The Klubhaus

Sophie once gave me a necklace, a gold chain with an amethyst gem that she says she bought from the jeweler on Myrtle Avenue for $100. But since first presenting it to me, she’s asked for it back about a dozen times, to borrow and wear for her various special occasions. She recently needed it for a dinner at the Klubhaus that a “nice German man” invited her to.

The Klubhaus, as it’s known to Sophie and Olga, who’ve been going there for years, is known to the rest of the Ridgewood community as The Gottscheer Hall. It’s an old European banquet hall where on any given Sunday evening you can hear polka music and see a crowd of older folks in fancy dress. The front area, which is open to the public as a bar, is a fake wood-paneled room with carpet flooring, low ceilings, and White Russian drink specials.

Sophie, clearly, still attends events at the Klubhaus (whether or not she gets asked on dates to them), as being right around the corner from Granny Mansion it is easy enough for her to walk there. She loves having these events as reasons to get dressed up in her clip-on earrings, necklaces, and glittery blazers.

At these events, I don’t know exactly what she does, but she’s told me many stories of all the “vondaful” people she’s met by joining them at their dinner tables (or more likely, crashing their private parties). She’s also told me stories of how every now and again she goes to the Klubhaus bar to sip a beer and “talk mit doze men.” So I get the feeling she’s established herself there as the lurking, local granny who’s always a bit overdressed and out of touch.

Lately I’ve spotted a few hipsters hanging around there, as there’s a lot of hooplah about Ridgewood being the new Williamsburg. I’ve only been to the Klubhaus twice though– once a few weeks ago when my boyf Steve and I followed some hipsters in there in something of a turf war, and once when my friend Ryan and I crashed in at 2am on Elvis night a random summer ago.