Forgotten Interlude

This building adjacent to the Long Island Railroad is the Bliss Gourmet Cafe which opened in October of 1988. Bliss is not the first coffee house to occupy the premises. In the 1960's, it was home to The Interlude Cafe, which featured folk performers on Friday and Saturday nights. Thursday was an open mike hoot, and you didn't have to pay the 50 cent cover if you had the courage to get up and sing a song or two. The limit was three. Jose Feliciano, Phil Ochs, and Al Cooper (later of Blood Sweat & Tears) were some of those who performed there. When The Interlude closed, Bernard Titowsky took over the premises and, ran it as a book store until 1984. From 1948 - 1960, this space was a pearl stringing and knotting business.

Circa 1970 photograph courtesy of . 2003 photograph by Michael Jovishoff. Thanks also to Steve Suffet for his recollections of the Interlude Cafe.

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