Notes from Zabby


Wednesday, September 30, 2020

It's Chanukah ... holiday season ... love the lights ... gaudy or tasteful ... another expression of one's personality. Love the dark days ... want for the cold, snowy days. To make food at Stone Soup or home ... snow falling ... wow. To be a light in the storm ... the night.

Stone Soup’s open doors is that light for me and I hope others. 

We’ve been open about four months. I observe a mish mash of customers. Most I have never seen. People passing through ... tourists of sorts. Folks who moved here from larger cities ... students discovering us the way they did in the late nineties.

There's a few regulars ... but most of our clientele have not returned to their offices. This last fact is huge.

We have survived off forgivable federal and state grants ... otherwise ...

“Forget a'bout it”

Our thoughts now ... is we will continue to keep our doors open ... but tweak ... again.

We will cook, serve and keep the lights on until 8 p.m. Saturday, December 19th. We will then close for two weeks ... to enjoy the quiet ... snow and cold. Friends and family!

We will reopen Wednesday, January 6th:

Wednesday through Saturday

10 a.m. till 5 p.m.

Same food... a little less variety, fewer open hours. Take it to go ... hang out.. Order food for later... talk with us.

- Zabby


Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Yesterday evening I watched two men debate for the Presidency of the United States. I laughed in horror at the teenage mentality, the inability to converse like adults and the usual avoidance of specific questions.

Stone Soup operates with multiple dialogues happening simultaneously ... all respectful of the others’ opinion. We listen to customers ... but the customer Is Not Always Right. Although ownership of Zabby & Elf’s has the final say ... I believe neither Tim nor I wave the authoritatian flag of power. Some say I’m intimidating (at times) ... but that is not intentional. Tim softer ... well spoken ... and rapid fire with his words ... a balance of sorts between us ... how it looks to others ... I have no idea.

We will continue to run Stone Soup’s engine in our own non-tradtional way ... It has its disadvantages ... its curses ... its carefree approach to finances ... but it is singular ... meaning we are not the best at what we do ... we are the only ones at what we do ...

With respect and awareness,

- Zabby

Tuesday, September 15, 2020



We have been reopened for four days ... quiet days ... days of confusion. We run around doing things we never did ... getting water, silverware, napkins, salt and pepper, butter, FOOD ... the things other restaurants do ... the things our customers always accessed themselves ... We are finding our groove. We are explaining who we are to the uninitiated and watch who sits down and who turns around.


My joy at this moment has nothing to do with Elf and I reopening ... it has everything to do with our regular customers’ joy and enthusiasm of our reopening. Their love of our food ... their love of our place ... the compliments from whomever or whatever directed at this rustic stopover called Zabby and Elf’s Stone Soup.


And so, the most beautiful morning of the year at Stone Soup is between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. this Friday, September 18th ... the day of the eve of Rosh Hashanah ... the Jewish New Year ... 5781 ... come check us out!

- Zabby

Friday, September 4, 2020



Stone Soup is an evolving work of art 23 years strong and not yet complete. After 5½ months of fog, we are reopening September 9th to more fog. My business partner … Elf … is enthusiastic … energized, and optimistic. I am melancholy … deflated, and hopeful. Our partnership is one of counterbalance … deep agreement … trust … and, believe it or not, almost never heated emotions.


Although the pulse of Stone Soup will be less frenetic and the in-your-face intimacy of our ambiance temporarily mellowed … our singular spirit is alive. Here to serve you great food … share life stories … put a smile on your face and be a rock in this community as you are ours. I very much look forward to seeing your partial faces and hearing your voices … again.


- Zabby