Taste of the past: Inside Peter's Grill

Peter's Grill, as it appeared in its original home on 9th St. in downtown Minneapolis, next door to Young Quinlan. The building is now a parking lot. The restaurant (and a large number of its fixtures, including its iconic neon sign) moved down the street to the Foshay Tower in 1985, and then to its current location at 8th St. and 2nd Av. S. in 1991. Star Tribune file photo.

Note: The following story, written by Minneapolis Star staffer Peggy Katalinich, was published in the Oct. 27, 1976 edition of Taste.

Down(town) home cooking lives

Ed Atcas surveyed his domain, Peter's Grill – a world of straight-backed wooden booths where the presence of art deco is '30s original, not '70s camp.

"Do I want to do something else? I must ask myself that three times a day. I mean, the rewards of this business are being able to work long hours, checking in on the icebox over the weekend and waiting for the plumber who doesn't show up.

"But the best part is all the people I get to meet. You know, I can't stand it when the restaurant's not busy – oh, not from the money standpoint. It just seems to function a lot better when it's full.

"Sometimes in the afternoon when business is slow I could fall asleep in one of those booths."

There's one loyal crew that takes over the end counter every lunch hour. Add up the years each has been coming to "set a spell" on the green vinyl stools and you'll pass the century mark.

"I've been coming here for 16 years; my sister Lois and I – we operate the elevators at Young Quinlan – come here straight at 11. Sixteen years and nobody has ever picked up my tab," moaned Evelyn Tehis, whose sister, Lois Orth, beats her attendance record by four years.

"It's the nearest to home cooking, and beside, you can have a little fun at the same time," she added.

A look into the kitchen at the original Peter's Grill. Star Tribune file photo.

No one would consider calling the food here gourmet. "Good, basic home-cooking, the style we've always cooked," says Atcas. Vegetable soup – made with a stock that brew all week – and the turkey dishes – the meat is stripped off the bones of four 25-pound roasting turkeys every morning – are the most popular meals.

"It's funny, but I don't really go out to eat that much; it's not a treat for me. So I get my information about other restaurants from people I talk to, from salesmen. Of course, I do have a pretty good idea what's happening downtown, but put me out on the [494] Strip [in Bloomington] and I'd be lost."

Peter's Grill has led a pretty placid life since setting up shop on 9th St. in the early '30's. Except for the shooting.

"Had a waitress get shot once. A customer hung his coat up on the rack, and when she brushed against the rack it fell. The guy had a derringer loaed in his coat pocked and it went off into her leg.

"She still has the bullet, too. She's no longer here; maybe that was the turning point," Atcas said.

Friends meet for a meal at the original Peter's Grill on 9th St. in 1976. Star Tribune file photo.

"Things were different then. Those were the depression years and you had to obey the manager's strict orders. Sometimes he'd stand with a butcher knife to scare you. You couldn't wear nail polish or curls in your hair. And you always had to stand by your station," she said.

The building itself hasn't changed much in those years. The soda fountain in front was removed for more counter space. The light fixtures have been updated and the original walnut counters have been replaced with Formica. But the pale green walls with gold embossed art deco designs that ring the corners are original, as is the famous canopy that finges the kitchen, revealing hanging pots and pans, rising steam and frantic clatter.

Atcas is losing the battle, though, to hold onto the original cream pitchers, which are disappearing with customers at a rapid pace.

"I just can't replace them because no one is making them any longer," he sighed.

He never had any formal training in managing a restaurant, it simply happened when he began taking over from his father, the Peter of the restaurant name, who died this year.

For your 27 cents you got roast loin of pork, apple sauce, mashed squash, mashed or boiled potato, baked apple or chocolate cake and coffee, tea or milk.

"I can tell you that the pork cost about 5 cents a pound, but I still don't know how people were making money," Atcas said. Although the prices have changed, the emphasis on home cooking is the same; recipes for baked goods have been passed along in small notepads, and techniques shared with new cooks.

"So much of cooking is imagination to start with, it's difficult to give you recipes. For instance, to make the vegetable soup you'd need a bath tub to make the stock," he said.

But after some prodding, Atcas collaborated with Just to produce these recipes for home use, for a touch of Peter's Grill.

CREAM OF CELERY SOUP A LA PETER'S GRILL

Note: Adapted from the Oct. 27, 1976, issue of Taste.

1 stalk celery

2 small onions

3 qt. water

8 chicken bouillon cubes

1 c. flour

1/8 tsp. white pepper

¾ tsp. salt

1 tbsp. sugar

1 c. whole milk

Remove celery leaves and chop them fine. Dice celery ribs and onions. In a large stock pot over high heat, combine diced celery, celery leaves, onion, water and bouillon cubes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 1 hour. In a large stock pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally so it will not burn. Add celery/onion stock and stir until mixture is smooth. Add pepper, salt and sugar and let soup simmer just until it reaches boiling point. Reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes, stirring often. Stir in milk, cook 5 minutes and serve.

PETER'S GRILL CHOCOLATE CHIP, DATE AND WALNUT CAKE

Serves 9.

Note: This recipe must be prepared in advance. Adapted from the Oct. 27, 1976, issue of Taste.

1 c. finely chopped pitted dates

1 c. boiling water

13/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pan

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. chocolate chips

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Directions