2015 Michael’s Restaurant Auction

- Brian Todd, Post Bulletin

With each cry of "Sold!" another piece of a Rochester landmark found a new home. Hundreds of buyers filed into Michaels restaurant on Thursday night to bid on pieces of the historic eatery.

After 63 years, the restaurant closed on New Year's Eve to make way for a new development .

"It's a little sad," said Lori Feyen, of West Concord. A former Michaels employee, Feyen said she saw a lot of memories under the gavel. But at least it all seemed to be fetching a good price.

"It's been very competitive," she said. "They're getting good money, so I'm very happy."

Feyen spent the bulk of the day at Michaels, watching the auction and looking for items for her own restaurant, Omar's Café, in West Concord. And, of course, she had her eye on a piece of artwork just for her, a print that had sat in a hutch. It's a piece of Michaels shes wanted since she first saw it when she came to work at the restaurant in 2003.

The print, a French street scene, was just one of more than 2,000 lots that went on sale starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday. George Pappas, who managed the kitchen for most of the 41 years he worked at the restaurant, said the auction, run by Grafe Auction of Spring Valley and John Kruesel's General Merchandise & Auction Co., likely would not end until after 10 p.m. Thursday.

Lots ranging from salt and pepper shakers to brandy snifters to a restaurant-grade cappuccino machine to the oil paintings from the walls were on sale. At one time, three auctions were going on simultaneously throughout the building.

While Pappas didn't grab any oil paintings to take home before they hit the auction block, he was sentimental about a few items from his office, he said.

"I wanted the things I've worked with," he said. "I've been here for 40 years. That's a lifetime."

Not that the Pappas family is going home empty handed. George Pappas said his cousin, Barb Pappas Hexum, saved some items that have special meaning for the family and for Charles Pappas, the last surviving founder of Michaels.

That still left plenty of items for everyone from restaurateurs looking for dishes to former patrons wanting to take home a special memory. For George Pappas, the idea that some of the items will live on at a new restaurant made the auction a happy occasion. And even though many former patrons stopped by to say how sad they were the restaurant had closed, Pappas was glad they were there Thursday to pick up a memory.

"I think there's a bigger thing going on here," he said. "The community is getting these things. As long as someone is still enjoying these things, how can you be sad?"

Sandy Horlitz, of Rochester, said the closing of Michaels left her a bit melancholy. After all, the restaurant and its lounge played a big part in her and her family's lives since they moved to Rochester 31 years ago.

"We would bring our three daughters here for a special night out," Horlitz said. "Or we'd come in for a drink and the atmosphere after an event."

Horlitz had snagged a vintage wine crate and had her eye on a champagne bucket, some art and some bar menus for a friend. As for the rest of the items under the gavel, like Pappas she hoped those items would find new life.

"I hope they go where they'll be appreciated like they were here," she said.