In June 1, 1959, the kitchen staff at the Charl-Mont Restaurant at the Globe Store were featured in an article in the Times.
Food Editor Maureen Connolly spoke with Charl-Mont manager Jack Wingerden about the restaurant and a few ideas for dishes you could make at home.
Wingerden said that the restaurant’s staff usually arrives an hour before the restaurant opens at 9:30am and stays past 7pm closing to clean up.
“Company’s Coming” as usual, but it’s no brother for the Charl-Mont’s chef Julius Zinicola, left and Gus Bensing, right. Jack Wingarden, center, manager of the restaurant, says they often cope with 1,800 guests a day. Photo ran in Scranton Times on June 1, 1959. Times-Tribune Archives
He said on a daily basis the restaurant sees between several hundred to 1,800 guests. Wingerden shared that Charl-Mont’s grilled hamburger with french fries out sells their prime rib and baked potato dinner 10 to 1. He said the price difference between the two is only 20 cents.
Wingerden also shared his go to meal when having guests over for dinner at his Elmhurst Blvd. home. The meal consisted of broiled steak, baked potatoes and tossed salad. He said after the potatoes are baked he hollows them out, mashes the contents with butter, cream, grated onion and garlic, then returns the mashed potatoes back into the potatoes shells tops them with cheese and places them under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is lighting browned. He said he served the salad with French dressing.
Brian Fulton has been the librarian at The Times-Tribune for the past 15 years. On his blog, Historically Hip, he writes about the great concerts, plays/musicals and celebrity happenings that have taken place throughout NEPA. He is also the co-host of the local history podcast, Historically Hip. He competed and was crowned grand champion on an episode of NPR quiz show “Ask Me Another.” Contact: bfulton@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9140; or @TTPagesPast