Aaarghh... I just watched a really emotionally wrenching episode of "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares" (a BBC-America series I hadn't seen before). I'll bet some of you know the one, it's about the old Seascape Restaurant in Islip on Long Island (synopsis). It was being run by a wimpy guy named Peter and his mother, who was clearly tougher and more disciplined but also clearly well on in years and perhaps growing frail. A beautiful woman with a lovely European accent, maybe Italian, not sure. She wasn't fully aware what was going on in the kitchen, probably didn't want to. Baaaaaad. The chef and sous-chef both end up getting the boot at Chef Ramsay's urging.
 
Because this was Long Island, with some obvious characteristics in common with the Wildwoods, you can imagine me gritting my teeth until the last minute wondering if Peter would man up and Chef Ramsay would succeed in helping him pull his business out of the toilet. Physically, the place was deteriorating, so it got a serious makeover. I was getting all misty as the staff (including the obligatory waitress-who'd-been-there-since-creation) enthused about how Ramsay's design team had  "brought back the old Seascape" and the camera kept cutting to an antique photo of the place.
 
Then there was a ton of sweat as they actually began to operate the restaurant again and were swamped with customers, immediately exposing everyone's deficiencies. At the low point of all this Mom was cursing out her son within earshot of customers. But in the end, they got the engine running nicely and had a roomful of happy diners who Chef Ramsay was confident would return. Our kind of story, right?
 
Until... during the postscript credits, a voice-over announced that although Peter did step up to the plate and revive the Seascape, "he received an offer he couldn't refuse and sold the place." Thank you, now pull the stake out of my heart, please... I've done some searching,  and it seems clear that the Seascape no longer exists as such. Appears to be operating as "J&R Steak House" (yawn) with Peter still listed at the same address as "principal of the Seascape Restaurant."
 
Yeah, yeah, nothing lasts forever. I hope the place has continued at the level of vintage quality that was such a struggle to re-establish. But the name change is sad, and not auspicious. Of course I'd love to hear if anyone's been there.
 
P.S. ...
 

Source page: http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/ramsays-kitchen-nightmares/USA/the-seascape_p _1.html
 
A commenter on the page where I found the photo above says the Seascape is indeed "gone" and is now a "steak house." However, this show was produced for the 2007 season and the Bing aerial view, labeled 2009, shows the same building, so the shell of the Seascape is apparently still there.

Condolences. That actually sounds worse, if it's a chain/franchise/whatever selling bad cookie-cutter food.  
 
There is something about the feeling of the whole "prewar" phase of the 20th century that when well expressed, as it was by Drake's according to your vivid description, is just ... deep, if you'll forgive the vague and trite word. And stirs something deep within, for me. I figure it must have something to do with those years being as far back as my personal connections reach, i.e., my grandparents--the oldest people I've known, or recall knowing--were in their young prime then. And those were my parents' formative years as well. So I'm both genetically and experientially programmed to resonate to that era.  
 
You can probably kiss every Drake's equivalent goodbye once my generation passes. On the brighter side though, maybe the current younger generations will be similarly driven to keep midcentury stuff alive for a while. Not sure whether digital technology is a boon or a blight when it comes to historic preservation... maybe a little of both?

Thanks Mark. I just got around to looking at these as a slideshow and all I can say is, "ouch." If anyone else who's a fan of the prewar stuff hasn't looked yet, here's a direct link to them in slideshow mode:
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drower/sets/72157613217331875/show/
 
These images of Drake's remind me a bit of Holsten's in Bloomfield (of 'Sopranos' fame) but much more distinguished. The ceiling alone... {sigh}
 
The photographer, Debora Drower, noted that she couldn’t get a full exterior shot that day and referred viewers to this one:
 

Photo credit: Jim Rees on Flickr (click image to visit his page) • hosted by
 
RIP. What a waste. (I wish we could stop using that expression on this forum...)

There should be no statute of limitations for prosecution. If you look at products like the boxed teas, you'll see that Drake's wasn't destroyed that long ago. I think they gutted it around 1991 or so. Ann Arbor is a forward-looking town, but I thought someone would have wanted to preserve a place that connected generations to the city and the University of Michigan. But I guess I was wrong. At least there's Moe's Sport Shop, Van Boven and Sam's - cool places one and all. I'm probably too sentimental. I didn't even go to Michigan. I got my master's at Eastern Michigan, but lived in Ann Arbor for six years.
 
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1365/75215 6691_fe8f956492.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/djwhelan/752156691/&usg=__qYpg23WfyNAFLXZ1c9kCWlebTrc=&h=357&w=500&sz=92&hl=en&start=2&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=TZgX1DkSh1PlHM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dvan%2Bboven%2Bann%2Barbor%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
 
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.samsbasicclothes.com/images/bi gpants.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.samsbasicclothes.com/about.html&usg=__SIJpc_J1xs2POf0bO1hDqL7iPw8=&h=500&w=407&sz=52&hl=en&start=4&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=q_-mcEQuJlVu9M:&tbnh=130&tbnw=106&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsams%2Bann%2Barbor%2Bmi%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
 
http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/object3/1171/105/n190150380525_8791.jpg
 
 
 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21301000@N03/4298967832/
 
Here's a peek inside Sam's, courtesy of a friend and former co-worker at the Ann Arbor News.