Tony Blair Comes to Town

And what did the former Prime Minister of Great Britain do when he came to Greenwich Avenue? He shopped, of course.

Ah, dear reader, where did he shop, I hear you ask? So glad you inquired. Did Mr. Blair visit the ubiquitous chain stores that are ruining both our Town and so many towns in Great Britain? No, indeedy; he went to one of our oldest and finest family-owned stores, Richards, where he is reported to have looked for a new suit.

One of the nice things about Richards is that they keep your vital stats on file. Your scribe fondly remembers walking into the former store across the street and having salesman Edgar coming up to greet him with a smile. "What can we do for you today, Mr. Clark? A pair of gray flannels? Of course. Are you still a 32 waist?"

(Brief pause while your scribe reminisces about the days when he used to have a 32-inch waist.)

You get the point, dear reader: the level of personal service at Richards is unexcelled by any other store here in Greenwich, with the possible exception of Betteridge's, where the service is equally outstanding, and Terry himself probably remembers everybody's ring size. (Your scribe once shopped for a drop-dead engagement ring there, and Terry to this day remembers how he had to size it down for the drop-dead young lady in question.)

So Mr. Blair is now in the Richards database, and if he wants another suit all he has to do is call his host for the day, Scott Mitchell, who will undoubtedly see to it personally. Who says the best bespoke tailors are in Jermyn Street and Saville Row? As Mr. Blair can now attest, Greenwich Avenue is right up there, too.

Scott, ever the perfect host, ordered in lunch for the Blairs and their six-car entourage. The menu was turkey pastrami and chicken fingers from Bruckner's Good to Go on Grigg Street, just across from Richards (Scott himself eats there every day). You gotta love it, dear reader: last Saturday was a home run for the family-owned businesses of downtown Greenwich, and by extension a slap in the face for the cookie-cutter chain stores and restaurants that have become such an unfortunate part of the local streetscape.

By the way, if you have never been to Brucker's Good to Go, you are in for a treat. The food is all fresh and homemade, healthy and tasty, and it's one of those places where you have trouble making up your mind because you want to have one of everything. Your scribe saw Skip Bruckner making a delivery on Greenwich Avenue just an hour ago, and congratulated him on the good publicity. "Bill," he said earnestly, "don't ever call my restaurant a deli." Your scribe said he never had and never would, wondering what had brought that comment on. But then he looked at the Local Rag, aka the Yellowwich Time (their motto, of course, is "All the News That's Unfit to Print") and saw what Skip meant. The LR referred to the restaurant by the d-word no fewer than three times. Utterly typical of their lack of accuracy and sensitivity. If it weren't for the comics and the horoscopes, no one would bother to read the wretched tabloid.

Well, dear reader, as your scribe has said before, there's always something of interest going on in this Town. Had you been in Richards the other day, you would have found the affable Mr. Blair chatting with all and sundry, and probably have been invited to share a chicken finger or two. Ah, yes, just another day on Greenwich Avenue....