Matchbook Memories

When I visited my parents last week, I went digging through the basement boxes to see what treasure I could find.  Last time, I found my skydiving photos.  This time, I found my collection of matchbooks that I had accumulated from every cool restaurant, bar or site I visited during the time after college when I lived in Stamford, CT to the time I lived in San Francisco.  I stopped collecting matchbooks because a) I'm not a smoker and b) the tin box where I kept them became full.  It's too bad that I stopped because sifting through the matchbooks brought forth many memories.  

There was the cafe we (including Peony) stopped at on New Year's Eve 1995/6 (Yaffa Cafe), the belly dancing restaurant in SF (Kan Zaman), the last motel my parents owned (Arbor Inn), the comedy club I visited with Dana, Mark and Kate in Milwaukee (Comedy Cafe), the restaurant in Memphis with Susan (P.F. Chang's), the bar in Miami with Susan (Cafe Tu Tu Tango), the club in LA with Ann (Viper Room), and many many more.  I wish I had kept up the collection because I'd forgotten most of these places and it was nice to receive a memory jolt.

in Massachusetts
Christopher's (Cambridge)
Stars on Higham Harbor (Hingham)
Sunset Motel  (Lee)
Arbor Inn Motor Lodge (Weymouth)

in Rhode Island
The 108 House (Wakefield)

in Milwaukee
Comedy Cafe

in Connecticut
Bank Street Brewing Co. (Stamford)
Le Figaro Bistro de Paris (Greenwich)
Sakura (Westport)
Telluride (Stamford)
Violets Dinner Club (Stamford)

in Tennessee
P.F. Chang's (Memphis)

 in Florida
Cafe Tu Tu Tango (Coconut Grove)

 in Las Vegas
Bellagio
Caesars
Mirage
New York New York

 in California
Brix Restaurant & Market (Yountville, Napa Valley)
Caribbean Zone (San Francisco)
Casa de Bandini (Old Town San Diego)
The Viper Room (Hollywood)
Jazz at Pearl's (Oakland)
Kan Zaman (San Francisco)
Murrays (San Francisco)
Eleven Restaurant + Bar (San Francisco)
Vertigo Restaurant & Bar (San Francisco)

 in London
Hard Rock Cafe


 in New York City
420 Bar & Lounge
Louisiana Community Bar & Grill
Planet Sushi
Yaffa Cafe
Ruby Foo's
Trattoria Trecolori
Webster Hall