by Thaddeus Flint
There is a little newspaper downstate called The New York Times that some people read. Each Sunday they also put together a magazine called the NY Times Magazine, and it is rather popular. A few Sundays ago, a story in that magazine began, “One of America’s greatest bars is in the unheralded working-class town of Hoosick Falls, N.Y.,” This greatest bar, according to author Rosie Schaap, is the Man of Kent.
[private]Schaap, who went to Bennington College, has spent quite a bit of time in bars – she estimates 13,000 hours of her life so far have taken place in one drinking establishment or another – so her opinions of what’s good when it comes to watering holes does carry some weight. Those who frequent the Man of Kent would certainly agree with her.
“It’s been amazing!” said owner Jon Bombard Wednesday. After the story came out January 13, it seemed like anyone who had ever been in the place wanted to make sure Bombard knew he was famous. Around a million and half people read the Times. A few days later, another little downstate paper – this one called The Wall Street Journal – wrote about Schaap and her new book, Drinking With Men. The Man of Kent, was an “unremarkable roadhouse in Hoosick Falls, N.Y,” said the WSJ, and yet according to Schaap, it had “everything that great bars have: a strong sense of itself, a superb and commanding presence behind the bar, in Jon, and a mix of people, young and old, rich and not rich and in between.” Over two million people read the WSJ.
“My email was bombarded!” said Bombard. The phone rang off the hook. Weekends were packed full. But weekends were almost always packed full even before the Man of Kent was introduced to a good portion of the world so it was hard to tell if people were coming because of the story or just because the Man of Kent is just such a nice place to be.
The Man of Kent, at least locally, seems to have picked up a reputation as a bikers’ bar. Which it is. “They are the nicest guys in the world,” said Bombard. It is also a lawyers’ bar, a construction workers’ bar and your great-aunt Dorothy’s bar. In Schaap’s story she tells how a biker offers her $100 dollars for her hat, a “knitted thing, somewhere between a skullcap and a tea cozy.”
“You will have lawyers sitting next to bikers,” said Bombard, “before you know it they are buying each other beers.”
It’s also a family bar. “It makes me feel good,” said Bombard, “that families are comfortable here.” There is good food, and the people are friendly and so whole families go to eat and enjoy life together. Bombard actually said, “It’s not a bar at all. It’s a place where people gather,”
The menu has been changing since Bombard bought the place-where-people-gather from the previous owner, John Stoates, in 2007. The Man of Kent burger was famous. Berkshire Magazine once rated it the best. “And we aren’t even in the Berkshires,” laughed Bombard. While the Man of Kent burger is still there, the bikers and lawyers are faced with some difficult choices if they look through the entire menu. Perhaps the seared Ahi Tuna? Or maybe the maple glazed pork chops? Or how about the chicken Koji Bites with a cucumber wasabi sauce?
“These are great,” said Koji Usui who was sitting at the bar eating Koji Bites.
Usui said he has been coming to the Man of Kent for 18 years. He’s been there so long they put him on the menu. Usui had stopped in to get some Koji Bites before he flies off to Japan. “This is his favorite bar,” said Bombard.
“This place is the best,” agreed Usui.
Beer drinkers are also faced with some difficult choices. There are 16 beers on tap and a massive selection of bottled beer decorates the coolers behind the bar. Can’t decide? Try a beer flight. It’s a long wooden paddle that holds 4 different draft beers. “This way you can try 25% of the beer selection in one sitting,” said Bombard.
Whatever choices you make, you might want to make them during the week. The weekends are mobbed and look to stay that way. Bombard said he is thinking about putting on an addition to the building which sits on Route 7 next to the Tibbetts State Forest. It might be needed.
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