The Significance of Ben's Chili Bowl - Research Paper Example

The Significance of Ben's Chili Bowl The Atmosphere It is 6 am in the morning .The daily stampede of the big city is yet to begin. However, at this cozy corner of the 1213 U Street in the heart of Washington, just five minutes drive on the U St east from downtown DC, even though eateries of all sorts abound in the vicinity, a line is beginning to form in the front of a former hot dog stand. A line, in which, peasants to presidents, lately those of the U.S and France have patiently awaited their turn. Breakfast is ready, anything from a tasty 2 egg snack to the famous “Half-Smokes” beloved of patrons from half a century ago. Cars start pouring in to the parking lot. As the morning comes to its full glory, the diner is jam packed, the staff trained by Pa and Ma Ben, bustle about, behind the counters, serving while a Motown playing juke box sets the rhythm. The place has the comfortable 1958 feel, look and tastes. The chili is the same, ‘fresh and homemade with love”. Even all the furniture is original, as demanded by fanatic patrons. Big modern flat screen TVs adorn the walls of its branches but it is the historic pictures of family and the famous patrons over the years that people look at inside “The Bowl’’. You want the old home and hearth of good old America, its Ben’s you come to. A treasure kept suspended in time from the “flower days”. That’s what earned it the won the James Beard Foundation recognition as an "American Classic," and kudos from President Obama, who ate here with D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty before his presidential inauguration.[Ben’s Home site]. All Washington comes here to dine and chat. Tourists on trips, cops on beats, newsmen on prowl, lorry drivers, cabbies, college students, business magnates, neighborhood folks, musicians and artists all hang out here. Business men and uniformed staff slip in for breakfast before work, Men and women sipping coffee and eating cheese grits or toast before going to work. .Workers and tourists come in for lunch and burger gobblers come at night. The staff dance and pose for pictures. Its “crazy hours”, anywhere from 6 in the morning to 2 or 3, the next day, are designed to fit all and sundry, even the night clubbers who home in at these wee hours. Barbershop Everyone is family, owners, staff, and guests. “Ben's is like a popular barbershop or beauty salon, a place where a “janitor sits next to a judge, where the regulars gather to gossip, laugh and joke.” Just random people having random conversations," Nizam Ali (son of Ben Ali) said. Alternatively, in his Mother’s words “a social melting pot”, the crowd being increasingly of all hues [Alexander, Keith L]. Bill Cosby, the comedian et al, was one of the regulars and closely associated with Pa Ben. When you crunch in to the signature lunch dish, Bill Cosby’s Original Chili Half-Smoke ($5.45), you get the same taste of the 60’s when Bill Cosby hung out here at "The Bowl.” The legendary-half smoke is a 1/4lb half pork and beef smoked sausage on a warm steamed bun, topped with mustard, onions and spicy homemade chili sauce [Ben’s Home].The heavenly French fries are said to “be the best for hundreds of miles around.” Also famous are the salmon cakes, grits, scrapple, or blueberry pancakes. [Cilla Reesman] Ma Ben is a daily visitor even though Pa is no more. The guests keep asking for more as she recounts old timer stories, “You don't know about Ben's, you don't know nothin', man” is what the faithful say. [Frommers] Raving reviews on international hotel and travel guides keep hordes of guests, even from $440 a night hotels zooming in for $ 4.85 dollar hot dog. Restaurants are dime a dozen in Washington. Surely, at the breakneck pace by which they live and hunger is assuaged by a fast wolfing down of the nearest snack, what keeps the patrons walking the extra mile to their old haunt? Many have wondered about the magic of Ben’s: it is not just the food not the fame and certainly not the price. “Whatever you do, never change this place", is the ultimatum of its most loyal, even when modern, post modern restaurant ambiences created by top designers flourish. A study might lead one to the moral of the story of the widow’s copper mite. It is not what you give but how you give it. “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled [fattened] ox and hatred therewith. [Proverbs 15:17, KJV]. “That’s what gets ‘em. ‘A family table at Mom’s and Pop’s where everyone is treated with love, equality, dignity and respect, no matter how high or low. “The atmosphere, Virginia Ali recalled, was like a never-ending family reunion” [Alexander, Keith L]. That’s what keeps the guests, old and new, streaming in from morning to night, even if they become presidents. Ben also honours/glorifies its social commitment by giving 25% of proceeds to charity and using 100% wind power. History All of this leads to the man behind it all, Mahaboob Ben Ali, a 21 year old laureate of the Trinidad Civil Service, of Indian descent, a ‘high quality immigrant’, who left his country in1948 to pursue the ‘American Dream’. After some trials of different opportunities, he enrolled for the Howard University College of Dentistry, but had an unfortunate accident in which he broke his back. Though he recovered after months of medical attention, continuation of his studies difficult was made difficult. A survivor, he turned to business, even drove a taxicab and then got into real estate and acquired capital and on August 22nd, 1958 began Ben’s Chili Bowl in a pool hall that had previously been the Minnehaha Theater first silent movie house in Washington, [Ben’s, Wikipedia] . He also got married to Virginia Rollins, ‘the love of his life’ two months later [Ben Ali Story]. The idea for the restaurant originated when Ben noted Americans eating French fries with ketchup. With his Caribbean tastes, he thought that the relatively bland American foods could be improved by making them spicier. [Alexander, Keith L.] A tireless worker of fantastic energy and a well rounded man of many businesses and social accomplishments, he branched out into many businesses .A natural teacher who loved sharing his knowledge, he was a reputed business teacher teaching at even the Air force students at Andrews air base. Generous to all he knew and a world traveler, he was truly a world citizen. He was 82 when he died of congestive heart failure on October 7, 2009 at his home [Ben’s Home -Ben Ali Story, Washington post]. Neighborhood The U Street Corridor is one of the commercial and residential neighborhoods of Northwest Washington, D.C. Many business enterprises like stores, eateries, nightclubs,art galleries, and music theatres ,dot a nine-block stretch of the U Street from 9th Street on the east to 18th Street and Florida Avenue on the west and a part mostly of the larger Shaw neighborhood, with the western end entering the DuPont Circle neighborhood. The U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial and Cardozo Washington Metro station are important establishments. The U Street area originated as a Victorian-era neighborhood, noted from 1862, consists of a coherent group of row houses .The introduction of the street car led to its initial development [National Register of Historic sites]. Between 1900 and1948 it began to get developed as a business and entertainment centre and as a for the city's most important concentration of businesses and entertainment facilities owned and operated by blacks, while the surrounding neighborhood became home to the city's most prominent African Americans. There are numerous buildings of historic significance dating from 19th century. During its heydays, as the home to America’s largest urban black population in 1920s, it was known as the “Black Broadway”. The area fell to hard times following the Washington D.C. riots in 1968 after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, and businesses collapsed as the rich left the area [U street Corridor]. The U street was and still is Washington’s ‘Juke Box.’ The singer Duke Ellington was born here. Great musicians and people like Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Redd Foxx, Dick Gregory, Martin Luther King Jr., Donny Hathaway, Roy Ayers and Bill Cosby performed here. The “Bowl” was the diner and the hang out of these historic cultural legends where they met and exchanged ideas and developed where ordinary folks could feed cheek by jowl with them. More than a dozen famous theatres were established here, like the Lincoln Theatre, Howard Theatre, the 9:30 Club, U street music hall etc [Ben’s Wikepedia]. The singer Wes Felton is closely associated with the restaurant [Felton]. At the same time Ben’s was a beacon of light to hundreds of youth to a rebirth from a life of drugs and dissipation, where they found role models of success , among whom certainly, the Bens, were a living proof that it was possible for a black to make it good in America [Ben’s stories-Ben’s home site] Struggles Surviving the riots that broke out after the assassination of Martin Luther King’s in the 1968, was a miracle, which Ben’s accomplished with flying colors. Ben’s contributed substantially to calm the raging storm of black anger especially by providing food and shelter to the activists, firemen and police. Amidst the ruins of businesses left in the aftermath, Ben’s continued its upward struggle even when drugs took over the street in the mid 1970’s The management cooperated with the police to take active measures to undermine drug trafficking. The diner had the aura of the local barbershop, a chat room and a sense of family about it that the locals defended it according to Kamal Ali, the eldest son [Ben’s, Wikepedia] Succor Reeling under the blows, the area started to glow again only after the establishment of the Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center at 14th and U Streets resulting in the creation of hundreds of new jobs [Ben’s site]. Then Bill Cosby who courted his wife Camille at Ben’s in the 60’s held his national press conference in September of 1985, at Ben’s Chili Bowl to celebrate his number one rated ‘The Cosby Show’ attracting national attention and thus improving business. Then came the construction of the Metro Green Line subway in 1987, lasting five years, which left the area gutted until reconstruction, and business came back on track especially benefitting from the business skills of his son Nizam Ali “We had the community support, and we survived. We didn't want to go to any other part of the city," Virginia Ali said. [Alexander, Keith L]. Ben’s Chili Bowl these days is a D.C institution, which no prominent socialite can ignore having become the darling of local, national and international celebrities under a shower of laurels in the same range and recently celebrated its 50th anniversary [Alexander, Keith L]. Ben and Virginia Ali have been inducted in to the Virginia Hall of Fame, given keys to the City of Washington etc. The alley adjacent to it has been named “The Ben Ali Way”. Branches of the diner have been opened in several locations with big success. The U street nowadays is a high value neighborhood under the ‘gentrification’ process with multimillion dollar condominiums, glass and steel monsters threatening to swallow swallowing up even historical landmarks like the Ben’s [Alexander, Keith L]. The Social, Financial, Scientific and Historic Value of Ben’s Chili Bowl Social Anchor and Pacifier By acting as a meeting point and social bastion, it acts as a pacifier and clearing point for ideas esp. for the black community, where equitable social interaction takes place ‘in a social melting pot’. Ben acts as a great salve for the society. To summarize the Washington Post, Life for many of the real residents for Washington D.C, does not revolve around steel and glass skyscrapers, but far smaller, humbler institutions like the “Ben's Chili Bowl, a simple diner famous for its down-home menu of chili, half-smokes and fries” [Matt Schudel ]. Ben’s is a reference point, which bolsters the self esteem of the blacks. Such anchors are also a remedy to “the sense of rootlessness”, for which the 1966 U.S Conference of Mayors, which recommended historic preservation as a solution [Historic District, Wikepedia]. Business Anchor The restaurant has been a magnet attracting people from far and wide to the area or “a business attracting other business to the area”-the definition of an anchor business [Learner’s Dictionary].The need to address the needs of the influx of people creates businesses. The national limelight on the enterprise has given this former hash street credibility and respect. Property Developer The national and international limelight attracted by this socio-cultural entity and the glamour of international celebrities has added to the steep increase in property values. The neighborhood is seen as a secure and influential locale regularly enjoying the attention of the celebrities and media and as a contact point for politicians with the public. Note the effect of an anchor—the anchoring effect according to the Skeptic’s Dictionary [Skeptic’s Dictionary] is the rules of thumb bias [a hidden persuader], that humans take under conditions of uncertainty, which influence our decision making and attitude. Ben’s is worthy guidepost that provides healthy reference point for its fans. Cultural Catalyst Ben’s Chili Bowl has acted as a cultural centre for performers, esp. jazz musicians, like Wes Felton to meet and interact in a relaxed environment [Wes].The proof is in the heartfelt regard by the huge number of performers. It was the cradle in which a lot of struggling artists, performers, national celebrities and ordinary people developed their social and personal charisma, in a relaxed, secure family atmosphere of love and acceptance and an excellent source of role models for the youth. Culinary Historical Showpiece As an enterprise, which developed the culinary tastes of the nation and introduced a new aspect in food, Ben’s has made culinary history. Critical Food Distributor A point, which may seem trivial but extremely valid is the value of Ben’s as a source of choice food, considered most suited by a significant section of the population to fuel their daily labors, thus fulfilling an important function for the City. Washington History Showpiece It has quite subconsciously became a part of the especially African American history of Washington D.C. by figuring conspicuously, in a huge number of social events, which it continues. This study would like to recall a point forgotten mostly, nowadays; Ben’s is the location of the fist silent movie house of Washington, the Minnehaha Theater that by itself calls for its upkeep, not as a commercial liability like many other sites. From an evaluation of the data presented above it can be seen that Ben’s Chili Bowl has been a historic institution, an engine responsible for of multi-faceted social development of its home city Washington D.C. and its people. Works Cited Alexander, Keith L: “Ben's Celebrates Chili Power”, Washington Post, page 2 August 21, 2008.Web.20/11/2010 URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2008/08/20/AR2008082003383.html?sid=ST2008082003400 Ben’s Site: “History, Ben Ali, Ben Ali Bio,” Ben’s chili bowl.com. Web.20/11/2010 URL: http://www.benschilibowl.com/ordereze/Default.aspx Ben’s, Wikipedia: Ben’s chili Bowl. Wikipedia.Web.20/11/2010 URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben%27s_Chili_Bowl Frommers: Ben’s Chili Bowl Review, Frommers.Web. 20/11/2010 URL:http://www.frommers.com/destinations/washingtondc/D42062.html Felton, Wes: Wesfelton.com.Web.20/11/2010 URL:http://wesfelton.com/wp-content/themes/SQUARED_3/send.php Historic District, Wikepedia: Significance. Historic District. Wikepedia. Web. 20/11/2010 URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_district_(United_States Learner’s Dictionary, Learner’s Dictionary meaning No: 4 .Word Processor program. Microsoft Word 2010.20/11/2010 National Register: Greater U street Washington D.C. National Register of Historic Sites. Web.20/11/2010 URL: http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/wash/dc63.htm Proverbs 15:17, [KJV]: Proverbs15:17.King James Version. Bible.cc.Web. 20/11/10 URL: http://bible.cc/proverbs/15-17.htm Reesman, Cilla: Reesman, Cilla. “Ben’s Chili Bowl”. Roadfood.com, 28/01/2005. Web.20/11/20 URL: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/washingtondc/D42062.html Skeptic’s Dictionary: Carroll, Robert. T. The anchoring effect. The Skeptic’s Dictionary.Web.20/11/10 URL: http://www.skepdic.com/anchoring.htm Schudel, Matt: Schudel, Matt. “He added spice to our lives” Washington Post, Oct 9, 2009 .Web.20/11/2010 URL:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2009/10/08/AR2009100804353.html Read More