The F & T Restaurant Closed Doors On The Eve Of Thanksgiving 1986

THE F & T

The F&T restaurant closed its doors on the Eve of Thanksgiving 1986. It was the most unique establishment that I have ever known. Everybody mixed, from Royalty to Academics to Politicians to Laborers. Men and women of all ages came together as one. It was the first place that I frequented on my arrival at MIT.

The restaurant was opened and operated by two brothers-in-law in Kendal Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1939. Fox and Tishman they were called. They, along with their sons, Marvin and Maynard were still running the place. Then in 1986 it was gobbled up by MIT. we were told. The story goes, that MIT. made them an offer that they couldn’t refuse. That coupled with the fact that their children were not interested in taking

But he assured me that he had already employed someone to tend to the animals. All I would have to do, was take care of the fences, and I could locate my own business on the premises. I often wonder how things would have materialized if I had accepted the offer.

The last time I saw him, he was waiting in The F&T. for his friend King Carlos of Spain, who was giving the Commencement Address at Harvard University, as I understood.

To illustrate the diversity among customers, though the restaurant was anything but palatial. How they were able to prepare food for so many people in such a small kitchen, remains a mystery. God is not the only one that moves in mysterious ways. Prominent people included.

James Killian, former President of MIT. Science Advisor to President Dwight Eisenhower. Who didn’t say very much, but his wife Elisabeth told me that she had not heard of The F&T. until they came to live nearby.

Jerome Wiesner, former President of MIT. Science Advisor to President Dwight Eisenhower, and {more formally} Kennedy and Johnson. Who I knew as a fellow pipe smoker.

Frank Press. Who I knew in the capacity of his being The Head of our Department at MIT. Science Advisor to President Jimmy Carter and Advisor to four United State

He had the reputation of being a ladies man. Once the other guests arrived and formed a receiving line, he kept them waiting until he had finished talking to us. My wife was never comfortable with big wigs, as she called them, but she was enchanted by Charlie. He was, if I remember correctly, directly responsible for the guidance system for the first moon landing, among others.

One of his engineers, who I knew very well, was reputedly rushed to Houston to help in bringing the Apollo 13 craft safely home, but he never talked about it. The reason NASA is located in Texas is directly related to the assassination of President Kennedy, I understand. It was to be close to MIT, on land that is occupied by the United States department of Transportation. I think it still is, but when he became President, Johnson re-located NASA Headquarters in Houston.

When my Primary Care doctor decided that I should lower my blood pressure, it had long been border line high, he prescribed a medication which gave me gout. Another doctor and fellow pipe smoker, who specialized in that area said “You are not going to stop drinking are you.” So he prescribed a medication and said, “You will never have gout