New White Diamond Now Open in Rahway, New Jersey (And Another To Reopen)
If you have been following this space lately you know that I have been engaged in a serious exploration of the depleting slider restaurants of Northern New Jersey. This usually means reporting on places closing or that have already closed, such as White Diamond of Linden, White Circle of Bloomfield, and Blue Castle in Passaic.
In light of these closings, I am delighted to report on the opening of a brand new White Diamond in Rahway. I have AHT reader Leanboy 2000 to thank for the tip; he noticed a sign in the window of a closed diner on the corner of East Hazelwood and Whelan Place in Rahway with a "White Diamond coming soon" sign in the window. I went to Rahway and found that they had opened only two days days before I arrived.
I know what you are thinking: This is not an authentic slider institution because it is brand new. I will be the first to admit that my desire for consuming burgers seems to be strangely linked to a need to wallow in nostalgia. What I love about the vintage slider restaurants is that they have been largely untouched by the commoditization of the fast food industry. The remaining restaurants have been using the same suppliers and the same method of preparation on the same griddle for decades, and the slider itself serves as a consumable touchstone to the past.
Well, the new White Diamond may not have the decades-old griddle, but it has almost everything else. The bread and beef are sourced from the same purveyors that supply the original White Diamond in Clark as is the technique of preparation. The burger was virtually indistinguishable from the ones served at the original White Diamond.
The Rahway White Diamond represents the opposite of "back to the future"; rather, it is moving "forward to the past," adopting a technique of preparation and ethos of service that seems antiquated but is refreshing for its simplicity. Look for a full review in the near future; the place has only been open for a few days and they don't even have the signage up on the building.
Rahway White Diamond
745 E Hazelwood Avenue, Rahway NJ 07065 (map)
732-388-1860
More Good News?
More good news, or at least potentially good news. The White Diamond in Linden, which provided me one of the seminal hamburger experiences of my life, appears to be reopening. Although no one appeared to be working on the place when I visited last week, and repeated calls to the old telephone number have gone unanswered, I am hopeful that the place will re-open. The building itself is a classic example of the mid-century diner.
Having said that, it is equally important to me is that the hamburgers they end up serving are true sliders—fresh griddle steamed beef served on generic white buns. While generational ownership of a burger stand is the of platonic ideal for the hamburger nostalgist at this point in time, we are lucky that anyone is making sliders at all.
M
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