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Here Is What We Know About Arthur Kade Being Banned For Life From The Franklin

kadeSince Grub Street ran their piece yesterday on bartender Colin Shearn — one of our favorites in the city, by the way — in which he reveals that fameball Arthur Kade was summarily dismissed forever from The Franklin Mortgage and Investment Co. (also a favorite spot), people have been asking us, “WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?!?!” Well, this is what we know:
1. We were first told that Kade had been banned from the Franklin in early summer, and within only about a week of the place’s opening. We passed on the tip at the time because we honestly believed you didn’t care. And now we are disappointed that you do.
2. Franklin management and staff politely but firmly declined to tell us what exactly Kade had done to get permanently flagged, so we could only deduce that it was either: A) drugs; B) something involving ungentlemanly treatment of a woman; or, most likely, C) that he was just bounced from the club because he was Arthur Kade.
3. If indeed it was “C,” and in all likelihood it probably was, it only makes us love the Franklin guys more. Since opening, they have aggressively pursued a strong “anti-douchebag” policy, most evident by the facts that they simply do not serve vodka at all (sorry, Cosmotini-craving douchettes), feature only four beers on their menu and prefer that all guests be seated.
4. Don’t worry, Arthur; Parc will always gladly have you.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 12:02 pm.

  • http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=62144041792 Sugar Town

    I understand what they’re trying to do here, and I appreciate it, but you don’t have to be a douchette to crave a vodka-tonic/soda/etc.

  • http://www.gophila.com cb

    I think the douchette term referred to Cosmotinis, not all vodka drinks.

  • http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=62144041792 Sugar Town

    I guess desperate times=desperate measures.

  • julia

    am I automatically classified a douchette for drinking martinis, like dry martinis with 2 olives?

  • Black (jack) Taco the Eviscerator!

    Sugar Town’s right. Vodka’s gotten a shaft from douchessociation. I know one could say it all started with vodka usurping the classic martini from gin for a while, but I’d like to see Franklin or APO or somewhere rehab Vodka somehow, but it’ll probably be a while … maybe after the Old Fashion somehow gets popularly perverted into the post brown spirit vogue equivalent of the cosmo (sugar, fruits, you know it’s gonna happen).

  • Allan Smithee

    A few days ago saw a blurb or maybe a short article somewhere in one of the papers (probably Metro) that said Arthur Kade has a reality show deal in the works (or maybe it was just based on him) with some network (don’t remember which one). Was going to find the article for you but then didn’t feel like it.

    Its probably somewhere on his blog site if you want the details.

  • http://www.PhillyChitChat.com Philly Chit Chat

    They don’t serve vodka because it’s a speakeasy vibe and vodka was invented yet. They also don’t serve soda, which is irritating since I don’t drink, but they have great cheese/meat dishes from Smiths which makes up for it.

  • Black (jack) Taco the Eviscerator!

    “They don’t serve vodka because it’s a speakeasy vibe and vodka was invented yet.”

    I really hope you’re clowning chit chat and don’t believe the Russians had the stones to survive Stalingrad and push the Eastern Front all the way back to Berlin via a diet heavy on … milk.

    I don’t think daiquiris and some of the tiki-seeming drinks, or drinks with tequila, found on the menu are necessarily “Speakeasy” either. There’s a vibe they want, but there’s also a vibe they definitely don’t want and unfortunately vodka is a big part of that vibe.

    Old Fashioneds will be the Cosmo of 2010 or 2011, heard it here first. And when that happens, and the Mortgage and Investment Company’s spirit politics shifts, I’m gonna belly up to Franklin and have myself a $12 Kamikaze.

  • Black (jack) Taco the Eviscerator!

    Or pushed back Napoleon, you know, before Prohibition.

  • Allan Smithee

    re: $12 Kamikaze.

    HaHa. Now *that* is funny.

  • rk

    FWIW, vodka’s a neutral spirit. as such, it’s kinda dull to a lot of bartenders who want to embrace the flavor of the alcoholic component of a beverage. How do you highlight neutral in a drink? you don’t…instead, you grab gin or whiskey or something with a flavor of its own to make an interesting cocktail.

    It’s neutrality is what makes it appealing to douche/ttes and what makes it boring to many, many barkeeps. next time you want to order a vodka martini, get a bluecoat (a more neutral gin within the spectrum) martini. eventually, you’ll be ordering a hendrick’s martini and liking it.

  • Black (jack) Taco the Eviscerator!

    rk, respectfully, that’s conventional wisdom, but not entirely true. If vodka was the true inert spirit conventional “mixology” wisdom proclaims, why would vodka sauces be an interesting variation to traditional “red” pasta sauces?

    There are plenty of tiki drinks that go too far with the other spirits that basically make cosmos of them. The singapore sling, a lot punches, etc. while all are perfectly suitable to highlighting the base spirit or base spirits, a lot of American bartenders have adapted these drinks into what are basically cosmos / long island ice teas. That is, the base spirit is there for the proof, everything else is to make it taste “less alcoholic”.

    There are lots of subtle minor ingredients out there, lillet, some bitters, that can do interesting things when explored through vodka.

    That Franklin doesn’t do vodka doesn’t bother me, though the stance is clearly a pretense. What if I want a Vesper? I know it’s a middlebrow drink derived from mass fiction, but Flemming knew how to drink, damnit.

  • John Lightstone

    Caption for the Kade picture: “I call this look ‘Black Taco.’”

  • tenant

    I love how vodka hijacked this post.

  • http://jtramsay.com J T. Ramsay

    Martinis aren’t made with vodka. They’re made with gin. People get them with vodka, but those drinks aren’t martinis.

  • http://www.PhillyChitChat.com Philly Chit Chat

    I’m only going by what they told, geez.

  • http://www.PhillyChitChat.com Philly Chit Chat

    From Philly Mag’s article: None of this is a mistake, mind you. It’s all part of the Franklin’s strategy to market itself as an old-time speakeasy, which is also the reason they don’t serve vodka, one of the world’s most popular spirits. “Vodka is a neutral spirit,” explained a bartender. “Back then, people didn’t drink it.” (Note: They do have a credit-card machine. Priorities.)

  • Black (jack) Taco the Eviscerator!

    chit chat, there’s a difference between people not drinking vodka in speakeasies, and vodka not being “invented.” That’s a bit beyond what you’re told.

  • barryg

    @blackjack,

    Vodka is used in sauces precisely because it is “neutral.” The alcohol reacts with the other ingredients to release different flavor compounds without adding any flavor of its own. I guess the same could be said of a good vodka based cocktail; it can bring out flavors in the *other* ingredients.

  • zachsan

    The idea of a truly neutral drink is a myth. If vodka were truly neutral there would only need to be one kind of vodka. Suffice it to say it’s “more neutral” than most other liquors. Also, it’s the way to go if you want to drink inconspicuously. So I’ve heard.

  • Black (jack) Taco the Eviscerator!

    Yes barryg, that’s what I meant when I wrote there are lots of subtle minor ingredients out there, lillet, some bitters, that can do interesting things when explored through vodka. But, I dunno. I know the differences between drinking vodka and when I’m drinking say, diluted rubbing alcohol, so “neutral” may not be as appropriate as say “subtle” or “subdued” or maybe just “less complicated” than the other spirits.

    @zachsan, there’s only one drink if you want to be inconspicuous: