulham Road followed by Beauchamp Place and drove a white Jensen Healy. Not too sure about the good looking bit though. I now live in Australia. Thanks for the great memory.

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  4. UnknownJuly 31, 2021 at 3:45 AM

    My.parents used to take us kids there in the 70s and ot took 6 hours to get your burger! That took fast chains to a different level. We loved it!!

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  5. Simon SarsonJuly 21, 2023 at 11:17 PM

    I remember when a friend said that we had to eat at GAD as it had the best burgers. Must have been in 71 or 72. Set off driving down the Fulham Road and the traffic got slower and slower. We arrived eventually to find the cause of the jam. The Great Ammerican Disaster was on fire! Eat at the pizza place across the road. I think that it was called Pizza Pizza Pizza. Now a Pizza Express. Went frequently one it was repaired, and the one in Paris was a favourite when I lived there.

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