Taste With Tori: At The Perk
PERKASIE, Pa. (CBS) -- This is a food story with a little baseball tossed in and it comes with a side order of sports trivia.
CBS3's Vittoria Woodill tells us this Bucks County restaurant is in a town with a major league sports connection and it also has a local celebrity who comes in to eat there.
The Perk Restaurant in Perkasie hits it out of the park with great food and great respect for baseball history.
You see, major league baseballs were made in this town during the Babe Ruth era.
When Perk's owner Larry Nacarella was asked about the possibility that Babe Ruth could have hit a home run with a ball from Perkasie he didn't hesitate to answer.
"No question about it," he said.
That's some serious sports talk which is why Nacarella decorates his restaurant with baseball memorabilia in honor of the family who started it all.
"Dave Hubbert, Hubbert is the family name, his father and his uncle did a lot of the baseball stitching in the area," said Nacarella. "That's something we're proud of."
Even more special on this evening, 94-year-old hometown boy Dave Hubbert himself was at Perk to tell me about making baseballs.
"I was stitching baseballs when I was a kid in high school and getting 25 cents an hour," said Hubbert.
Hubbert's dad and uncle started the business in the early 1900's with his mom stitching ball covers.
"I was practically sitting on her lap when she sewed baseballs," he said.
Dave worked in the family business as a kid.
When he grew up he developed a ball called the Dudley Softball that is sold nationally today.
"The covers are cut very precise to keep the leather at the same thickness," Hubbert explained. "Because it would affect the flight of the ball when you hit it."
"It's the bottom of the 9th, you can only put one batter up to hit one of your balls out of the park, who do you put at the plate?" asked Woodill.
"Oh boy, one of the best for that, Ted Williams and Babe Ruth, I'd put those guys up," said Hubbert.
Time moves on and baseballs are no longer made in Perkasie.
From baseball greats to restaurant plates, Perk is known for its cheeseburgers with bacon and american cheese as well as its babyback ribs.
Talk about a home run here at The Perk!
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