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Mel Krupin on building his first restaurant -\n"The funny thing is, he says to me, 'They\u2019re beveled mirrors.' I came home to my wife and I said, 'What\u2019s a beveled mirror?' She said, 'It\u2019s a mirror that . . .The edge, they\u2019ve got a little thing on the edge.' I thought 'a mirror\u2019s a mirror. I shave every morning. I don\u2019t see no edge.' Anyway, we built the restaurant."\n\nMel Krupin, The Tummler - Legendary DC Restaurateur\n\nA Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. We have a delightful guest today, a man who is so respected in the city of Washington. I wish he still had his own joint. Mel, you don't mind me saying\n that. Mel Krupin is a relic from a time when what made a restaurant big in D.C. wasn't its celebrity chef or its food; it was the big man who ran the joint, "The Tummler\u201d, who knew where to see Caspar Weinberger or Jack Kent Cooke or Mo Siegel or who else and he could kibitz with the customers. Tummler, a person who makes things happen. That's our Mel Krupin. Welcome to Our Town, Mel.\nMel Krupin: Thank you, Andy. Nice to be here.\nA Ockershausen: How did you end up in Our Town? We're so delighted that you did. You're from Brooklyn, New York.\nMel Krupin: I'm born in Brooklyn, New York in 1929. I'm a Depression baby.\nA Ockershausen: So am I.\nMel Krupin: I was born on October 14th and I think Depression started on the 19th or the 20th of the month.\nA Ockershausen: You didn't bring the Depression with you, though.\nMel Krupin: No, no, I came in 1968.\nA Ockershausen: Why Washington? Why would you pick Washington?\nMel Krupin meets Duke Zeibert\nMel Krupin: At that time, I was in the meat business and there was a fellow that I was working with who played the cards with Duke's partner, who was Max Siskind.\nA Ockershausen: Duke Zeibert? \nMel Krupin: Duke Zeibert. He was a partner in the Duke Zeibert's restaurant. In the early years, Duke was working at Fran & Bill's and five fellows used to come into Fran & Bill's and play cards in the afternoon and one of them was Max Siskind. He was a lawyer for the Democratic National Committee. He was a counsel. In New York, he opened up a stationary store, which today would be Staples. In other words, if you called up, you need pencils and pads, they would deliver. He was on 41st Street and Lexington Avenue.\nA Ockershausen: In Midtown?\nMel Krupin: In Midtown. Mac Radman was a friend of mine and he said, "I have a friend who's looking for a manager for a restaurant that he's a partner in in Washington D.C. Would you like to go and work there?" I said, "I would love to go to work there but I don't think my wife would let me because I don't think she's going to leave her family and the kids in school and we should move to Washington," but then I heard the name of the restaurant and I said, "Oh, we ate there in 1966." Then I waited a year and he came back to me. He made the same offer. I said, "You know, let me go try it and see." I met with Max Siskind. We had a long talk and he liked me and he said it would be good for me to go to Washington. He said, "But you've got to go and meet Duke Zeibert." I said, "Okay. Now, how do I get to meet Duke Zeibert? I have to fly down." Well, at that time, Eastern Airlines only charged $15 to fly to Washington. I said, "I can go for $15 but then how do I tell my people that I'm working with why I'm going?" I was with the Little League for about six years. My son played and then I stayed on but I got an award from one of the Dodger ballplayers. I forgot his name.\nA Ockershausen: The Brooklyn Dodgers, of course.\nMel Krupin: The Brooklyn Dodgers. I said, "I'm going to Washington. They're going to give me an award for the Little League." That's how I got out and they didn't know where I was going. I flew to Washington and then at six o'clock, I got into the restaurant and Duke wasn't there yet. Then he came in for dinner and we sat down and we talked. He looked at me.