Anthony J. Machcinski

amachcinski@ydr.com

A father and daughter could be found tucked into a red leather corner booth at The Embers Steakhouse and Seafood every Wednesday night for many, many years.

Heather Hazel lived in Dallastown when her father, Robert Miller, first took her to the restaurant for father-daughter bonding. She was about 10 years old then. This would be their new spot; Robert had just divorced Heather's biological mother.

That memory came to her mind when she first saw a Facebook post last month saying the iconic restaurant had closed.

“For me, it always had to do with my dad,” Heather said. “To be honest, I don’t know if I ever went there with anybody but my dad. That was our spot.”

Heather and Robert could be found at the restaurant eating steamed shrimp — Heather’s favorite.

READ: The Embers, an iconic local restaurant, closes

“When I go out with my daughter, I wanted to go some place that was a little special,” Robert said. “That was our place. You could talk, and you weren’t distracted by cell phones then. It was a night out, and I think it made her feel special to be able to go out to a restaurant.”

Heather said, "It was walking into a time warp. It was so cool.... It was real vintage, real retro.”

When the restaurant moved to its most recent location on Memory Lane, Robert would call ahead and reserve the same booth — the red-leather cushioned corner booth that sat on the bar side of the restaurant.

“It was the most comfortable place at the bar,” Robert said. “It was the one place where, if you had a couple people there, they could all sit together.”

As the pair grew older, the tradition evolved.

“That was our post-Christmas Eve shopping spot,” Heather said. “If we needed to go somewhere for a dinner or a drink, that’s where we went. An old faithful spot. You know what you’re going to get.”

The pair were always close over the years. When issues would come up during Heather’s high school years, Robert was the one she confided in.

“If I was upset, I would lose it if I saw him,” Heather said. “He was my rock.”

Robert added, “We didn’t fight about anything. We were real close.”

That’s why Robert had to make a tough decision in 2003. Robert, an employee for Metso Minerals Industries in Springettsbury, took a job as a field service technician that would permanently relocate him to Vina del Mar, Chile.

“That was a two-year decision,” Robert said. “I lived in York and Red Lion my whole life, and it’s just an opportunity to go and do something else.”

Heather admitted she was “devastated” when Robert took the job, but understood his rationale.

“I knew it was his opportunity, but I was devastated,” Heather said.

She was engaged and living on her own by then, and she was comforted, knowing that he had dedicated so many years to raising her.

And so Robert went. He expected to spend a few years in South America before moving back, but nearly 14 years later, his Chilean adventure still continues.

“It’s hard to explain,” said Robert, now 65. “I was 51 when I left home. I always lived within 10 miles of Red Lion. I thought it’d be an adventure, and it has been.”

READ: Will new York restaurant break the curse?

Robert still makes it back to York County two or three times a year, and each time he has come home, he and Heather make a stop at The Embers.

While Robert may not be on the same continent as Heather, a rather large piece of his relationship with Heather now sits in her Gettysburg living room — their corner booth from The Embers.

During one of their traditional Embers trips shortly after Robert moved to Chile, the pair discovered that the restaurant had remodeled — placing the pair’s favorite booth in the parking lot set to be trashed.

So Robert asked the owner at the time if she wanted to sell the booth to him, and she obliged. He bought it for $75, loaded it in a pickup truck and hauled it to Heather’s home.

“I spent quite a few evenings sitting in that booth,” Robert said. “For 75 bucks, what are you going to do? You can’t beat that.”

Since it was moved there in 2004, the booth has been a permanent fixture in Heather’s living room — fitting perfectly in an odd space between a pair of windows, it’s become great for extra seating during family parties.

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“I’ve changed that room over and over, and the booth stays there,” Heather said.

While the booth has become worn down over the years, Heather says it’s not going anywhere.

“I considered getting it recovered, but I never considered moving it,” Heather said. “I’ve never thought about getting rid of it.”

While Robert and Heather still maintain a good relationship — talking a few times per week using Facebook Messenger or through a few trips per year – the corner booth from The Embers still helps Heather feel a bit closer to her father.

Heather said, “I was daddy’s little girl — his only child. I miss him desperately.”

Anthony J. Machcinski is the food reporter for the York Daily Record. Follow him on Facebook, @ChinskiTweets on Twitter or email him at amachcinski@ydr.com.