The Flame, Duluth, MN
The Flame, Duluth, MN
How many of you remember the restaurant by Bayfront Park (there was no park there then) that was at the exact spot that our Aquarium is now. If you said “THE FLAME”, you are correct! The first January I was here as a new bride, (1970) we celebrated New Year’s Eve with Bob’s cousin and his wife at the Flame Restaurant. It was one of a few really fancy, nice restaurants in Duluth at the time, if you wanted to go to an elegant place to eat, you usually chose The Flame or The London House on London Road. Both restaurants were really elegant. It sat on the waterfront, and if you sat at a table by the large windows facing the harbor, you saw this beautiful flame that burned there in the landscape, and at night the harbor was beautiful, you could see the lights of the bay and over in the Superior Harbor. Yep, it was a pretty place. We liked it so much and felt it was the height of luxury, that we also celebrated at least our first 5 wedding anniversaries there.
When the Flame closed, many of us were sad. It stayed a restaurant, but a much different one, a franchise owner purchased it and it became part of a chain called “The Anchor Inn”. I don’t remember which year that happened, but I do remember going there when it was The Anchor, when Dawn was maybe 9 or 10. It was the first buffet restaurant to appear in Duluth, and it was a big hit, especially for families with children. It made going out to eat more affordable. I believe after the Anchor, there was another restaurant chain that tried to make a go of it, and eventually it closed down completely. It sat empty for years, until the Aquarium was placed on its site.
We missed the atmosphere and beauty of “The Flame” and we will always remember fondly the times we spent there on New Year Eve’s and Anniversary celebrations. Yes, we have good memories of The Flame.
I have been searching the web looking for historical information about the restaurant, and not finding much. I did find something about it on a Jewish History website that talks about it and its owners Jimmy and Ruth Oreck. I am going to print what I found on this site: http://www.geocities.com/txsynvr/superior/sup.html (in case you would like to look at this site for further info on Jewish roots in Duluth. It also tells about the start of the harbor sight seeing boat (now know as The Vista Cruise Fleets). Here is what I found -
I quote from the article:
“The Flame was something. It had style, it had class, it was raffish. Then so were its owners, Jimmy and Ruth Oreck. Jimmy was of the first American-born generation of Rafuel Avrumovich Oreckovsky, "The Zaideh", and Ruth (nee Peterson) the beautiful daughter of Danish immigrants from Brainerd, MN. They stretched the chain as far as it would go--maybe farther. Jimmy, though famously laconic, possessed matinee-idol good looks, and knew how to run a restaurant. Jews could go to the Covenant Club for family affairs and simchas; they couldn't set foot in the front door of the Northland Country Club or the Kitchi Gammi Club--not till much later. Everyone who was anyone wanted to go to the Flame for a big time, and everyone else just wanted to be able to afford a meal there. The Flame was in its way the local embodiment of the American dream.
But tourism increased. Families hit the road in search of scenic wonders, and the Duluth-Superior harbor was a big attraction to folks in the midwest. The Kaners, along with a colorful Polish businessman named Gazonsky, outfitted a harbor sightseeing boat dubbed the Flame, as a result of a deal with the proprietor of the Flame restaurant, Jimmy Oreck. They set up shop at the Flame's dock and sold tickets in the lobby. While the tourists sprung for tickets for the harbor tour, they passed up the Flame's celebrated food and Charlie Casmir's drinks upstairs. Jimmy continued to ring the ship's bell at the top of the stairs to announce in his peculiarly toneless voice the vital statistics of each ship looming huge beyond the big picture windows of the main dining room: "Ladies and gentlemen, now passing, the D. G. Kerr, downbound for South Chicago with 13200 ton of ore loaded at the Mesabi docks. She has a length of 600' and a beam of 60'. Owned and built by US Steel she made her maiden voyage in June of 1916." The boat business was later sold to the Goldfine family, who continue to operate it to this day."
If any of you have memories of The Flame, feel free to click on comments and tell us about them. I'd love to hear your memories/stories. I was searching for photo of it, but came up empty in that search.
posted by Linda at 7:45 PM
5 Comments:
I grew up in Duluth in the 1950's (I fled Minnesota for a warmer climate decades ago) on a little street named Princeton Place in a modest home. There was a very big and expensive home at the end of the street, at the top of the hill with an expansive view of the lake, and the Orecks lived there, owners of the mysterious and unvisitable (for us) Flame Restaurant. They pretty much kept to themselves, but were kind enough to allow us and the rest of the neighbors to wander around on their lawn and peer up into the evening sky to spot Telstar, the first satellite you could actually see crossing the night sky without a telescope, which was a huge event.
I remember that their sons, who famously drove around in big convertibles with the huge tailfins of the day, had a go at a more affordable restaurant, the Flamette, on East Superior St. Think of it as something like Denny's before Denny's or any of the other big chain restaurants existed. I don't remember how long it lasted, but I think it was gone by the time our family moved away from Duluth in 1963.
I have very fond memories of The Flame. I was born in 1956 in West Duluth and my grandmother, Erma, was a waitress at The Flame for many years. Once or twice a year, me and my four sisters would be dressed up and with our parents we would go to The Flame for dinner. I remember the spectacular view from the windows, tipping the ladies room attendant a quarter, and most of all the outstanding food. The popovers, of course, were a special treat and I've tried through the years to duplicate them without success. They were huge, dark brown and steaming hot and we loved slathering them with butter. Another favorite was the prime rib and a unique specialty was their chicken on a sword which was brought to the table flaming.
Lorraine Campbell:
I grew up in the TC's and when I was very young, probably 9, my dad was given a small bonus and told by his boss to take his family on a day trip to Duluth and to eat at The Flame. I remember that beautiful place and the big flame burning near the entrance. The wonderful view of the harbor. We were served popovers and we slathered lots of butter on them. Wow, they were good. For my main course, I had the famous chicken on a sword and was totally mesmerized by the fact that it was flaming when it was brought to the table and served to me. My dad had his favorite, the prime rib. We never got a chance to return to that wonderful place. My dad is now 93 and I just recently moved back to MN after being away for 25 years, to care for him. Our plan was to return to Duluth to see the fall color and eat at The Flame again. You can imagine how sad I was to learn that it was closed. I will never forget that magical experience.
Thank you so much for your stories. I have been on the internet trying to find stories of my grandparents restaurant. What a wonderful treat to find this blog:) I haven't lived in Duluth for 21 years. I miss the stories I would hear from patrons of The Flame. I have a lot of photos from inside The Flame. Unfortunately, no stories or names of the people in them. I will save your postings for my children to read someday!
Annie
Growing up in the '50's, my dad and I sailed often on the S.S. South American throughout the Great Lakes. When we tied up at Duluth, dad always took me to Flame Restaurant for a meal, then back to the ship.
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