Evening star., 1922-06-18

or the Cheshire Cheese, or Dor
lan's Beanery on Park row. In spite
of the name. 1t isn't one OF those
Greenwich Village tourist traps-noth-
ing like that. And it's hardly q room.
In fact, it's only the kitchen roof Of
Tortoni's that has been covered with
a greenland white striped awning and
partly screened in by hedge Of privet
set in butter tubs painted a sickly
green.
Perhaps Barry Platt and I are the
only ones who expect fame to come
to the Room of the Green Tubs. for
we not only named 1t, but we invented
it. That is. it was our hunch. which
we passed on to Signor Tortoni. that
he could ease the congestion in his
second floor dining space by cutting
French doors through one OF the back
windows, flooring over the kitchen roof'
and putting few iron tables out there.
True, that foxy son Of Napoli not
only adopted the idea, but pinched 1t
outright Why, he even had the nerve
to exhibit it to us. soon after the job
was finished, as the result OF his own
brilliant scheming. We let him get
away with that. but when he wanted
to advertise it as his Hanging Garden
we grabbed the act.
"OId stuff, Tortoni," protested.
"And much too pretentious. You ought
to ring in something about those tubs.
..That's it," says Barry. 'The Room
of the Green Tubs
- X X
l117HIIE Tortoni didn't fancy that
w name at first, he finally compro-
| missed by not naming it at all and let
ting US call it anything we wished.
Anyway, nearly all the regulars OF TINS
| spaghetu Joint seem to have followed
! our lead, although most OF them sum
nlv ask Joe, the head waiter, II ne
can give them table up among 'he
| green tubs
So one of the first things Barry
and I did after we blew into town
from our big spring tour with Onoae
Nels was to look UP some OF the oio
crowd and arrange get-togetheF
dinner ut Tortoni's- Took US more
than a week, at that, for in New YORK
Won don't casually run into friends
and acouaintances Not as a rule.
Generally you call them UP on the
| phone about three times before you
get In touch with them, and then
more than likely they are dated up
for some time ahead.
But we had rather good luck. and
at last-one of those perfect nights
| such as we had a few of not long
ago-nearly half a dozen OF US were
gathered around a big table under
| the striped awning. And somehow.
for the first time since wed gotten
| in from Florida, we seemed TO De
really at home.
I expect there are spots like that
for all kinds of people. in all kinds
Of places. For the young hicks OF
Tamarack Junction it used to be the
Superior Pool Parlor. back OF Felt
ner.s general store: but I suppose the
old boys who toddle into the Union
League Club here in New York have
much the same sensation OF oelnS
among their own kind when they
slump into their favorite easy chairs.
Likewise the young Dago gangsters
who SLOUGH into a Mott street suey
Joint, or the Michigan tin-canners
when they park their old fivvers
within sight of Tampa bay once more
and meet up with friends from Iowa
and Indiana. Proving that home
| isn't always where the mortgage is.
hut NAV be anywhere that the friend
| ly hail is passed.
Not that I mean to Eush over Tor
| toni's as the only real place In New
York. wouldn't even back the table
dhote dinner against the Held. NO.
I'd advise you to shy the little neck
clans on principle and to pass up the
! cold-storage chicken most Of the
| time. Also the view through gaps in
the tubbed privet is far from allur-
| ing-that Is, unless you can hnd
scenic charm in the back OF a four
story garage or the rear elevation Of
an apartment building. But Tortonis 9
potage Mongol is sa tasty brew as
ever dipped soup spoon into, and
/ his spaghetti Espagnol is noble ana
satisfying concoction. Then, too, 1t
| is rather cozy on a warm June even
| ing. sitting out among the green tubs
listening to the hum Of the city and
| the clatter of the dish-washing ma
chine below, especially when you
have your own bunch along.
THAT night We had collected
L Whitley Weeks. the demon press
agent; Ames Hunt, who had rounded
off his career as theatrical manager
by discovering both Barry Plat and
me the same season, and Sheila
o'shea, who actually does magazine
covers and sells 'em without ever
having lived in Greenwich Village.
Later on there had drifted in one T.
Sylvester Smith, who admits he Is
the most meteoric ad writer that has
broken into the game with the last
six months, and a big. tousle-haired
humorist from Denver-Ben Day, he
signs himself-who is being tried out
as editor Of an evening newspaper
funny column.
So you might guess that the table
talk would be literary and arty. But
it wasn't. Ames Hunt failed to
crouch about perfectly punk the
atrical season, but told us about a
guide he had UP at Crooked Lake.
Me-, and how he tried to make soup
out of some kodak films that he mis-.
took for condensed consomme cap
sules. Sheila O'Shea had discovered
4 IN,