Peter Moruzzi - Classic dining : discovering America’s finest mid-century restaurants

Classic Dining

Discovering Americas Finest Mid-Century Restaurants

Peter Moruzzi

Photographs by Sven A. Kirsten

Classic Dining

Discovering Americas Finest Mid-Century Restaurants

Digital Edition 1.0

Text 2012 Peter Moruzzi

Photographs 2012 Sven A. Kirsten

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

Gibbs Smith

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Layton, Utah 84041

Orders: 1.800.835.4993

www.gibbs-smith.com

ISBN: 978-1-4236

As a type, classic American restaurants range from continental-style fine dining, with their softly lit wood-paneled interiors, starched tablecloths, curved booths, tuxedoed captains, and tableside service, to historic establishments retaining original character, dcor, ambiance, and traditional menus. Elegant French restaurants typify the former; old-style ethnic restaurantsItalian, Chinese, German, Spanishthe latter. Steakhouses tend toward fine dining. Seafood restaurants run the gamut from high-end to sawdust and wood benches. Polynesian palaces, if you can find them, typically feature refined Oriental fare. All share an inviting time-machine quality.

Whether fine dining or historic, classic American restaurants from the last century deserve our attention and patronage. The restaurants featured in this book are archetypal examples of classic dining found throughout the United States. Many more are listed in the Directory of Classic American Restaurants in the back of the book. Go to these places now. Dont wait. This may be your last chance to immerse yourself in a vanishing world.

Photo courtesy of Meredith Publishing Group, from Better Homes and Gardens Famous Foods from Famous Places (1964).

Without question this project would have been impossible without the talent of my dear friend Sven A. Kirsten, whose photographs captured the essence of the classic restaurants featured in this book. As a professional cinematographer, Sven composed each photograph with a storytellers eye. In addition, Svens keen editorial insights derived from his experience as an author and historian of mid-century American popular culture helped refine and focus the book from beginning to end.

Many thanks go to talented writers Sven A. Kirsten and Nathan Marsak, who contributed brilliant essays on classic dining. To the renowned historian and magazine editor Chris Nichols, who spent dozens of hours identifying classic American restaurants for the books directory, I give profound thanks. For their willingness to invite a camera and awkward lighting equipment into their busy restaurants I am indebted to Dr. Michael J. Signorelli and Stephanie Steele of the Golden Steer; Pia Dahlquist, Dave Levy, Kern Mattei, and Mireille Thornton of the Mai-Kai; the Del-Bars Jeff and Jane Wimmer and its architect, James R. Dresser; Miss Yvonne Alciatore Blount, Rick Blount, Wendy Chatelain, and waiter Sterling Constance of Antoines; Jonathan Young of the Grand Central Oyster Bar; the Dresdens James Ferraro; Todd Johnson of Lawrys The Prime Rib; and Lorin Smith of the Dal Rae.

Among the many others who assisted in the realization of what ultimately became this book are Jeff Beachbum Berry, Dean Curtis, Joan Gand, Tim Glazner, John Johannes, Mike King, Dan Obermaier, and Jerry Stefani. Im also grateful to Kelli Luchs of the Department of Special Collections at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; the staff of the Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library, where the Joe Baum Collection is located; information services librarian Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer of the Conrad N. Hilton Library of the Culinary Institute of America; the Prints and Photographs Collection of the Chicago History Museum; the Maynard L. Parker Collection at The Huntington Library; Four Seasons publicist Regina McMenamin; Frieder Hochheim of Kino Flo Lighting Systems; David Wells of Moving Picture Electronic Services; and Christie White, the magnetic and magnanimous doyenne of the Hukilauthe annual gathering of the Tiki faithful in Fort Lauderdale.

Special thanks go to Gayle Chick of Lawrys Restaurants, Inc., who culled the firms extensive photographic archives for vintage material and arranged my personal interview with CEO Richard N. Frank, son of Lawrys cofounder Lawrence Frank. The extraordinary Richard Frank remains the repository of American restaurant history from the 1950s to the present day.

Finally, thanks to the love and support of my life partner, Lauren LeBaron, I was able to navigate the vicissitudes of this challenging project to a rewarding conclusion.

Fine dining is associated with the upscale dinner houses that were popular in American cities from the 1940s through the 1970s. Classic fine dining establishments serve continental cuisinean eclectic melding of French-inspired and American dishes floridly described in elaborate menus. The key elements include white tablecloths, semicircular leather or vinyl booths of red, dark brown, or black, indirect lighting, tuxedoed captains, and tableside service. Many feature dark wood paneling reminiscent of old-world European restaurants, and have banquet rooms and the capacity for entertainment. With cocktails, dinner, dessert, and live music, fine dining is an experience that often lasts the entire evening.

Photo courtesy of Meredith Publishing Group, from Better Homes and Gardens Famous Foods from Famous Places (1964).

Classic continental-style fine dining involves all the senses. It begins with the matre d ushering your party past an expansive cocktail bar to a darkened dining room. There, seated in an enveloping red leather booth, a choreographed ritual unfolds with a level of formality and service appropriate to the cuisine. Dinner begins with cocktails, an iced relish tray, and bread, continues through an appetizer of Oysters Rockefeller, Caesar Salad prepared tableside, Lobster Thermidor or Steak Diane as an entre, a fully loaded king-size Idaho russet baked potato, a bottle of red wine, and concludes with flaming Cherries Jubilee (prepared tableside, of course), coffee, and cognac.

Tuxedo flamb prepared tableside. Photo courtesy of J. B. Lippincott & Co., from Great Restaurants of America by Ted Patrick and Silas Spitzer (1960).

Unlike contemporary upscale restaurants that reject buttery dishes, continental-style fine dining features rich foods with dual names: the aforementioned Lobster Thermidor and Steak Diane, Pepper Steak, Oysters Rockefeller, Dover Sole, and Bananas Foster. Fine dining restaurants are warm and enveloping. Most have their original bars, with experienced bartenders who know how to make classic cocktails such as an Old Fashioned, Sidecar, Manhattan, Whiskey Sour, or Sazerac.