Kennett Square, PA
Diners tend to draw loyal fans, who feel the loss when their favorite eating spot closes. Those that love the Chatham Diner are suffering its closing, while the formerly displaced customers of the Kennett Diner can celebrate

John and Karen Vogel ended the 4½-year chapter of their business at the Chatham Diner by closing the doors there last month. On Tuesday,they begin a new story as they re-open the venerable Kennett Diner, which had been closed since February.

The Vogels are no strangers to the restaurant business. Before opening the Chatham Diner, John ran the Early Bird in Downingtown for 11 years. "We were looking for a better opportunity and we found another location to rent. I had this idea that wouldn’t it be fun if we had a small place and we could do it all together," John explains. "I’ve always liked to cook. I used to watch Julia Child and the Galloping Gourmet when I was a kid. For some reason I’ve always liked the restaurant business."

Though the Chatham Diner attracted a local following, it didn’t seem to draw passers-by. "We had a great little core of regular customers but we couldn’t seem to get any of the traffic off Route 41 to come in," Vogel said. "We had a nice foundation but couldn’t get the walls up."

Because they were renting the diner property in Chatham, there were some limitations on the business, including a prohibition against being open on Sunday. Because of the small size of the diner, the menu had to be limited. "We had a hard time finding help there because we were struggling and we didn’t have enough to offer someone," John said.

The opportunity to purchase the Kennett Square property came along after it was closed in February. "This place is bigger, with more seating and a lot more local action," Karen said. "Since this place was closed, there’s no other place nearby like it."

Once the Vogels had made settlement on the property, they began the renovations that have the diner ready to serve customers.

Vogel relates how all the time that the renovation work has been in progress, people have been stopping in to ask when they will be open, plus he has heard of a displaced coffee club that is anxious for the diner to be back in operation.

Karen thinks that some of the Chatham Diner regulars will follow them to their new location. They have also managed to hire some staff members who where popular servers at other recently closed local diners like Pops Diner and Barnwood.

The Vogels will have the diner open for breakfast and lunch seven days a week, closing only on holidays. While some people will still opt for fast food in a paper wrapper, John firmly believes there is a demand for the kind of personal service and atmosphere that a diner offers. "We assume we’re going to have a little older crowd that has more time. They want to come and be waited on," he said. "Everybody’s welcome. It’s basic diner fare," John Vogel said.

"There are people that want this kind of place," Karen said. "Here it’s like mom made it."

John and Karen both cook, but it is Karen who is usually the main force behind the counter, cooking all the gravies and soups from scratch.

Previously a licensed manicurist, she has a flair for cooking with the home-style comfort foods as her specialties. Along with the traditional diner fare like meatloaf, hot turkey and beef sandwiches she also makes pumpkin pancakes in the autumn and is particularly proud of her sausage gravy over biscuits with home fries.

"We have really good food," Karen said. "I get disappointed when I go to other places and they don’t put the love in it like we do."

Originally published online here: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17359251&BRD=1671&PAG=461&dept_id=17782&rfi=6