The Faces & Names behind Duluth’s New York connections

NEW YORK — I had just finished interviewing jazz great McCoy Tyner for an upcoming public radio show Wednesday when I decided to take a side trip from the Village to Midtown.

It wasn’t entirely spontaneous. Faces & Names Lounge & Bar at 54th Street and Seventh Avenue had already caught my eye online because the News Tribune’s celebrity column also is called Faces & Names. Type in the phrase in Google or Google news and you’ll see the two engaged in a virtual slugfest for top page ranking.

So I had to stop in. Just in case, I brought a copy of the DNT and showed a barmaid the column on Page A2.

“Cool,” she said, and went to get a manager.

Nicole — no last name given with this face — was less enthusiastic.

“We wouldn’t do that,” she said, looking at the celebrity names on the page. “We never release the names of the celebrities that come in here.”

“Oh,” I said, attempting to explain that all I wanted was for the two Faces & Names to get to know each other.

“Celebrities come in here all the time,” she continued. “They like it that we never publicize anything about it.” The one time, she said, the paparazzi did get wind of it — a visit last summer by Britney Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline — things got totally out of hand.

Maybe she was on the level; there were no celebrity photos on the walls like in most dives. On the other hand, there were full-sized paintings of the likes of Sarah Silverman, John Travolta, David Bowie, the late Bob Marley and the even-later Three Stooges — implying, but not proving — that they had some connection to the joint.

Regardless, she succeeded in making me feel like a hick from Minnesota. I left for the London hotel next door.

There, concierge Carl Johnson was cordial enough when I asked where Gordon Ramsay at the London was. He took more interest when I said the celebrity chef behind the restaurant shared the name of Duluth’s police chief.

“Really?” he said, his eyes growing wider when I told him about the two Faces & Names — remarking, of the name battle on Google: “I’m sure they weren’t too happy with that.”

This reception was different. “Come,” he said — and off we went to meet the staff of their Gordon Ramsay, who were equally impressed. I can only imagine the greeting Chef Ramsay’s staff would give Chief Ramsay if he walked in.

There was yet another connection to the neighborhood. Where, I asked Johnson, is Myzel’s Chocolate, which shared the unusual surname of Phil Myzel, a Duluth legend who died at 95 in 2008 after inspiring a children’s book about his immigrant story.

Now practically beaming over the coincidences, Johnson said their Myzel, right around the corner, was also an institution.

And, he said, “Their chocolate is to die for.”

At Myzel’s, a clerk listened patiently as I started telling about Phil and — “Really?” a voice came from hidden behind the counter. Owner Kamila Myzel was immediately intrigued. “It’s my father’s name,” she said, adding the family — unlike Duluth’s Myzel — did not exhibit a penchant for longevity and most were gone now. The Holocaust also took them. But like Phil, the family was from Poland and there had to be some connection.

“We have a lot of customers from Minnesota,” she said as I bought an assortment of chocolate that was every bit as good as Johnson said it would be. She threw in two cookies — “from my mother’s recipe” — for my plane trip back.

On the flight that night, I mused about Duluth and Midtown Manhattan.

A connection? Maybe. If not in faces, definitely in names.

Robin Washington is editor of the Duluth News Tribune. He may be reached at rwashington@duluthnews.com.

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