NJ author to sign book about local diners

SPARTA — Being a New Jersey native, Michael Gabriele knows a thing or two about diners. So when looking for an idea for his second book, he drew inspiration from what he already knew.

Diving into diners
The idea for "History of Diners in New Jersey" came through a collaboration with Gabriele and his publisher, the History Press. He had written a book two years ago about cycling in New Jersey, which Gabriele notes was once the cycling capital of the world."

After kicking around some ideas, Gabriele decided on, "History of Diners in New Jersey."

"A book about classic diners in Massachussetts had been put out the year before so it served as inspiration for it," Gabriele said. "I didn't want to do a guide book and rate who has the best cheesecake and burger — it is the diner capital of the world."

In order to get a true look at how important diners are throughout the state, Gabriele took to the road to learn what really makes a diner tick. Selecting which ones to visit was something of an undertaking.

"I've been eating at diners all my life so in addition to those, I had to find out about other ones through people and online," he said. "I took a few road trips and toured the state that way."

While on the road, Gabriele took a lot of pictures for his book — it is illustrated with more than 75 photos, along with scans of vintage postcards, rare photo prints, technical illustrations and a special eight-page color insert.

Gabriele also talked to the people that ran diners and tracked down the people who built the eateries.

"Everybody knows that New Jersey is the diner capital of the world and knows there are a lot," said Gabriele. "They don't know that 80 percent of the diners were built in 20th century. They are a nice piece in our history and now they are becoming a forgotten chapter of the state and a forgotten piece of Americana."

Putting pen to paper
Gabriele previously published "The Golden Age of Bicycling Racing in New Jersey" in 2011 and has worked in journalism for 35 years.

"I've been a journalist all these years so I just approach it as a very long feature article, which would be about 10,000 words so you just multiple that to like 40,000 words," he said. "I am always looking for exclusive information, not a scoop necessarily, but things that no one was able to locate before or talk to people that hadn't been talked to. Then you have to take all that information and research and put it together as a cohesive narrative. The facts and figures and people and places and things, that's the history but you need a narrative to make it a story. You have to write interpretatively and make decisions about what gets in. It's a journey. You have to start at A and how do you get to B, it's not that things happened but how and why."

He will be bringing his latest work to Sparta Books on Saturday, Dec. 7 from noon to 2 p.m.

"It is a big honor when asked to appear anywhere," Gabriele said. "It's nice to meet people and learn from them. It is just a nice experience and it is fun after 18 months of killing myself putting together the book.

Gabriele truly hopes that readers not all embrace the information in the book but the memories that it is sure to bring up.

"I hope it will bring back memories for people and give background information to people interested in diners and Americana," Gabriele said. "There is an educational value for people and it can be used to enhance their enjoyment."

Tick Tock Diner
Of all the diners, Gabriele says the Tick Tock in Clifton is a sentimental favorite of his. Other greats include the Bendix on Route 17 and Mustache Bills on the northern tip of Long Beach Island.

"It's hard to say what my favorite is though," Gabriele said. "I've visited some real nice diners and it's not just about the food. It's the experience. I quoted someone in the book. He said 'The food is only half the meal.' And he's right because the food has to be good and fresh but that's not the only reason you go. It's the food and the fun atmosphere. The other half is the character of place whether it's at at 11 a.m. or 1 a.m."