Back in the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s in Providence, Leo’s bar and restaurant was an institution and a pioneer in the city’s Jewelry District, known for its support of local artists, and its eclectic clientele, late hours, and great food. And the man behind it all was John Rector.
John passed away March 6 at the age of 75. When she heard the news, Artscape editor Mareva Lindo started asking around to see who might want to talk with us about John and the bar. And people came out of the woodwork. So many people wanted to share their memories about John, and that time and place. Here is but a slice of what they all had to say about John Rector and Leo’s.
The following interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
Linda Edmondson: I’m Linda Edmondson, I’m 74, I live in Cranston.
When he opened Leo’s … within a year, I was there, and I was in charge of the kitchen.
I learned how to cook while at Leo’s. I didn’t really know how when I started cooking there, and I pretty much taught myself.
John Birt: I’m John Birt. I’m 65 and I live in Pawtucket.
I started working at Leo’s in March of 1982. I’d finished college the December before that … And then I spent seven years in the kitchen with Linda, working for John. And I met Donna, my wife, there.
Donna Birt: Donna Birt, I’m 70, I live in Pawtucket.
I started to hang out at Leo’s in 1977. I had been in college at URI in South County, so I had moved to Providence by ‘77 and I’ve been his friend ever since.
Scott MacKay: Scott McKay. I’m a hundred years old – actually I’m 72, and I live in beautiful Bristol, Rhode Island.
Well, my connection to Leo’s was pretty much like everyone else’s in those days. I was part of a group of folks who then worked at the Providence Journal. It was kind of a reporter hangout.
And the thing about Leo’s was it was always open late. So you could go to the Statehouse and have to cover some night hearing, and then you could still get a full dinner at 10 or 11 o’clock. And uh, people appreciated that because Providence in those days was a city that went to bed pretty early. I mean, it was 50 years ago.
Teresa Level: Teresa Level, 71, I live in Pawtucket, and I was John’s wife.
Leo’s opened in ‘74, and I was working there in ‘75 after I graduated from RISD.
I moved on from Leo’s because I got a job designing for Whiting and Davis, which is a jewelry company in Plainfield, Mass. … And then I came back to Rhode Island, and it was around 1982 that I got to know John, not as my employer, but as a friend. And really sat down, and we started talking, and one thing led to another … I married John in 1983.
I got involved in the restaurant around 1989 and I did hostessing, scheduling, and basically fixed anything that needed to be fixed in this old restaurant.
Ann-Marie Harrington: I’m Ann-Marie Harrington. I’m 60 years old, just turned 60 in August, and I live in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
I actually went to Bryant University. Actually, it was called Bryant College at that time. And when I graduated … I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do. So I also wanted to be more involved in Providence and all of the activities in arts and culture that were happening there. So a friend of mine told me that there was an opening for a bartender position and bar manager position at Leo’s. And this was 1988. … And they interviewed me, and I got the job.
MacKay: It was the first restaurant, the first business really in the Jewelry District that led to the revivication of that district, which frankly was crumbling. … It was kind of a gritty manufacturing part of the city, even though the manufacturing was dying. This is when the textile industry and the jewelry industry were kind of in their last gasps here in Providence.
Harrington: There’s a couple of things that are striking to you when you first walked in. Number one was the absolutely gorgeous mahogany bar that … probably could fit 25 people, 25 stools. Beautiful mahogany, brass, shiny brass fixtures, with a really old mirror. … So it had a real old feel to it.
Edmondson: Coming in in the morning, it smelled like a liquor store. You know, the ones that have old wooden floors that are just saturated with beer and wine.
You could always tell when … John, walked in the bar, because he turned the lights down every time.
Harrington: I can see John in my mind’s eye right now walking in … in a suit, he would wear like the white collared shirt and a suit jacket.
Dan Gosch: My name is Dan Gosch, I’m 77, and I live in Franklin, Massachusetts.
I was there on day one. I was also … you know, for the first time in my life tending bar.
A good friend of mine was originally one of the partners and, you know, he owned some of my artwork and … liked my stuff and he just said, “I’m opening a bar with John Rector, and you’re gonna do a mural and you’re gonna bartend.” And I thought, okay to the mural. I’ve never, bartending? Okay. But that’s what happened.
The first mural, which was like six by almost 20 feet wide, was like a big crowd scene in a bar.
Level: And it filled the whole back wall of the restaurant. And the title of it was, “What’ll It Be?” So that was at one end of the restaurant. At the other end was a mural of sorts of 125 individual masonite panels that each had a different face on it. And it was celebrities, known celebrities or characters within the community.
John had this instinctive style of quality and the arts, and he didn’t decorate the place. There was no specific style about Leo’s. It was as eclectic as the people.
It was a place where food, art, lawmakers, politicians, law breakers, all got together and enjoyed themselves and had a mutual respect for one another. And I don’t think that anybody has replicated it, because it was just a certain time, and John had the personality to enable that, and he didn’t treat it as a business. It was a community, and it was his friends.
Edmondson: What I remember the most, and the most fondly, about Leo’s is the community.
To read and listen to the rest of this story, click here to see the original posting on The Public’s Radio.
