Stop at the Red Apple: The Restaurant on Route 17 (Excelsior Editions)

An entertaining inside story of how Reuben Freed's roadside eatery became the famous Red Apple Rest.

The Red Apple Rest was a legendary restaurant open from the 1930s through the 1980s on New York's Route 17. Located midway between New York City and the resorts of the Catskill Mountains, the restaurant served as a who's who of entertainment luminaries. Elaine Freed Lindenblatt was born into restaurant royalty as the youngest child of the establishment's founder, Reuben Freed. For her, the Red Apple was the "family room" across the road-one she shared with over a million customers every year. In this book fifty-plus years unfold in a series of lively vignettes-enhanced with photos, memorabilia, and even a closely guarded recipe-as she recreates what it was like to be raised in the fishbowl of a round-the-clock family operation. Stop at the Red Apple is at once an account of growing up in 1950s small-town America, a glimpse into the workings of a successful food operation, and a swan song to a glorious slice of bygone popular culture.

Elaine Freed Lindenblatt is a former publishing professional and currently a writer and editor who lives with her husband in Rockland County, New York.