In case you haven’t heard him discuss his tenure there, Jacques Pepin often mentions how much he owes to Howard Johnson, where he developed recipes and learned how to produce industrial-scale batches. That training enabled him to run his own soup-centric NYC restaurant.
It’s a mystery to me why HoJo’s isn’t still a popular chain. We went to the local one on Long Island on a regular basis in the 50’s-60’s. When I went to college, the midway point on the long drive to and fro was a HoJo’s in upstate NY. In MA, the one at the end of the Mohawk Trail was looked forward to during the autumn foliage tours. The food was affordable, quality fare that had universal appeal across a range of demographics.
