Chef Jacques Pépin, who trained for 10 years in Howard Johnson's Queens commissary, says the chain's possible departure from Times Square is bad news for diners.
For me, Howard Johnson's reliable, modestly priced food embodies the straightforwardness of the American spirit. It saddens me that New Yorkers looking for this kind of gentleness and simplicity will soon have to find it elsewhere. It won't be easy.We'd totally be worried, too, if it weren't for the Red Lobster right across the street and the Houlihan's around the corner.
· Howard Johnson's, Adieu [NYTimes]