Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Americana, Coffee Shop, Diner, Documentary Photography, Food, Labor, Nostalgia, Oral History, Pasadena, Pop Culture, Restaurant, Waitress, women

- Jodell Kasmarsik – Pie ‘N Burger. Pasadena, CA
The waitress’ ear-piercing twang, mixed with the reverberating ring of the kitchen’s bell, creates the atmosphere that diners have marketed for decades. Grease carries the burnt smell of the range, while the aroma of frying bacon permeates the senses. You know breakfast is cooking when you hear the hollow crash of the frying pan hit the grill. The smells of bacon grease, watered down coffee, mixed with blueberry pancakes, curdled fat, and fried starch drift in the air. It’s not just the odors that make up the atmosphere of the diner but also the cacophony of clanging silverware against thick glass cream-colored plates laid over the chatter of patrons – all mixed up like a syncopated jazz riff. This environment with legs, mouths, arms, eyes, hands, and the silent breeze of the waitress rushing by; stirs up to a breakneck pace in a centrifugal spin. All managed and controlled by the well-seasoned waitress who race to our tables, quarrel with the cooks and bring humor and culture to the American roadside dining experience.
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JoDell Kasmarsik is an institution at Pie N Burger. Without her, there would be no Pie N Burger!
Comment by Laurie Bentley August 28, 2009 @ 3:28 amYes, Jodell is very special. She will be with me at a book signing at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena on September 8th at 7pm. I hope to see you there.
Comment by Candacy Taylor August 28, 2009 @ 3:41 am