(Here’s the list — from the most recent bar job back to the first.)
JOHNNY D’S, Davis Square, Somerville MA (winner of the W. C. Handy Award as the Best Blues Club in America)
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CANTINA ITALIANA (in the North End), Boston MA
NEW ENGLAND SCHOOL OF BARTENDING (instructor), Boston MA
CAFFERTY’S, Brockton MA
CHRISTOPHER’S, Cambridge MA
FRANK’S STEAK HOUSE, Cambridge MA
THE MIDDLE EAST, Cambridge MA (photo from “Lost at E Minor” — lostateminor.com.)
FRIENDS & COMPANY, Quincy Market, Boston MA
THE SUNFLOWER CAFE, Cambridge MA
JAKE’S, Cambridge MA
THE LARK TAVERN, Albany, NY
THE MUG, Cortland NY
When did you work at The Sunflower cafe??
Lenny, … it that you? Has to be. This is Mike Dunford (see the post “How I got my name.”) I was behind your bar from the start, when you and Bob took the place over. Remember that great jazz club we had downstairs, the live jazz brunches and the radio station that used to broadcast the jam? Send me your email address … you can use the “contact us” form on the sidebar links at the top. I want to do a post about that free Thanksgiving meal you used to provide for anyone and everyone. Get in touch by email, … it’s been a long time.
Mike Q (Mike Dunford back then)
I remember actually filling in a few times behind the bar at the Sunflower. At the time I was working up Mass Ave towards Arlington at the Ground Round. My sister Jenny (red head) worked at the Sunflower in the early years for a good while. Your name sounds familiar???
Bill: I was at “Jake’s” when it was sold and then became The Sunflower Cafe. The original Sunflower owners were from NYC … they also owned Ye Waverly Inn in Greenwich Village.
They couldn’t make it work, so they sold the business to Lenny and Bob. I worked for Lenny right up until about a year before he sold The Sunflower to Pizzerio Uno, which is still in that location today.
I’m trying to place you and Jenny … I was also at The Sunflower at the beginning … but it was a long time ago. There’s a picture of me from around that time in the post https://lifeonacocktailnapkin.com/kristin-part-i-how-i-met-my-girlfriend-in-albany/ … of course, I was Mike Dunford back then.
I have heard from Lenny … he’s still a hot shit. Now I’m thinking of posting one of the stories from the Sunflower days.
My sister Jenny was a cocktail waitress there and dated Lenny for a while. I would recollect that to be the early stages of their tenure at the Sunflower?
I would like to get in touch with Jenny Wilson. You think Bill would pass along my contact info?
Just had a revelation!! I remember working with a “Bob Gerard” at the Sunflower. Does that name ring a bell??
Bill, … Bob Gerard and I worked together at The Lark Tavern, in Albany NY. When he later moved to Boston, I got him a job at The Sunflower. I think I remember your sister, Jenny … and I think you worked with Bob after I’d left. I’ll be emailing you this week … I’m thinking of posting a story about The Sunflower during a blizzard. Thanks for getting in touch!
This is amazing stuff, its good to be inside the know.
Len: Damn, I’m sorry it took me so long to post your comment. I’ve been working on the book and haven’t been doing much with the blog lately. But I emailed Bill, and included your email address which you wanted passed along. Sorry about the delay … damn, those were great times back at The Sunflower Café.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS MIKE!!!!