Ralph Gardner Jr.

“How about a champagne post mortem dinner here tomorrow?” a friend emailed me election day afternoon. I readily accepted with this caveat. “Let’s just hope that morphine isn’t more applicable.”

The historic Crandell Theatre in Chatham, N.Y., has closed — fortunately not permanently, just for the next year while it undergoes extensive improvements. The Spanish renaissance-style movie house with its pink facade has remained largely unchanged since it opened on Christmas Day in 1926.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Ralph Gardner Jr.

I attended a panel discussion among food writers and critics Wednesday evening where the moderator asked who was bringing what to Thanksgiving dinner. One person said he was responsible for a signature family dish composed of onions baked in mayo and curry powder. There’s no explaining the habits of old money WASPs. A British panelist said she drops by Balthazar, the French bakery on Spring Street in Soho, and arrives with shopping bags filled with baked goods.

If you’ve ever applied for a manufacturer’s rebate, you know it’s not all fun and games. Filling out an Ivy League application feels less challenging than some of the requirements you must satisfy to claim the rightful cash that attracted you to the product in the first place.

When someone dies, the places where you once rendezvoused assume a special poignancy.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Ralph Gardner Jr.

If you’ve ever driven the Taconic State Parkway — and I do frequently — a reasonable argument can be made that New York should offer medals of valor to motorists

Recent studies — indicating that earlier studies celebrating moderate alcohol consumption as safe and even healthy are misguided, just plain wrong, questionable science, and even a long-running misinformation campaign on

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Ralph Gardner Jr.