THE CHEF FROM HELL

In America in the early 1800's, where did people go out to eat?  The wealthiest people were able to employ personal chefs to cook for them in their homes; many other folks sought out meals in boarding houses, coffee shops, or in saloons where the "free lunch" was a complimentary fixture.  In general, there were no dining rooms or restaurants in which the public could dine.  This all changed when the first restaurant to legitimize fine dining in America opened for business. The name of this eatery?  Delmonico's!

In 1830, John Del-Monico (a former sea captain) and his brother Peter (a candy maker and pastry chef) opened a restaurant at 25 William Street in New York City.  Historical records indicate that this was the first restaurant or public dining room in the United States. 

Up to this point in time, those who dined in the boarding houses were only offered a set menu at a fixed price.  The Del-monico brothers decided to adapt the style popular in France at the time, which was to offer an "a la carte" menu that allowed diners to select individual dishes at different prices.  The brothers also derived their style of food from the popular French cuisine of the day.  After changing the spelling of their last name to "delmonico", the restaurant opened to great success and a culinary legend was born.

Joe O'Connell's history of  Delmonico's on the STEAK PERFECTION website states that, "Delmonico's modest beginnings laid the foundation of the restaurant idustry today...From the very beginning, the brothers operated the restaurant with a policy of using only the very best foods prepared in the very best manner."

One of the key events in the history of the restaurant took place in 1862 when the Del-Monico family hired Chef Charles Ranhofer to take command of their already impressive kitchen.  Ranhofer remained head chef until his retirement in 1896.  Along the way, Chef Ranhofer transformed the fledling American culinary landscape with the creation of such classic dishes as  Lobster Newburg, Chicken a la King, Eggs Benedict and Steak Delmonico. 

A bit of restaurant lore from Delmonico's: For many years, Steak Delmonico, a rib eye cut of beef that was seasoned with salt, lightly basted with melted butter and grilled over a fire, was item #86 on the famed restaurant's menu.  Due to the popularity of this dish, the kitchen frequently ran out of orders of Steak Delmonico.  Somewhere along the line, the modern restaurant term "86'd" (which means to "run out of a menu item") came into use.

From 1865 to 1888, the Delmonico family's success in the restaurant business reached great heights. Many celebrities of the day, such as Lillian Russell, "Diamond" Jim Brady, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, and Mark Twain, made Delmonico's their restaurant of choice.

In the early 1920's, the Delmonico family sold their business interests away.  An era in American dining had come to an end with the onset of Prohibition.  Oddly enough, over the decades since the closure of the original Delmonico's, many restaurants have cropped up from time to time bearing the same name.  These imitators were mere pretenders to the throne as there was but one true Delmonico's.

It is always a sad day when a great restaurant closes its doors.  The ghosts and memories remain with us forever along with a warm feeling in our bellies.  Amen.

To view Chef Charles Ranhofer's original recipe for Lobster Newburg, click on this link to my recipe blog: LOBSTER NEWBURG

If you're interested in learning more about Delmonico's, try to track down this out of print book:  Delmonico's: A Century of Splendor  Thomas Lately  (Houghton Mifflin, 1967)