Jeffrey Gildenhorn took his usual seat at his usual time at one of the American City Diner’s formica tables in Washington DC on Wednesday morning. Then, a surprise.
“Happy birthday to you!” sang his friend Keith Allen, a Vietnam war veteran who has known him for nearly half a century. “And many, many more!”
Gildenhorn, who had just turned 73, is something of an institution in these parts, and so is the distinctly non-artisanal nostalgic diner that he has owned for 27 years, with its signature strapline: “Not just a restaurant but a way of life.”
In the affluent Chevy Chase neighbourhood of the US capital, one that has a reputation as serious, strait-laced and politically obsessed, Gildenhorn likes to shake things up with cheeky comments on his outdoor signage. He has had one target in particular of late: Donald Trump.
“Humpty Trumpty will have a good fall,” read one sign in red lettering. “Immigration policy: deport Trump,” said another. “Keep American values: dump Trump” and “Standing with American Muslims” were other pointed offerings.
The comments strike a chord in the community, dominated by Democrats and middle-of-the-road Republicans, where Trump’s peculiar brand of demagoguery impresses virtually no one. Many are grateful for a splash of irreverence in an otherwise orderly part of town better known for impeccable manners than as a hotbed of protest.
“I want to create public interest,” explained Gildenhorn, a proud Washingtonian who ran for mayor in 1998 without success.
Another hit last year was the addition to the menu of the Trump Sandwich, which was “full of bologna” and cost $9.95. Each sandwich came with a card that read, “Big enough to fit in Trump’s big mouth.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, sales have now tailed off.
Gildenhorn will not be voting for the billionaire businessman who currently leads the Republican race but admitted: “Every political pundit so far has been wrong about Trump, saying he’ll drop out, but the opposite has happened. The caveat about him is that he has got the ability but he’s not been using it in the right direction. Hillary Clinton is going to be under a lot of scrutiny and, if something really dramatic comes up, there’s a long shot possibility he could win.”
The diner’s signage has dipped into other topics, with examples including “Gun control yes. NRA no,” and, after Clinton’s appearance before the Benghazi select committee on Capitol Hill, “You did great, Hillary.” Such is Gildenhorn’s sway that he subsequently received a thank you letter from Clinton, now displayed on the restaurant wall, which says: “I’ll carry your thoughtful words with me as I continue my campaign.”
But when it comes to the Democratic nomination, the small business owner said: “I happen to like Bernie Sanders. I think he’s more sincere and more down-to-earth and capable of making rational decisions. I think he’s a straight shooter.”
Gildenhorn, a successful entrepreneur, took a gamble in 1988 when the classic American diner had fallen out of fashion. He watched the science fiction film Back to the Future and was struck by how the audience seemed to love the 1950s. At three o’clock one morning, the idea of opening a 50s-style diner came to him; no one had built one in Washington since 1950.
It was constructed by a specialist company in New Jersey, delivered in two halves on a flatbed truck and took five days to install, despite protests from some residents who thought it would lower the tone of the neighbourhood.
“I’m bringing back the 1950s to the present time,” Gildenhorn explains. “People like the atmosphere and home cooking of a diner.”
Patrons step back into a world of stainless steel, neon signs, mirrors, vintage Coca-Cola ads, pictures of James Dean and Marilyn Monroe and silver-rimmed formica tables in booths with red-cushioned seats.
There are old-fashioned sweet dispensers, fairground games and jukeboxes with songs such as Georgia On My Mind by Ray Charles, Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin, What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong and You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ by the Righteous Brothers, labelled in a retro typewriter font. Film screenings are held in the summer.
Above the open kitchen and bar are signs that say: “An American restaurant / And proud of it!”, “If you don’t like the way I do things, buy me out!”, “I went from being commission chairman to chairman of the sandwich board”, “If you think you have reservations, you’re in the wrong place” and Gildenhorn’s own, “I may not have been elected mayor but I’m still serving the people”. Banners for various Washington sports teams also line the wall.
Gildenhorn’s own history is on display, from pictures of him and Bill Clinton in their student days at Georgetown University (Gildenhorn was three years older) to photos in the company of boxers Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard and Ken Norton and Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone. Gildenhorn is a former chairman of the DC boxing and wrestling commission and supervised a world heavyweight title fight between Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe.
Copies of his autobiography, City Ties, are on a sales stand while a framed “Gildenhorn Democrat for Mayor” campaign poster hangs from the ceiling. He recalls: “I was a non-politician who ran for mayor.” Old friend Allen, 74, adds: “Nobody knows more about this city and what makes it run and what makes it tick than Jeffrey Gildenhorn.”
Gildenhorn says his beloved diner appeals to everyone from truckers to bankers, from students to teachers, and famous visitors over the years have included secretary of state Madeleine Albright, musician Sonny Bono and actor Brooke Shields. A senior correspondent at the Politico website was eating there on Wednesday while MSNBC host Chris Matthews lives locally and is said to drop in.
Indeed, politics is always on the menu at the American City Diner. Patti Smith, 63, who comes two or three times a month for the waffles and the atmosphere, reflects: “It’s one of those places where you can get a sense of the city, take the pulse a little bit. When you come here, you hear a lot of political discussions. I like to listen to the conversations around me and see what people are thinking.”
The aerospace consultant is pleased that Gildenhorn’s outdoor signs make a statement. “I like the way a restaurant with this institutional flavour would be so bold. We need more of that. I have no time for Donald Trump. I’m very saddened by the fact we’ve got to the point in our country where the measures we used to use on candidates are non-existent. It seems the more outrageous he is, the more people like it. No matter what he says, he knows he can get away with it.”
Querida Escalera, 24, a social media manager and fan of the diner’s French toast, is even more blunt about Trump. “I think he’s an ass. Everything he says, he just spews hate, and then he tries to clean it up by saying people support him. It has an appeal to racists and bigots and the wrong people.
“He’s giving a bad representation of American people. Most of us are not like that. Americans are kind of OK. He’s the wrong person and shouldn’t be on TV. He’s a terrible person. We all knew that on The Apprentice.”
Her boyfriend, Richie Bobby, 29, a campaigner for marijuana law reform, adds: “Trump speaks to ignorant Americans.”
Polls show Clinton well ahead of Sanders among black voters but Escalera and Bobby, both of whom are African American, are leaning towards the senator from Vermont. Bobby explains: “Clinton has changed her opinion on issues way too much. I’m not a fan of hers because of that. At least Sanders has come out and given his opinions from day one. At least he has been consistent with his message and approach.”
But sitting at the next table, Robert Schiffer, 65, who works in the renewable resources industry, disagrees. “Hillary Clinton has got the experience and understands the complexity of the problems we face. She understands how to deal with domestic issues and understands foreign policy. She’s probably the most prepared person to be president of her generation, having worked with her husband, Bush and Obama. You learn from that.”
Another frequent customer, Steve Wattenmaker, who runs a software company, enjoys the bacon and eggs here. “This is an unreconstructed diner,” he comments. “Others in the DC area have gone upscale with locally sourced ingredients and nutritious food and trying to fancy themselves up.”
The 67-year-old says of Gildenhorn: “Knowing his political background, I’m not surprised he would mock Trump. The leaders on the Republican side are tapping a lot of anger in the electorate. They’re using a lot of demagoguery. If Donald Trump wins, it would be illustrative of where the country is at and the disaffection would be deeper than has been reported so far.”
The disaffection would not be hard to find in this corner of Washington, but at least Gildenhorn could be depended upon to find a pithy way to sum it up in a sign or a sandwich.
