A Public Talk by Jan Whitaker, Restaurant Historian and Author

Restaurant historian Jan Whitaker will present an illustrated history of Northampton’s restaurants of the 20th century. Jan will discuss the town’s prominent and influential restaurants of the past, along with its ordinary and forgotten places. She will look at the highs and lows of the city’s restaurant history, from the Great Depression to the “renaissance” of the 70s and 80s. She will focus on how Northampton’s downtown revitalization was energized by an influx of new restaurants, but will also look at the city’s everyday restaurants, such as the lunch rooms of the early years of the 20th century and the chain restaurants of the 1960s and 1970s.

Sponsored by Sylvester’s and Roberto’s Restaurants