According to Webster’s dictionary, “dharma” is the “basic principles of cosmic or individual existence.” It is divine law, the fundamentals of everything that is simply because it is. Reach beyond Webster, and you start getting things like dharma being essential qualities or characteristics, rooted in the nature of the self or the universe. Big stuff for such a small word, but that makes sense looking through the lens of the Eastern philosophies from which it is derived.
A bum is defined as a person who avoids work, a loafer sponging off others to survive. A later, less common definition, however, reports a bum as being a person who makes fun the focus… a beach bum, for example, a slightly different tilt that takes the insult out.
Named after Kerouac’s famous novel, Dharma Bums is a vegan/vegetarian restaurant and community event space. It sits in the former home of The Local and Apple Jack’s, on River Road in Point Pleasant. Photo by Kristina Gibb Photography.
When Jack Kerouac released his novel The Dharma Bums in 1958, the two words met to represent an entire philosophy of being. The Dharma Bums were those who found ways to live that maximized time spent living through the most essential qualities of existence. They stepped off of the societal merry-go-round to dedicate themselves to the pursuit of peace, and they realigned their lives with what they discovered about dharma.
The same can be said for Fiona and Steven Trachtenberg, who have not only embraced the lessons of the famous book in their personal lives, but they have carried the very ideology of it into a physical space they aptly named “Dharma Bums.”
Owners Fiona and Steven Trachtenberg share a laugh in one of the flexible spaces they created. Photos by Kristina Gibb Photography.
In a now fully restored stone building on River Road in Point Pleasant, Dharma Bums welcomes guests to the former location of The Local and the almost infamous Apple Jack’s. Unlike its predecessors, Dharma Bums uses all of the available space, something made possible by the painstaking restoration.
“It lay derelict for 5 years. There was a crust on the place, and rust. Crust and rust,” Steven laughs.
“We basically gave the building a big hug,” Fiona says. That big hug that included fully gutting the space, stabilizing buckling stone walls, laying new structural supports, addressing flooding on the lowest level, replacing all of the old systems, adding a state of the art HVAC, and putting in a whole new kitchen.
The Trachtenbergs also wanted to honor the building’s unique aesthetic and the things patrons treasured the most. The original bar was kept, just moved slightly to alleviate crowding along the one side. The stone walls and woodwork were preserved and left exposed. In fact, some visitors don’t notice much of a change. Getting the building healthy, comfortable, and safe was the bulk of the investment.
“People ask us, ‘Well, what did you do?’ What didn’t we do?!” Fiona exclaims.
While the building appears largely unchanged, an extensive restoration was done to improve the health of the building and the space available to guests. Photos by Kristina Gibb Photography.
Fiona and Steven kept much of the rustic look as part of a design theme that aimed to artistically represent the philosophy of The Dharma Bums novel while allowing for a variety of uses, beyond the consumption of food and beverage. The design elements balance the world in which The Dharma Bums was written with the world the characters sought.
This is most noticeable on the second floor, where a 1950’s Mid-Mod design pushes up against raw, stripped down exposed portions of building. The space works perfectly for private parties and live music, but Dharma Bums also offers other events, less often found in a restaurant setting. For example, Fiona, a certified art teacher and former industrial designer, teaches unique art classes there. The admission fee gets you the class with all of the necessary materials and a cocktail (or mocktail). There are also yoga classes and mediation sessions, and the scope of these events is expanding.
Outside, the firepit and picnic tables will be familiar to those who visited under previous ownership. Ping pong and Bacci have been added, as well as outdoor events – including a weekly drum circle. All of the events, indoors and out, are intentionally selected, playing to the philosophy of The Dharma Bums. Freedom through the exploration of counterculture.
The second floor design at Dharma Bums lays the two worlds of Kerouac’s novel side by side, one mid-century modern and the other natural and raw. Photos by Kristina Gibb Photography.
“It all comes down to Jack Kerouac,” Fiona says, “those people, the beatniks, who really drive our whole [thing].”
“Yes, I agree,” says Steven, “Kerouac and the beats as the catalyst and the philosophy. Doing things like that are really key to the way we feel.”
How they feel is ready to give something real to the community and happy to pull people toward the more fulfilling things in life. Whether it is good food and good music in good company, inspiring artistic creativity, enlightenment through mediation or yoga, or strengthening interpersonal bonds through drumming, the Trachtenbergs are delivering something that is in step with dharma; and they’re doing it as much for themselves as they are for their guests.
“For us, for the two of us,” Steven says, gesturing to himself and his wife, “the experience of doing something completely different is really important. To be able to go into the unknown and a realm that we have not been part of historically, that really pulls me… Focusing on this space has been rejuvenating and exciting for us. We get as much out of it as the people coming here do.”
Steven, like Fiona, worked in industrial design. Their days were spent working on products that were mass produced thousands of miles away and delivered to people all over the world. Feedback came months or years after a product was launched, if at all. The pair say it felt like they were dumping their creative energy into a marketing abyss, and they attribute their current desire to plug into the people and energy around them to that experience.
Yoga classes are one of the things the space allows. Those classes run every Wednesday evening and Saturday morning. Check out others on the calendar. Photo by Kristina Gibb Photography.
Unlike Kerouac’s Dharma Bums, who removed themselves to find their place of peace, the Trachtenberg’s needed to reconnect, to bring their talents to a more immediate audience, and to find a place where their creative expression fostered an inspirational exchange with those around them. Opening Dharma Bums has given them that place.
“I feel like I’m alive again,” Fiona says, “like I’m actually living my life. Before, I felt like I was sacrificing it for someone else. I am very, very lucky, and I’m very grateful… Before, I felt like I was just going through the motions, and now I can actually be my own person… I’m very, very lucky and very grateful, because I understand that this is not available for everyone.”
Fiona emphases her gratitude and gives much of the credit to Steven, who blushes a little at the compliments she pays him in her extrapolation. She knows getting out of the rat race and having the resources – in all necessary areas – to start one’s own business is a privilege most people will live their whole lives without knowing. She doesn’t take any of it for granted, and this is why she is determined to sink herself so completely into the experience and the responsibilities of it. Even while we speak, she is sitting across from me with her laptop and a huge planner open on the bar. She’s working on plans for the coming year.
“We aren’t exactly living here, though” Steven laughs. “We are trying to show our kids a work-life balance, but we are here, like, a lot.”
Fiona and Steven support more than musicians. They also sourced many of the materials for the restoration as well as make regular purchases from local artists and growers. Photos by Kristina Gibb Photography.
This is typical for most small business owners, especially in the beginning. It gets easier once they’re well-staffed and have strong management in place. Still, it behooves owners to be present on a consistent basis. The Trachtenbergs know that. They also know that being new to the industry presents advantages and challenges.
A former restaurant “lifer” myself, I started off with the same concerns that anyone with decades in the industry would have. Are they too far out of the box? Can they be this many things? Is the focus clear? Heaven knows, we have all seen countless places come and go, even ones with really great food or a killer vibe. The business is fickle and takes no prisoners.
Anthony Bourdain addressed this very thing in Kitchen Confidential, his first non-fiction work, which launched his ironic and iconic career as the “celebrity chef” he said no chef was suited to become. Bourdain described the industry as a “shark swim,” where the apex predators just waited for the “guppies” to go belly up, so they could gobble up their chefs, staff, and equipment. So, how do these newcomers intend to survive such perilous waters?
“At the end of the day, we are both very smart people,” Steven says, “and I’m not afraid to say that… I think, with that, comes knowing what you know and knowing what you don’t know, seeking out answers, finding ways to do things, to be resilient… I think we have a skillset that allows us to grow.”
“That’s what’s exciting,” Fiona adds. “This is a whole new thing. I was bored to tears at my last thing, and here you’re always pivoting, changing, switching things up.”
Flexibility and creativity are essential to exploration. This view is in step with the Kerouac novel that inspired Fiona and Steven, playfully posing with a table they handcrafted for the courtyard. Photo by Kristina Gibb Photography.
The conversation moves toward adaptability, flexibility, and agility in business, tweaking, learning, progressing, the constant intellectual stimulation, but keeping a clear identity. Steven and Fiona understand that Dharma Bums isn’t a run-of-the-mill restaurant. For all intents and purposes, it’s a community space.
“It’s meant to be a creative hub. It’s not just a bar.” Fiona explains.
“There are so many different things to do,” Steven adds. “We’re not just a restaurant. That’s our core, it’s built around that, but at the end of the day, we’re more than that. I think we are extremely unique in that we have the space, the event space, and the creativity of Fiona and myself, and the people that we are bringing into the mix.”
Thus far, it’s translating. Fiona’s classes are selling out. Yoga is drawing a nice group. Bands are rolling in, looking to play here. Guests are showing up and coming back. The buzz is out there, and this is just the beginning. The couple understands that there are no limits, as long as the business is supported.
Come for the music, stay for the seitan. Despite there being no meat on the menu, there’s still something for everyone on the menu at Dharma Bums. Photos by Kristina Gibb Photography.
“The participation of the community will dictate what we can and can’t offer,” says Steven. “I think people need to understand that supporting us and what we are trying to do will bring more of it.”
It is in this spirit of mutual, inspired exchange that the Trachtenbergs are expanding their calendar and their message. They want to share the opportunities this space creates with the community, to be a place for art – be it tangible, audible, or edible, and to unlock the door on a venue for people to connect with themselves and one another in new ways.
Shifting the paradigm on what a restaurant can be isn’t easy. Dharma Bums is unique, and the Trachtenbergs are certainly dreamers. But is it all possible? I dare say it is. Because this is the kind of place communities need, and these are the kind of people who break molds. This is what Kerouac wrote about: freedom through the exploration of counterculture.
“Who can leap the world’s ties and sit with me among white clouds?” Kerouac asked.
Bums like Fiona and Steven can, and they’re inviting you to join them. They’re bringing the counterculture. They’re pulling the clouds within reach. You just have to take the leap.
Owners Fiona and Steven Trachtenberg sit in front of the most Instagrammed spot at Dharma Bums. ”People love it,” Steven chuckles. Photo by Kristina Gibb Photography.
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