Last week’s 40th-anniversary dinner at Nathans, the much-chronicled pub/restaurant at the prime Georgetown location of M and Wisconsin, was a funny, friendly evening, packed with fans. Many of them told nostalgic stories, some touching on owner Carol Joynt’s unending struggle to keep the bistro afloat. After her beloved husband, Howard Joynt III, died of pneumonia twelve years ago, grief-stricken Carol―reeling from the sudden onset of his illness, from her three-week vigil as he lay on life support, and from explaining it all to their five-year-old son―again faced new shocks.
Emmy-winning Carol’s world was television. She worked hard as a TV producer for Larry King. Busy with her own career, she was not involved in Howard’s business affairs. His lawyers told her the IRS had been investigating him for tax fraud, with a bill that would run into the millions―and he had no life insurance. “Give up and let it go,” his lawyers advised. But she wouldn’t hear of it. “I could just hand over the keys to the IRS and walk away,” she said, “but Howard founded this Georgetown institution. Marriages have begun here, and children have been named after it.”
She paid off his bills but watched as their houses, cars, and more went to the IRS. Carol faced a tough lease, a mountainous rent, and an obsolete restaurant kitchen that needed overhauling, but she persevered. It has been a cliff-hanger: Her lease is up in April, and her sympathetic but intransigent landlords had put the building on the market for $18 million. Recently, they have made her some concessions. With the possibility of a continuing lease, Nathans may yet survive. The watering hole is still a hangout for the hip and the well known, the brunches are great, and her “Q&A Cafe” Wednesday interviews with notables are usually wait-listed. Read her fascinating, very intimate blog, “Swimming in Quicksand,” in which she recounts the daily details of her life; it is like a far-reaching conversation with a close and witty friend.
Emmy-winning Carol’s world was television. She worked hard as a TV producer for Larry King. Busy with her own career, she was not involved in Howard’s business affairs. His lawyers told her the IRS had been investigating him for tax fraud, with a bill that would run into the millions―and he had no life insurance. “Give up and let it go,” his lawyers advised. But she wouldn’t hear of it. “I could just hand over the keys to the IRS and walk away,” she said, “but Howard founded this Georgetown institution. Marriages have begun here, and children have been named after it.”
She paid off his bills but watched as their houses, cars, and more went to the IRS. Carol faced a tough lease, a mountainous rent, and an obsolete restaurant kitchen that needed overhauling, but she persevered. It has been a cliff-hanger: Her lease is up in April, and her sympathetic but intransigent landlords had put the building on the market for $18 million. Recently, they have made her some concessions. With the possibility of a continuing lease, Nathans may yet survive. The watering hole is still a hangout for the hip and the well known, the brunches are great, and her “Q&A Cafe” Wednesday interviews with notables are usually wait-listed. Read her fascinating, very intimate blog, “Swimming in Quicksand,” in which she recounts the daily details of her life; it is like a far-reaching conversation with a close and witty friend.
