By Cathy Miller

Michael Pappas, manager of the Belvidere Diner on Route 46, recalled when he was “pretty young, I wanted to be an astronaut. I looked up to my Mom’s brother.” He added, “I’m not sure of the exact relationship, but we always called him ‘uncle’ out of respect. He was a pilot in WWII and was killed in action. She had a photograph of him in his uniform and I always looked up to him, like he was my hero. I never met him, I only saw his picture but my Mom shared his story.”

As Michael got older and reality kicked in, he decided he wanted to become an attorney. He said, “I argued with everybody all the time. I tried to figure out how to make myself look right in every case. My mom used to say to me, ‘What are you, an attorney?’ And I’d say, ‘Yeah, when I grow up I will be.’ I never got the chance because my dad left us and we all pretty much worked to pay bills and put food on the table.”

He lamented, “I never had the opportunity to follow any of my dreams.” Then immediately switched gears, saying, “It’s all right, though, because I gave my kids the opportunities to do so.”

Although he’s neither an astronaut nor a lawyer, Michael is very good at what he does. Of his background in food, he said, “I attended culinary school for a couple years in Connecticut. I’ve also been doing this since I’m 11 years old, I’ve got a lot of experience under my belt. I tell people, ‘What I’ve forgotten, you’ll never learn!’

“I’ve owned a lot of places prior to the Belvidere Diner. My last place was Café Main Street in Flemington. I sold the property [formerly the old Flemington Railroad Station] to Community Bank. Before that I had Michael’s Restaurant, serving upscale northern Italian cuisine, in Ringoes. There are probably about ten other places I had and ran too.”

He and his wife purchased the Belvidere Diner in 2005, and opened in 2006. He said, “We gutted everything and renovated it from top to bottom.”

The restaurant business is extremely demanding, but restaurateurs, thankfully, continue to find a lot of satisfaction in it. Meeting folks is a plus. Does Michael enjoy that? “I have a lot of people who’ve become part of my family. You get to know their families. I’ve become friends with people from all the different places I’ve run, even done their weddings. It’s nice they’ll always remember my place as their wedding venue. I’ve buried a lot of my customers too, some very good friends, especially in the last few years. I remember there was a local who came here from the day we opened and I got to meet his children, his wife, his whole family – it was a couple years ago I buried him, a year later I buried his wife. One of his kids came in on Mother’s Day with his wife. He’s retired now and they lead a simple, stress-free life. My wife really enjoyed talking with them.”

When it comes to the joy of Jersey diners, Michael, sadly, doesn’t think diners will be around too much longer. “People want to grab and go,” he said, “Diners still need good cooks, they’re not ‘nuke and serve,’ the food is made from scratch” and carefully prepared. Diners, generally thought of as an intermediary between fast food and upscale fare, are being squeezed like a ketchup bottle. It will be a sorry state when those beautiful, quirky, hometown, big menu, all hours (don’t forget the delicious gargantuan fresh baked cakes and pies) establishments disappear for good.

Belvidere Diner
475 Route 46, Belvidere, NJ 07823
908-475-1200