Gardies Lives!

[altariel]

Gardies, purveyors of late-night chips and grease for generations of carbohydrate-deficient Cambridge undergraduates, has survived wicked plans to knock it down by the obviously evil and third-rate college that owns the land. A petition signed by 8,000 current and former students seems to have been a contributing factor.

It is a Known Fact that chips are rubbish in the south of this island, but since, IIRC, the only other options in the town centre are MacDonalds and a van bearing the legend "This is the Trailer of Life", Gardies provides a vital service to the community.

Comments

[kendokamel.livejournal.com]

Heehee!

It's nice to see people standing up against The Man and winning, once in awhile. (;

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Given all the public figures that signed the petition, it's a bit like the Establishment standing up to itself, but it's good to see it stay open.

[dberry.livejournal.com]

My local chip shop, Denny's, is excellent. :-D

(Admittedly, that's because Denny & Ann Chan who run it are my ex-neighbours, and I get a discount . . . )

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Things always taste better if they come at a discount! (Is that a Rule of Acquisition? It should be!)

Hmph.

[(Anonymous)]

I'll have you know that Caius is a *second rate* college.

Harumph.

Re: Hmph.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thought that might smoke you out.

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

It is a Known Fact that chips are rubbish in the south of this island

Is it? And why?

In this country, the One True Chip is usually found at chip wagons (vans).

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Just one small part of the (social and economic) North-South divide that splits the country. Southerners have most of the money. But Northerners have the chips.

That's a lovely new icon, btw. Are you back into winter now? I still shiver periodically at the thought of those pictures of your street in May.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

Hurrah for chips, and late-night grease!

Best chips I ever ate were in Lancaster. I suspect they were done proper-like in lard.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

mmm... proper northern chips...

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

Are you back into winter now?

Not quite, but soon. We usually have snow (though it won't stay) by the end of October.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

We are in the denial stage just before switching the central heating back on, which involves wrapping ourselves in duvets every evening.

[mgkellner.livejournal.com]

It sounds like Gardies is a cultural treasure worth saving.

In Madison, eons ago, there was a place called Geoden's Fish. It was in the University District, in an old style store front which was about 12 feet wide and 100 feet deep.(And 100 years old) Inside was dark, and greasy smelling, with a long counter dividing the customers from the cooks, and a row of little booths on the customer side. The menu was written on a large chalk board, and the whole Goeden family worked there from Grandpa to older children. They had a huge selection as long as you wanted fish & potatoes fried in fat with Coke or coffee. They gave you a lot of food for the money, and the aura was wonderful. It was very popular with students.

Then, the whole block they were on was "renewed". The row of ancient shops were replaced with a little outdoor mall, which was a bad Disneyesque Ye Olde Englishe Towne Square. (Blech!)

Goeden's couldn't afford the rent in the new mall. They had owned the building they were in previously; grandpa had paid off the mortgage years earlier. The money they were given to compensate them for the loss of their building was not enough to buy a new place. They ended up in this shiny little new store front a few blocks away from where they had been, but they atmosphere,and most of the customers were gone. The high rent raised prices, and the ultra shiny, brightly lit look was a step or six backwards from the delicious murkyness of a 100 year old booth, bad lighting from the 20s, and breathing fish & lard vapour. They went out of business in a few years, and a dry cleaner or something equally useless is there now.

The same renewal cost us a great bar, where people with long hair, big educations, and limited employment prospects drank and played pool, while debating the world's problems.

So it goes.

mk

[altariel.livejournal.com]

There was a greasy spoon just like that next door to the department where I used to work. It sold lovely fry-ups and big sticky buns. Also the best takeaway coffee in the town; used to get me through many a morning. I think it changed hands and they tarted it up.