A sense of community

Sitting in the Summit Diner, a train carriage-inspired diner in the suburban town of Summit, Gabriele explained how New Jersey became the world capital of the diner. The relatively small but populous state, which lies south and west of New York City, built the majority of the US’ prefabricated diners in the 20th Century, and there are still more than 500 of them dotted across New Jersey.

If you’re after chrome decor, comfort food, infinite coffee refills and cheery service, you’ve come to the right part of the US. Many New Jersey diners are still open 24 hours a day, and tend to be family-owned, often by the members of the state’s Greek community. Around these parts, they are considered almost like community centres.

“As a teenager, we used to go to the Tick Tock Diner in Clifton, New Jersey, at 01:00,” Gabriele said. “It wasn’t just about getting something to eat. It was about seeing this amazing collection of people: you’d see policemen, businessmen, college students, bikers, just this bizarre cross-section of society.”