Delmonico's

Coordinates: 40°42′18″N 74°00′36″W / 40.70508°N 74.01007°W / 40.70508; -74.01007

Dinner in honor of Admiral Campion at Delmonico's in 1906
Pièces montées for a banquet being prepared in the Delmonico's kitchen in 1902
Delmonico's building at 2 South William Street (56 Beaver Street)
Delmonico's restaurant at the corner of 5th Ave. and 44th St. in 1903

Delmonico's is the name of various New York City restaurants of varying duration, quality, and fame.

The original and most famous was operated by the Delmonico family at 2 South William Street in lower Manhattan during the 19th and early 20th centuries, when it gained a reputation as one of the nation's top fine dining establishments.[1][2] The birthplace of the widely imitated Delmonico steak, the restaurant is credited with being the first American restaurant to allow patrons to order from a menu à la carte, as opposed to table d’hôte. It is also claimed to be the first to employ a separate wine list.. The family also opened other restaurants under the name, operating up to four at a time and ultimately totaling 10 establishments by the time they departed the business in 1923.

In 1927, restaurateur Oscar Tucci purchased the entire 70,000 square foot building at 56 Beaver Street. First opening a speakeasy and then, in 1933, after the repeal of Prohibition, opened Oscar's Delmonico. Other Delmonicos have operated in the space from 1981 to 1992 and since 1998.

History

Origin

The original Delmonico's opened in 1827 in a rented pastry shop at 23 William Street, and appeared in a list of restaurants in 1830. It was opened by the brothers John and Peter Delmonico, from Ticino, Switzerland. In 1831, they were joined by their nephew, Lorenzo Delmonico, who eventually became responsible for the restaurant's wine list and menu.

The brothers moved their restaurant several times before settling at 2 South William Street. When the building was opened on a grand scale in August 1837 after the Great Fire of New York, New Yorkers were told that the columns by the entrance had been imported from the ruins of Pompeii.[3]

Expansion and closure

Beginning in the 1850s, the restaurant hosted the annual gathering of the New England Society of New York which featured many important speakers of the day. In 1860, Delmonico's provided the supper at the Grand Ball welcoming the Prince of Wales at the Academy of Music on East 14th Street. Supper was set out in a specially constructed room; the menu was French, and the pièces montées represented Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the Great Eastern and Flora's Vase. The New York Times reported, "We may frankly say that we have never seen a public supper served in a more inapproachable[4] fashion, with greater discretion, or upon a more luxurious scale".[5] In 1862, the restaurant hired Charles Ranhofer, considered one of the greatest chefs of his day.

The business was so successful that from 1865 to 1888 it expanded to four restaurants of the same name. At various times, there were Delmonico's at ten locations. Delmonico's vacated the six-story Delmonico Building at Fifth Avenue and 26th Street in 1899. The edifice was sold to John B. Martin, owner of the Martin Hotel, in May 1901.[6]

In 1919, Edward L.C. Robins purchased Delmonico's. Its grand location at Fifth Avenue and 44th Street closed in 1923 as a result of changing dining habits due to Prohibition. That location was the final incarnation of Delmonico's with continuity to the original.[7]

Restaurants owned and operated by the Delmonico family[7]
Location Dates Comments
23 William Street December 13, 1827 – December 16, 1835 (destroyed by fire) “Delmonico & Brother, confectioners” small cafe and pastry shop
25 William Street March, 1830 – December 16, 1835 (destroyed by fire) “Delmonico & Brother, confectioners and Restaurant Francais”
76 Broad Street February 23, 1836 – July 19, 1845, (destroyed by fire)
2 South William St. August, 1837 – July 10, 1890. Rebuilt and reopened July 7, 1891, closed 1917 “Delmonico's Restaurant," informally called “The Citadel.”
25 Broadway June 1, 1846 – 1856 The Delmonico Hotel
Chambers Street and Broadway 1856 – October 26, 1876
East 14th Street and 5th Avenue April 9, 1862 – September 11, 1876
22 Broad Street 1865–1893
Fifth Avenue and 26th St. September 11, 1876 – April 18, 1899 Lobster a la Newberg invented here in 1876
112–114 Broadway near Pine St. October 26, 1876 – 1888
Fifth Avenue and 44th Street November 15, 1897 – May 21, 1923 The final Delmonico-owned restaurant

Later revivals

In 1927, Oscar Tucci opened a "Delmonico's" popularly called "Oscar's Delmonico's" at the former Delmonico's location at 56 Beaver Street and South William Street in New York. The Tucci incarnation adopted the original menus and recipes, and became distinguished in its own right, continuing to attract prominent politicians and celebrities. Tucci also instituted many of the professional standards in use today in American restaurants. The Tucci era also produced three of the most prominent restaurateurs of the twentieth century: Sirio Maccioni of Le Cirque fame, Tony May of San Domenico and Rainbow Room fame, and Harry Poulakakos of Harry at Hanover Square. Tucci also invented the Wedge Salad which is known worldwide. His grandson, radio and television host Max Tucci , is currently authoring a book on the impact of Oscar Tucci and the Golden Era of Delmonico's. [8]

In 1981, a new Delmonico's was opened at the location by Ed Huber, which operated until 1992.[9]

The building was vacant until 1998, when the Bice Group acquired the property and again opened a Delmonico's, with Gian Pietro Branchi as executive chef and then turned over to Spencer Levy until in 1999, the restaurant was sold to the Ocinomled partnership, which continues to operate Delmonico's at the South William Street location. The current website lists the address as 56 Beaver Street.

Signature dishes

Delmonico Potatoes were invented at Delmonico's restaurant, and possibly Chicken à la King,[10] but it was most famous for Delmonico steak. Eggs Benedict were also said to have originated at Delmonico’s, although others claim that dish as well.[11][12][13]

It is often claimed that the Baked Alaska's name was coined at Delmonico's as well, in 1867, by cook Charles Ranhofer. However, no contemporary account exists of this occurrence and Ranhofer himself referred to the dish, in 1894, as "Alaska Florida", apparently referring to the contrast between extremes of heat and cold.[14] Manhattan clam chowder also first appeared in New York at Delmonico's.[15] It is also claimed that Lobster Newberg,[7] was invented at the restaurant

Notable patrons

Among the many well-known people who patronized Delmonico's are Jenny Lind, who, it was said, ate there after every show, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Arthur Sullivan, "Diamond Jim" Brady, Lillian Russell, usually in the company of Diamond Jim, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, The Lumber Boys of Murray Hill, J.P. Morgan, James Gordon Bennett, Jr., Nikola Tesla, Edward VII, then-Prince of Wales, and Napoleon III of France. Journalist Jacob A. Riis claimed to be a patron of a different sort: in his book, The Making of an American, he mentioned that when he was down on his luck, a kindly French-speaking cook at Delmonico’s would pass him rolls through the basement window.

There is a scene that takes place in the restaurant in the 1947 film "Life With Father", probably recreating the William Street location.

Other Delmonico's

The New Orleans, Louisiana, Delmonico's, which opened in 1895, was purchased by Emeril Lagasse in 1997. Lagasse refurbished the restaurant and reopened it as Emeril’s Delmonico.

The unconnected Delmonico's Hotel, at Park Avenue and East 59th Street, was a center of Beatlemania in August 1964, when the Beatles stayed there.[16]

Menus

Banquet menu in French from the Fifth Avenue and 26th St. location for the 1883 Centennial Commemoration of Evacuation Day.
Dinner menu from Water St./ Beaver St. location, April 18, 1899. The reverse has the same menu in French.
Menu for a 1916 dinner honoring singer Johanna Gadski and musician Fritz Kreisler

In popular culture

Delmonico's restaurant features prominently in Caleb Carr's novel The Alienist. It is used in the Hello, Dolly! song "Put on your Sunday Clothes". In the Broadway musical Onward Victoria the protagonist, Victoria Woodhull is denied seating at Delmonico's for not being accompanied by a man. The musical number "Unescorted Women" is sung by Charlie Delmonico and Woodhull.

A reference to Delmonicos in the film Dinner at Eight:

Oliver, I've been back in New York
four days. It's the first time I've been back in ten
years. I'm lost already. Everything's changed. I'd
die here. I belong to the Delmonico period. A table
by the window, facing Fifth Avenue, with the flower
boxes and the pink lamp shades and the string or-
chestra. Oh, I don't know — willow plumes and In-
verness capes, dry champagne and snow on the
ground — God, they don't even have snow any more.

A reference to Delmonico's in the 1967 John Wayne film El Dorado:

This place will never be Delmonico's but...

The Delmonico's at 56 Beaver Street, New York, was used as the setting to shoot the interior shots of the Continental Hotel in the film John Wick.[17]

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Aaseng, Nathan (January 2001). Business Builders in Fast Food. The Oliver Press. pp. 8–10. ISBN 1-881508-58-7.
  2. ↑ Hooker, Richard J (May 1981). "18 – Eating Out 1865–1900". Food and Drink in America: A History. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co. ISBN 0-672-52681-6.
  3. ↑ "History of Delmonico's Restaurant and business operations in New York".
  4. ↑ Sic: "irreproachable" may have been intended, unless a covert reference to the evening's crush was implied.
  5. ↑ Susan Bindig (1989), "New York Welcomes the Prince of Wales (1860)", Dance Chronicle 12 (.2), p. 234
  6. ↑ "Delmonico Building Leased". The New York Times. May 4, 1901. p. 3.
  7. 1 2 3 Joe O'Connell (August 25, 2001). "History of Delmonico's Restaurant and business operations in New York".
  8. ↑ http://spoilednyc.com/2015/06/21/savenyc-heres-delmonicos-nyc-reinvented-future-american-restaurants/2/
  9. ↑ Ed Huber. "Not in My Neighborhood: The owner of one of America's most historic restaurants faces a modern problem". Guideposts.
  10. ↑ "What's Cooking America: "History of Poultry Dishes: Chicken A' La King".
  11. ↑ Butler, Mabel C. (November 26, 1967), "Letters: Benedicts' Eggs", The New York Times Magazine, pp. SM40, retrieved February 23, 2007
  12. ↑ "Talk of the Town", The New Yorker, December 19, 1942
  13. ↑ Claiborne, Craig (September 24, 1967), "American Classic: Eggs Benedict", The New York Times Magazine, p. 290, retrieved February 19, 2007
  14. ↑ Ranhofer, Charles. The epicurean. A complete treatise of analytical and practical studies on the culinary art, including table and wine service, how to prepare and cook dishes... etc., and a selection of interesting bills of fare of Delmonico's from 1862 to 1894. Making a Franco-American culinary encyclopedia (1894).
  15. ↑ http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/manhattan_clam_chowder/
  16. ↑ Photograph included in the Museum of Modern Art exhibition, Pictures of the Times: A Century of Photography from the New York Times MoMA, No. 22 (Summer), 1996:10–130 illus. p. 13.
  17. ↑ "The Continental Hotel in John Wick". Legendary Trips. 2014-11-21. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
Bibliography
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