Graham’s Lunch Cart - Next to Christchurch Episcopal Church
Open 5 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday-Friday; operated by ‘Mother’ Philomena Graham.
Working men of all kinds make up the bulk of the Graham’s customers, with a smattering of clerks, shop girls, and a few Missituk University employees willing to walk a little farther off campus to avoid the students. One of Graham’s most loyal customers is Father Anthony Morency, of the Sacred Heart Church on French Hill Street, who comes by every day he can for lunch. From time to time he uses the excuse of wanting to take his lunch at Graham’s to button-hole a parishioner to accompany him in order to have a private chat, having found a stomach full of Mother Graham’s cooking helps to unburden the heaviest heart.
Another regular customer is New Jerusalem Journal reporter Willard Peck, who has been a customer since he was a boy. He usually takes one or two meals a week here, despite being some distance from either his home or office, and feels that eating here helps to keep him connected to the average Jerusalemite. He also loves their grilled ham and cheese sandwiches but tends to favor the former reason if asked about his dining preference.
‘Mother’ Philomena Graham, aged 73, is the heart and soul of the business. Despite her age and apparent infirmity, ‘Mother’ Graham opens the business every day, arriving at 4 in the morning and staying until noon, when she turns things over to Irene Gould, age 41, her second-in-command. Gould is a widow who lost her husband in an accident at the New Jerusalem Worsted Mill more than a decade ago and both her children to influenza in 1946. She is deeply devoted to Graham, whose friendship saved her in her darkest days. When Graham heads home for the day, Gould takes over counter service and is responsible for depositing the day’s take to the Missituk Valley Savings Bank; several members of the Finns have noticed this and have idly discussed robbing her.
There is barely enough room inside the cart for the three employees within — one handling food preparation, one doing the bulk of the cooking, and one to handle sales — as one-half of the cart is taken up by a long, timeworn marble counter and stools for up to eight customers. A fourth employee, the runner, works on the outside of the cart. The job rotates between a small cadre of young boys, aged 10-16, who can run to the grocer if they run unexpectedly low on something, keep the area around the cart clean and tidy, and on those extremely rare occasions, can run and find the nearest patrolman should there be some problem.
Graham knows her customers quite well despite being partially deaf and having a mild cataract in one eye; she usually starts jotting down their orders in her idiosyncratic short-hand before they say a word. Her memory is excellent, and, should she witness some odd event, she can relate the details with great clarity. She is aware that, considering her age, she has only a few years left in her and has been quietly making plans in the event of her death. Unbeknownst to Mrs. Gould, she is the main beneficiary of Graham’s will and, after her passing in 1962, she uses that not insubstantial bequest to start her own restaurant.
Mother Graham’s clam cakes are one of the finest dishes in New Jerusalem, even if only a small segment of the city’s populace realize it. Each one is made by hand and fried in a pot that hasn’t been scrubbed since before WWII.
Most breakfast customers dine inside the wagon if there is room, while those coming for lunch tend to favor the take away window. One of the sure signs of winter’s approach is when the wagon’s door is closed during business hours, as the heat within is generally notable. There is always a small number who choose to eat nearby, sitting on the curb or on the steps of Christchuch Episcopal, a habit which is tolerated so long as you do not block the doors and clean up after yourself. The city of New Jerusalem has installed two large trash cans between the church and the cart’s usual spot to help reduce litter.
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