Joey Ziegler shakes seasoning salt onto a thick piece of steak, throws it onto a sizzling grill and turns toward the counter to face Pete Muscala. Now Joey's really feeling the heat.
"Fifteen-six, fifteen-eight, fifteen-10, fifteen-12," Pete counts.
Joey shakes his head.
"I'm losing this one," he says.
Every Monday afternoon for an hour and a half, Joey, 33, and Pete, 92, meet for a friendly but competitive game of cribbage at the Our Kitchen diner in south Minneapolis. The tiny, tasty spot has served up short stacks with bacon, plus other made-from-scratch culinary comforts since 1941 — about the time Pete was learning to play the multi-faceted card game using a board and pegs.
"You play in World War II?" Joey asks Pete as he deals out a new hand.
Pete, who grew up in northeast Minneapolis and sold insurance, isn't sure. But he's played cribbage for a long time, and has a 1955 trophy to prove it.
Our Kitchen waitress Sue Muscala couldn't be more grateful for Joey, the diner's cook, who flips burgers and cuts the deck with her father-in-law without skipping a beat.