It is interesting to think that much of the early days of Delmonico's took place several decades before the days of the wild west which are considered to be from about 1860 to 1900. When you think of all those dusty wild west movies you have seen and the way people lived yet in NYC they were living it up like they were at Versailles.
I started my 49 year long restaurant career at Antoine’s, in New Orleans. It is currently the oldest restaurant in the United States operated under the same family. Opened in 1840, it is now run by the 7th generation. Dishes invented there are Oysters Rockefeller, Pompano en Papilliote, and their famous Soufflé Potatoes. To be a waiter there originally, a person needed to serve a 10 year apprenticeship as an assistant waiter. By the turn me I worked there, it was down to 5 years, but I did it in 3. It was not uncommon for servers and cooks to work there 50 years or more. The menu, when I began had 181 items, entirely in French, with no explanations. We were required to know every dish, the main ingredients and cooking style for preparation. We were rigorously tested. The menu had not changed in over 100 years. The original restaurant was in a mirrored room, near the street, but as it became more popular, it spread through 3 adjoining buildings, encompassing 15 dining rooms seating 1100 people. In 1968 when I started, there were 40 waiters, 40 apprentices, and about 40-50 in the kitchen, 6 days a week, lunch and dinner, closed Sundays. Serving was a “turn” system, not stations, so you literally could have 4-5 tables almost 100 yards apart in 4-5 different dining rooms, at once. No computers or order pads. All verbal. Once getting the order you went to the kitchen and screamed it out until a cook acknowledged you. It was organized chaos, and it was amazing. I learned so much there I was able to go on and manage so of the top private clubs in NYC, DC, SF, returning home to open a jazz dinner theatre with my family.
Thank you for this amazing comment!!! I was fascinated learning about Antoine’s from your writing! - and an excellent writer you are! What an amazing career you have had! How proud you must be and what an amazing story to tell! Welcome to the channel!! And let me know what other videos you’d like to see!
@@CulturedElegance and thank you my friend for the outstanding delmonico story. We had a delmonicos steak house in New Orleans….guess it opened in the 1920’s -30’s….huge mansion on st Charles Ave….closed in the 80’s….stayed vacant….then emiril dumped a few million in a remodel…..stayed open till Covid I think…building is for sale now
@@samanthab1923 Yes they did. When they are seated in they large dining room ( The Annex), the Guy seating them was Henri Alciatore, one of Antoine Alciatore’s great-great-great grandchildren. He ran the floor at night. Look again and you might see his huge handlebar mustache. He was very proud of that.
I Love my Life during the 90's when I was a young brazilian and lived in NYC at the Delmonico's Hotel, located on the corner of Park Ave. and 59th street. All the wealthy high-society brazilians during the earlier 90's stayed in Delmonico's Hotel. I loved the location in Upper East Side at the 502 Park Ave. . Since 2001 the Delmonico's Hotel NYC was sold to Mr. Trump. Gold remenbrances of my fortunate youth !😘😍😘
I am living in upstate NY, but my family is from Russian nobilities. They were in the South of France in Nice, at their villas when the Revolution of 1917 happened. My great-great-grandmother had given birth to my great-grandfather, they weren't poor, they had money in Estonia, Poland, Germany, Switzerland and France of course. Besides currencies in those days, they did not travel lightly, women changed clothes 3 or 4 times daily if not more, and they always also had many pieces of jewelry, everything in Russia was seized by the Bolsheviks. They resided in France for a few years, but at some point, they decided to moved to the USA in NYC, they used to own a big house near 5th Ave, they reside in that huge place until they died. Our family isn't huge, but we all feel extremely glad that the USA is such a welcome country to immigration. About Delmonico, at all the big events in our family it is the place we all gathered.
In the movie "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", a young officer nearing the end of his obligation, stated he was looking forward to dining at Delmonico's when he got out. First time I had heard of Delmonico's.
Delmonicos is a great place for a meal. I've eaten there a few times and the steaks are delicious. The drinks are good as well. Very old-school and very fun.
I was definitely born in the wrong time. I've been a gourmet cook for 57 years and owned a restaurant for 15 years. I'd would have liked to try most everything on the menu except anything with maraschino cherries or apples. Thanks for sharing!
They mention Delmonico's by name in the song "Put on Your Sunday Clothes". The lyric goes: We'll see the shows at Delmonico's And we'll close the town in a whirl And we won't come home until we've kissed a girl!
@@hop208 I've seen that movie, which starred Barbra Streisand (one of my favorites) and Walter Matthau. I used to have a record album of the soundtrack, as well as that of the original Broadway musical with Carol Channing.
In the book "Life with Father" Clarence Day recounts going to his father's office for the day and eating lunch with him at Delmonico's. If I remember correctly the author mentions his father particularly likes French food and confers with the waiter and orders in French. The time period would have been the 1880s. The book is amusing, if you read it with an understanding that it was a different time and culture, and parenting was different.
Funny I should fall upon your recently posted mention of that novel... I was just thinking the other day about the copy we had at the house I grew up in, purchased before I was born, and decided to watch the film on YT last night!
I wonder if you could do a deeper dive into the menus, and how they changed over the years. Maybe show us the changing tastes of America. Maybe every 10 years or so?
Rear The Delmonico Way: Sublime Entertaining & Legendary Recipes from the Restaurant that Made New York! It's a wealth of accurate information of Delmonico’s !
@@CulturedElegance I have been collecting DELMONICO menus ( 19th century ) for quite some time. A number of years ago, while researching the restaurant and its history, I learned that Charles Delmonico died tragically, about 1, 000 feet from my house. He was attempting to walk from the train station to the home of his friend and customer, General George McClellan, who served in the Civil War under President Abraham Lincoln.
I first read about Delmonico’s in Horatio Alger novels, Ragged Dick and Mark the Match Boy (found in my favorite childhood used bookstore.) If the poor boys would only save their nickels by visiting a bank, stop smoking and committing petty crimes, then they might be able to afford Delmonico’s steak for $1. A Hazard of New Fortunes by William Dean Howells also mentions Delmonico’s and has famous chapters about New York City life such as an entire “house hunting” chapter. The March family in the book also eat at various restaurants as Mr. March starts his magazine, Every Other Week. In one section, Mr. March remembers his honeymoon and marvels that Broadway now has less traffic because “horses are not allowed on the street.” They also travel by train and it sounds lovely with leather seats and dining.
So lovely and elegant a time. The Gilded age and all of its splendour . The mansions, the lovely clothes all of its elegance is nice to see and understand more about about!!Truly fascinating and lovely. Thank you for these beautiful and insightful lessons in Cultured Elegance. Aptly named😊💯❤️💐🇨🇦🇨🇦
It does look like the Flatiron building. Delmonico’s had more than one location and owner changes over its years. But it sure looks like the Flatiron Building in New York. I’m from Canada born and raised. A bit of an old gal now but the guilted age was really elegant Z. All those millionaires and their huge mansions in New York and at Newport. So beautiful. Times were something then. The Astors, The Vanderbilt a, The Rockefeller’s all New York City society’s wealthy strolling down 5th Avenue. 😊👌💯🇨🇦🇨🇦
The walls in Antoine’s are covered ( most rooms anyway) with framed pictures and drawings of famous folks who are there over the years ( kind of like Sardi’s does in NYC. Though I valued my local clientele the most, I also served many celebrities, I guess the most famous was Pope John Paul when he visited New Orleans in ‘84, which was also my last year there.
I remember an old coke machine in town that had that style art on it who knows how old it was ive not seen one like it since had a whole scene painted on it like this
I've always wished that I could have attended one of these multi-course dinners of the era (must admit that my preference probably tends towards one prepared by Auguste Escoffier). The closest that I have come was during a crossing on board the SS France - great food, but not quite the elegance of the Gilded Age. Excellent and informative video.
@@CulturedElegance Breakfast was buffet. Every lunch and dinner was: appetizer; soup course; egg course; fish course (duck once); roast course; salad; dessert; cheese and fruit plus a bottle of wine with each meal. Only time I've ever eaten Chateaubriand and then had the waiter ask "Want another one?" "YES"
Looking at the Roast Beef on the menu, I used an inflation calculator and found out that the 60 cent price in 1899 would mean $21.82 today... actually not an unreasonable price for roast beef at a fancy restaurant. I was like SIXTY CENTS? YEAH! until I did the math.
If I recall correctly, Delmonico's made the 1st Baked Alaska after Alaska was purchased from Russia. It is not easy to find a Baked Alaska anymore, but ice cream cakes r still popular today.
My father took us to Bookbinders when I was very young many years ago! Sadly the only thing I can remember is how many beautiful women were at the restaurant.
Brilliant to include the menus. As a lover of culinary history and cooking ...it was thrilling to pursue the offerings. Hmm...giving me some ideas for my next home kitchen adventure. Just last week, I discovered Ranhofer's recipe for Hamburg Steak while researching the history of the thrifty hamburger steak that became a staple of 1950's home cooking.
I love this NYC elite discoverie of class classic style wealthy dining environments living with prestigious lavi😢European American 🇺🇸 classic living and dining it changes my daily outlook on life here where it all took place decades ago in the French Dutch Bronx, NYC USA 🇺🇸 thank you for this wonderful classic classy beautiful illustrations. I pattern my lifestyle and home according
American Gilded Age novelist Henry James writes in one of his books about some of his high-society characters having brunch at Delmonico's in the 1860s.
I used to work on Beaver Street, not far from the now-shuttered Delmonico's. I understand there was a recent attempt at "re-opening" the restaurant by parties fraudulently representing themselves as the owners, but were fortunately prevented from doing so by the actual owners who hope to reopen the place soon.
A diner in Toronto, Canada, serves Delmonico's steaks at very affordable prices. Hope to visit it soon, glad to see it kicking around after Lockdown from last few years.
A wonderful video on the Delmonico family, however once you get to the Tucci era, there are inaccuracies, especially on dates. I've spent the last 17 years writing a book about Delmonico’s and my family’s era. My grandfather purchased the restaurant in 1926, and created a Speakeasy in the lower level of the 56 Beaver Street location. By 1933 after the repealing of Prohibition my grandfather had a thriving restaurant. By the 1950s we served over 1000 lunched a day. For more of the accurate story of Delmonico's, read my book titled- The Delmonico Way: Sublime Entertaining & Legendary Recipes from the Restaurant that Made New York! Published by Rizzoli.
Max Tucci, thank you so much!! What an honor you are doing for your family!! I would be proud to put the link to your book in the description of this video. I apologize for the inaccuracies. The many sources I looked at must have been trying their best but didn't have all the right information. I will try to edit the video to include the 1926 year and if I'm unable to I'll make a note in the description!
Put on your Sunday clothes... is the song from Hello Dolly that mentions Delmonico’s, you would love my cookbook, The Delmonico Way: Sublime Entertaining and Legendary Recipes from the Restaurant that Made New York! Published in Nov. 2022
Their prices were out of this world. Average earnings in the 1890's were 5 to 10 dollars a WEEK! Just a soup here could cost a day's wages for most people! A meal for two could easily total up to a week's average income. You had to be very wealthy to eat here.
Thank you for this - one interesting thing about the menu it appears that decades go by with virtually no change in prices - unless I was seeing things - now if you look at a menu from 2019 to today it is not uncommon to find prices doubling or more - sad state of affairs
Very interesting to see the prices on the menus. Most items seem to be under one dollar. And the relative prices are very different from today.... on several, filet mignon is less expensive than roast chicken, and the price of vegetables seem high compared to many entrees (cauliflower, asparagus, and even *cabbage* is 60 cents, versus lamb or venison entrees at only one dollar, and even filet mignon only $1.50).
You could buy an animal and slaughter it for fresh meat everyday, but getting fresh vegetables out of season before refrigeration and other modern food services was very hard
I thought Delmonico's went out of business! I know of other NYC restaurants that went out of business a few decades ago, such as Lüchow's, a German restaurant at 110 14th Street. Back in the 1960's, My dad used to tell me about the restaurant, which he loved to visit with friends in the 1940's before he married, and, as I shared my dad's love of German cuisine, I always wished I could go. It shut down and it's building was demolished in the early 1980's.
Luchow’s was still standing on 14th street when I moved to 13th street in 1994. It was demolished in 1995 and NYU bought the large lot it was in to build more dorms. I loved looking at that old building when I walked to the subway. I still remember the radio ads for Luchow’s as a kid.
I just subscribed. I love anything about the Gilded Age and this was a very entertaining and fun to watch video. I have one suggestion: how about using background music that goes with the era? The jazzy modern day background music did not go with the lovely scenes & era in this video. Just a suggestion!
You did a fine job of acquainting us with the history, interiors and culinary masters who were responsible for this noted restaurant. I only wish you had allowed a few more seconds for us to view the menus; I’m afraid you flipped through them so fast, it was difficult to get a sense of what was being offered. Aside from that small point, I thoroughly enjoyed the video and learned from it.
Thank you so very much! I’m so glad you enjoyed!! I greatly appreciate your feedback!! I will make changes in the future!! My thought was that people could pause the video- but I like your point better!!
Thank you, have always been fascinated with famous Delmonicos but in all my years of living and working in Manhattan years ago never ate there. My late father worked around Wall Street and he never ate there either! Always expensive and more so today than ever before! However, I do have the Delmonico cookbook with recipes from there, but it's a beautiful coffee table book with the history and great illustrations and photos, wouldn't want to mess it up while cooking and the recipes are chef intensive, long and quite complicated! Fun and interesting to look at though! Thankfully, this landmark restaurant still exists, hate it when they close down famous landmark restuarants like they did with Boston's famous landmark restaurant, "Durgin's Park" which was historic with great Yankee New England food! Once they're gone, there's no getting them back so support the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington DC that saves historic old homes, hotels, inns and restaurants! Europe still has restaurants like in beautiful Paris, Le Tour D'Argent where I ate, around 400 years old!! They're much better at preserving the past over there, than we are generally! We tend to take a wrecking ball to old historic buildings and build new! ♥♥
Much of the book "The Alienist" by Caleb Carr was set in Delmonico's. Also, the Dodge City restaurant in "Gunsmoke" was called Delmonico's but was a far cry from the real thing.
My dear, I smile when I saw your comment. my dear. How many man are in your hand begging for your attention, because your beauty is so charming, and I believe no man can see you without telling you how beautiful you are, I believe your husband must be really lucky to have you in he's life, Dear. no man can resist your beauty. so tell me if you are the second woman GOD created after eve, how are you
My wife's 2nd Great Grandfather was John Napoleon Longhi, who was Lorenzo Delmonico's 1st cousin, came with him to New York from Switzerland in 1831, and who ran the 22 Broad St. Delmonico location since its inception. We dug into the Longhi family's history (which is quite a story itself) but one thing missing was a photo of the 22 Broad St. location. I could find period photos of the other Delmonico locations, but not 22 Broad. I wondered if you had any luck (your photos of locations weren't labeled).
Last I was in New York I had Delmonico. Excellent food, though a little pricey. Fortunately, someone else picked up the check. I'd rather had pizza from Lombardi's on Water St. Cheers
Yikes! Turtle soup! I saw it quickly on one of the menus. Oh my goodness that makes me sad because I’ve had a pet turtle going on 20 years now, and I could never imagine him being in my soup! Have a blessed day Susan Williams wife
I know right!! It was a very common dish in those days!! I used to have a turtle so I know how you feel!! What kind do you have? You have a blessed day too Susan!
I have a 1920 edition of The Epicurean by Charles Ranhofer, former Chef of Delmonico's. It claims to include "a Selection of Interesting Bills of Fair of Delmonico's from 1862 to 1894."
Thank you for this beautiful video. I am now learning the Gilded Age eras thanks to your channel. Was it the era of The Age of Innonce novel? Also, somehow in my mind, Delmonico will always be the restaurant where Ross of Friends got stood up in season 8 or 9😂❤
You are wonderful! I so appreciate your kind words!! Welcome to the channel!! Yes the gilded age time was during the age of innocence novel!- the novel takes place from the start at 1873. Also it is my favorite movie!! The gilded age was roughly 1870s-1910s but some define it differently depending on what they are categorizing. Haha love that! Funny show! 💓💖❤️
Was dining at Delmonicos à la Carte (pick and choose your dishes, aka how modern restaurants work) or Table d'hôte (a set number of courses, and a small selection of options for each course)? If Table d'hôte, when did it change to a la Carte? If I remember correctly, most restaurants in the US and Europe were Table d'hôte until the turn of the century, when à la Carte dining took over in popularity.
I find the history fascinating! How on earth did they feed everyone at that huge table?! The kitchen or kitchens? Must have been massive. And no electricity back then. Oh my goodness. I think a lot of small towns had at least one Delmonico’s. I’m sure named after the one in New York. Thank you! Really enjoyed learning about the family owned business. Wow.
" 1964, Jerry Herman, “Put on Your Sunday Clothes”, Hello, Dolly!: We're gonna ride through town / In one of those new horsedrawn open cars / We'll see the shows at Delmonico's / And we'll close the town in a whirl"
THANK YOU FOR WATCHING! NEXT: Millionaires Row in Manhattan Then and Now ➡ruclips.net/video/V3cZvQfMdOw/видео.html
It is interesting to think that much of the early days of Delmonico's took place several decades before the days of the wild west which are considered to be from about 1860 to 1900. When you think of all those dusty wild west movies you have seen and the way people lived yet in NYC they were living it up like they were at Versailles.
I started my 49 year long restaurant career at Antoine’s, in New Orleans. It is currently the oldest restaurant in the United States operated under the same family. Opened in 1840, it is now run by the 7th generation. Dishes invented there are Oysters Rockefeller, Pompano en Papilliote, and their famous Soufflé Potatoes. To be a waiter there originally, a person needed to serve a 10 year apprenticeship as an assistant waiter. By the turn me I worked there, it was down to 5 years, but I did it in 3. It was not uncommon for servers and cooks to work there 50 years or more. The menu, when I began had 181 items, entirely in French, with no explanations. We were required to know every dish, the main ingredients and cooking style for preparation. We were rigorously tested. The menu had not changed in over 100 years. The original restaurant was in a mirrored room, near the street, but as it became more popular, it spread through 3 adjoining buildings, encompassing 15 dining rooms seating 1100 people. In 1968 when I started, there were 40 waiters, 40 apprentices, and about 40-50 in the kitchen, 6 days a week, lunch and dinner, closed Sundays. Serving was a “turn” system, not stations, so you literally could have 4-5 tables almost 100 yards apart in 4-5 different dining rooms, at once. No computers or order pads. All verbal. Once getting the order you went to the kitchen and screamed it out until a cook acknowledged you. It was organized chaos, and it was amazing. I learned so much there I was able to go on and manage so of the top private clubs in NYC, DC, SF, returning home to open a jazz dinner theatre with my family.
Thank you for this amazing comment!!! I was fascinated learning about Antoine’s from your writing! - and an excellent writer you are! What an amazing career you have had! How proud you must be and what an amazing story to tell! Welcome to the channel!! And let me know what other videos you’d like to see!
Filmed some scenes for JFK there.
@@CulturedElegance and thank you my friend for the outstanding delmonico story.
We had a delmonicos steak house in New Orleans….guess it opened in the 1920’s -30’s….huge mansion on st Charles Ave….closed in the 80’s….stayed vacant….then emiril dumped a few million in a remodel…..stayed open till Covid I think…building is for sale now
Antoines. Yes! Have visited NOLA many times and that is a favorite. What a career you've had, congratulations!
@@samanthab1923 Yes they did. When they are seated in they large dining room ( The Annex), the Guy seating them was Henri Alciatore, one of Antoine Alciatore’s great-great-great grandchildren. He ran the floor at night. Look again and you might see his huge handlebar mustache. He was very proud of that.
I Love my Life during the 90's when I was a young brazilian and lived in NYC at the Delmonico's Hotel, located on the corner of Park Ave. and 59th street. All the wealthy high-society brazilians during the earlier 90's stayed in Delmonico's Hotel. I loved the location in Upper East Side at the 502 Park Ave. . Since 2001 the Delmonico's Hotel NYC was sold to Mr. Trump.
Gold remenbrances of my fortunate youth !😘😍😘
My husband and I went to delmonicos often in n the 1970-80’s when we visited NYC. Always enjoyed dining there. Haven’t been in quite some time!
I am living in upstate NY, but my family is from Russian nobilities.
They were in the South of France in Nice, at their villas when the Revolution of 1917 happened. My great-great-grandmother had given birth to my great-grandfather, they weren't poor, they had money in Estonia, Poland, Germany, Switzerland and France of course. Besides currencies in those days, they did not travel lightly, women changed clothes 3 or 4 times daily if not more, and they always also had many pieces of jewelry, everything in Russia was seized by the Bolsheviks.
They resided in France for a few years, but at some point, they decided to moved to the USA in NYC, they used to own a big house near 5th Ave, they reside in that huge place until they died. Our family isn't huge, but we all feel extremely glad that the USA is such a welcome country to immigration.
About Delmonico, at all the big events in our family it is the place we all gathered.
I hadn’t realized they changed the American dining experience. As a former New Yorker, I have never eaten there. I’ll go on my next trip.
In the movie "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", a young officer nearing the end of his obligation, stated he was looking forward to dining at Delmonico's when he got out. First time I had heard of Delmonico's.
Still remember my uncle taking us to the original Delmonico’s a very long time ago, it was fantastic.
What a great memory!!
Delmonicos is a great place for a meal. I've eaten there a few times and the steaks are delicious. The drinks are good as well. Very old-school and very fun.
How wonderful!! Wish they would reopen!
Ugh😕
My dad took us once when we lived in Garden City during the early 70’s. It was delicious and a great experience!
I was definitely born in the wrong time. I've been a gourmet cook for 57 years and owned a restaurant for 15 years. I'd would have liked to try most everything on the menu except anything with maraschino cherries or apples. Thanks for sharing!
Wow how incredible! Thank you so much!
I definitely would try that dandelion salad if I could. And seeing the variety in available roast bird!
@@FerretKibble- I've seen dandelion flowers coated with seasoned flower and fried. I might try that as we ALWAYS have them in our yard.
In the movie Hello Dolly, I always assumed the The Harmonia Gardens was supposed to be Delmonico’s, or one of its competitors.
Me too!! I was just thinking that.
I thought the same thing and was just about to post a question about it. Glad I read your post first.
They mention Delmonico's by name in the song "Put on Your Sunday Clothes".
The lyric goes:
We'll see the shows at Delmonico's
And we'll close the town in a whirl
And we won't come home until we've kissed a girl!
@@hop208 Thanks for the memory jog; as often as I've watched the video, it is one of my favorites, it is easy to miss details like that.
@@hop208
I've seen that movie, which starred Barbra Streisand (one of my favorites) and Walter Matthau. I used to have a record album of the soundtrack, as well as that of the original Broadway musical with Carol Channing.
In the book "Life with Father" Clarence Day recounts going to his father's office for the day and eating lunch with him at Delmonico's. If I remember correctly the author mentions his father particularly likes French food and confers with the waiter and orders in French. The time period would have been the 1880s. The book is amusing, if you read it with an understanding that it was a different time and culture, and parenting was different.
In the movie he takes the aunt & Elizabeth Taylor out to Delmonico’s for dinner & Clarence asks to come along.
Funny I should fall upon your recently posted mention of that novel... I was just thinking the other day about the copy we had at the house I grew up in, purchased before I was born, and decided to watch the film on YT last night!
@@djdissi EGAD! It took you how many years to see the movie? William Powell is hilarious. Liz Taylor & Irene Dunne as well.
Love this book. He mentions summing Lorenzo to correct meal.
Thank You! Those were the days
I had to stop at each menu and just take in all that delicious-looking food!!!! WOW - incredible stuff!
So glad you liked it!!!❤️⭐️
Dūnya geçmişte çok daha "nezih" bir yaşam kalitesine ve klasına sahipmiş...
Thank you so much.
Esenkalınız..
Thank you for your kind comment!!
@@CulturedElegance
🌺
I worked 4 blocks away from this building,,in 1974,,,was unique to pass it everyday
How interesting
I wonder if you could do a deeper dive into the menus, and how they changed over the years. Maybe show us the changing tastes of America. Maybe every 10 years or so?
That is an incredible idea!!! Love it!! Thank you
Rear The Delmonico Way: Sublime Entertaining & Legendary Recipes from the Restaurant that Made New York! It's a wealth of accurate information of Delmonico’s !
An excellent bio of an iconic family and institution. Thank you for keeping their achievements and memory alive !❤
Thank you Jeffery!! Your comments means a great deal! Thank you for appreciating my work!
@@CulturedElegance I have been collecting DELMONICO menus ( 19th century ) for quite some time. A number of years ago, while researching the restaurant and its history, I learned that Charles Delmonico died tragically, about 1, 000 feet from my house. He was attempting to walk from the train station to the home of his friend and customer, General George McClellan, who served in the Civil War under President Abraham Lincoln.
Such a nice video ❤
I ate here for lunch all the time when I worked in the city....phenomenal food!
That is fantastic!
What style! Just the floral centerpieces alone are absolutely incredible!
I completely agree!!
I first read about Delmonico’s in Horatio Alger novels, Ragged Dick and Mark the Match Boy (found in my favorite childhood used bookstore.) If the poor boys would only save their nickels by visiting a bank, stop smoking and committing petty crimes, then they might be able to afford Delmonico’s steak for $1. A Hazard of New Fortunes by William Dean Howells also mentions Delmonico’s and has famous chapters about New York City life such as an entire “house hunting” chapter. The March family in the book also eat at various restaurants as Mr. March starts his magazine, Every Other Week. In one section, Mr. March remembers his honeymoon and marvels that Broadway now has less traffic because “horses are not allowed on the street.” They also travel by train and it sounds lovely with leather seats and dining.
Fab! Thx.
I love Old New York history. It’s endlessly fascinating. When I lived there, I walked around envisioning myself in the gilded age.
Thank you!! Welcome to the channel!! How marvelous!! I know I would do the same!
So lovely and elegant a time. The Gilded age and all of its splendour . The mansions, the lovely clothes all of its elegance is nice to see and understand more about about!!Truly fascinating and lovely. Thank you for these beautiful and insightful lessons in Cultured Elegance. Aptly named😊💯❤️💐🇨🇦🇨🇦
Was the original restaurant located in the flat-iron building? It has that same wedge shape but I think the flat-iron had more stories.
Thank you so so much!! Welcome to the channel!!♥💕😊
It does look like the Flatiron building. Delmonico’s had more than one location and owner changes over its years. But it sure looks like the Flatiron Building in New York. I’m from Canada born and raised. A bit of an old gal now but the guilted age was really elegant Z. All those millionaires and their huge mansions in New York and at Newport. So beautiful. Times were something then. The Astors, The Vanderbilt a, The Rockefeller’s all New York City society’s wealthy strolling down 5th Avenue. 😊👌💯🇨🇦🇨🇦
The walls in Antoine’s are covered ( most rooms anyway) with framed pictures and drawings of famous folks who are there over the years ( kind of like Sardi’s does in NYC. Though I valued my local clientele the most, I also served many celebrities, I guess the most famous was Pope John Paul when he visited New Orleans in ‘84, which was also my last year there.
The meals appearing on the menus were all fresh, seasonal and top tier. All of them look wonderful.
Indeed!!
Loved this. We are loosing so much of our cultural dining elegance with the fast foods these days
Thank you for sharing
God bless
I remember an old coke machine in town that had that style art on it who knows how old it was ive not seen one like it since had a whole scene painted on it like this
Thank you for posting this.... Soooo interesting!!! I recall the film Life with Father and Elizabeth Taylor being so excited to go to Delmonico's ❤❤❤
Thank you so much Colleen!! Welcome to the channel! I will have to see that movie!! I have heard of it!💖💖❤️
@@CulturedElegance oh yes, it's a wonderful old film... You can find it on ytube in color 🥰
Just watched it last night for the second time!
@@djdissi haha... Yes, I always watch it at Christmas also, such a great family film 💞
“The Pie Hole” from “Pushing daisies” is what I immediately thought of when I saw the corner restaurant building.
The menus were crazy. With so many options, I wonder how the restaurant would have stored it all. 🤷🏻♀️
Amazing that there was almost nothing on the menu over a dollar. Ahhh... the good old days!
Haha exactly!!
Imagine your salary: $400-$500 yearly in 19ing century. You could not afford
a cup of tea in that restaurant if you were just an urban worker.
$1 of 1850 equals $38 today
I just looked up green turtle soup,, rich people are nuts,
Such an interesting topic. I did wish for a glance at the interior of the modern Delmonico’s.
Really well done, really enjoyable video. Thank you for the hard work.
Thank you so much Miss. Helena!! So glad you enjoyed!! Thank you for appreciating my work! What videos would you like to see next?
@@CulturedElegance Anything Gilded Age, Victorian Era, old money NYC and where they dined, vacationed and played..
@@misshelena6930 I second that !!
Awesome video! More like this, please!!!
I've always wished that I could have attended one of these multi-course dinners of the era (must admit that my preference probably tends towards one prepared by Auguste Escoffier). The closest that I have come was during a crossing on board the SS France - great food, but not quite the elegance of the Gilded Age. Excellent and informative video.
Yes, that would be awesome!
Me too!! How lovely!! What did you eat? And thank you so much!
@@CulturedElegance Breakfast was buffet. Every lunch and dinner was: appetizer; soup course; egg course; fish course (duck once); roast course; salad; dessert; cheese and fruit plus a bottle of wine with each meal. Only time I've ever eaten Chateaubriand and then had the waiter ask "Want another one?" "YES"
@@LJB103 Wow how splendid! haha yes indeed!!
I crossed the Atlantic on the SS France twice. I remember the same experience.
Looking at the Roast Beef on the menu, I used an inflation calculator and found out that the 60 cent price in 1899 would mean $21.82 today... actually not an unreasonable price for roast beef at a fancy restaurant. I was like SIXTY CENTS? YEAH! until I did the math.
THAT THUMBNAIL IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL ❤️
Thank you Tiffany!! Welcome to the channel!!
If I recall correctly, Delmonico's made the 1st Baked Alaska after Alaska was purchased from Russia. It is not easy to find a Baked Alaska anymore, but ice cream cakes r still popular today.
Some sources say they did not invent baked Alaska
Enjoyed this very much. So historical. Got hungry looking at all that good food.
Thank you!! Welcome to the channel!! It does look appetizing!!
The number of menu items is mind blowing
Right!!!
My father took us to Bookbinders when I was very young many years ago! Sadly the only thing I can remember is how many beautiful women were at the restaurant.
Brilliant to include the menus. As a lover of culinary history and cooking ...it was thrilling to pursue the offerings. Hmm...giving me some ideas for my next home kitchen adventure. Just last week, I discovered Ranhofer's recipe for Hamburg Steak while researching the history of the thrifty hamburger steak that became a staple of 1950's home cooking.
I love this NYC elite discoverie of class classic style wealthy dining environments living with prestigious lavi😢European American 🇺🇸 classic living and dining it changes my daily outlook on life here where it all took place decades ago in the French Dutch Bronx, NYC USA 🇺🇸 thank you for this wonderful classic classy beautiful illustrations.
I pattern my lifestyle and home according
I have been to Antoine’s, and it is most pleasantly memorable.👏🏻👏🏻
Wonderful video about a time and place I find very fascinating. Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed!!⚜️✨
Really interesting history, love the art work! Just subscribed!💕
Thank you Marie!! Welcome to the channel!! 💓⚜️
@@CulturedElegance You are very welcomed! 🙏
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your wonderful comment! Welcome to the Channel!
@@CulturedElegance You are welcome. Continue to enjoy looking at great places like this there.
American Gilded Age novelist Henry James writes in one of his books about some of his high-society characters having brunch at Delmonico's in the 1860s.
Indeed!! Love Henry James
Fabulous!
Thank you!! Wasn’t it!!
I used to work on Beaver Street, not far from the now-shuttered Delmonico's. I understand there was a recent attempt at "re-opening" the restaurant by parties fraudulently representing themselves as the owners, but were fortunately prevented from doing so by the actual owners who hope to reopen the place soon.
Yes I do hope they re-open soon! And how fascinating to have worked on Beaver street!
The Alienist book (NOT the show) has several amazingly detailed descriptions of these gilded age steakhouses.
I read The Alienist. 🔍 I thought actor Harrison Ford would have been great in the lead Dr role. 2005-2015 or so.
@@DavidLLambertmobile Great idea.
The building looks like The Continental in The John Wick movies.
The prices! Just incredible. Thank you for the video.
A diner in Toronto, Canada, serves Delmonico's steaks at very affordable prices. Hope to visit it soon, glad to see it kicking around after Lockdown from last few years.
A wonderful video on the Delmonico family, however once you get to the Tucci era, there are inaccuracies, especially on dates. I've spent the last 17 years writing a book about Delmonico’s and my family’s era. My grandfather purchased the restaurant in 1926, and created a Speakeasy in the lower level of the 56 Beaver Street location. By 1933 after the repealing of Prohibition my grandfather had a thriving restaurant. By the 1950s we served over 1000 lunched a day. For more of the accurate story of Delmonico's, read my book titled- The Delmonico Way: Sublime Entertaining & Legendary Recipes from the Restaurant that Made New York! Published by Rizzoli.
Max Tucci, thank you so much!! What an honor you are doing for your family!! I would be proud to put the link to your book in the description of this video. I apologize for the inaccuracies. The many sources I looked at must have been trying their best but didn't have all the right information. I will try to edit the video to include the 1926 year and if I'm unable to I'll make a note in the description!
This is great! Thank you.
Thank you!
GREAT video! Lots of thanks!
Thank you!!
This was delightful!
Thank you! Welcome to the channel
In the lower right corner of the menu at 7:31 it lists "Alligator pear 75" -- what today would be called Avocado.
Woow!! That is amazing to know! And honestly a funny and clever name!!
I'm pretty sure the restaurant in "Hello, Dolly!" is based upon this. In any case, that's how I first learned about it.
Put on your Sunday clothes... is the song from Hello Dolly that mentions Delmonico’s, you would love my cookbook, The Delmonico Way: Sublime Entertaining and Legendary Recipes from the Restaurant that Made New York! Published in Nov. 2022
Some claim Eggs Benidict first appeared on the menu in the Waldorf. Still, it is an American culinary classic. Great with champagne.
Their prices were out of this world. Average earnings in the 1890's were 5 to 10 dollars a WEEK! Just a soup here could cost a day's wages for most people! A meal for two could easily total up to a week's average income. You had to be very wealthy to eat here.
Thank you for this - one interesting thing about the menu it appears that decades go by with virtually no change in prices - unless I was seeing things - now if you look at a menu from 2019 to today it is not uncommon to find prices doubling or more - sad state of affairs
Thank you!! Excellent point!!!
Very interesting to see the prices on the menus. Most items seem to be under one dollar. And the relative prices are very different from today.... on several, filet mignon is less expensive than roast chicken, and the price of vegetables seem high compared to many entrees (cauliflower, asparagus, and even *cabbage* is 60 cents, versus lamb or venison entrees at only one dollar, and even filet mignon only $1.50).
You could buy an animal and slaughter it for fresh meat everyday, but getting fresh vegetables out of season before refrigeration and other modern food services was very hard
THANK YOU FOR WATCHING! Next: The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel ➡ ruclips.net/video/qwNcrgxT6M0/видео.html
You have inspired me to do my own history videos! I love this video.
Oh my goodness!! You should!!! I’m so glad🥰🙏
I wish more places still had Turkish coffee as an option. Or called avocados alligator pears.
No kidding!!⚜️✨🤩
Love the Turkish coffee--jet fuel!
I miss this place it was my fav steakhouse in the city. Glad I was able to go there a few times and once for my bday. I hope they do re open
Excellent work.
Thank you so much!!
I thought Delmonico's went out of business! I know of other NYC restaurants that went out of business a few decades ago, such as Lüchow's, a German restaurant at 110 14th Street. Back in the 1960's, My dad used to tell me about the restaurant, which he loved to visit with friends in the 1940's before he married, and, as I shared my dad's love of German cuisine, I always wished I could go. It shut down and it's building was demolished in the early 1980's.
Luchow’s was still standing on 14th street when I moved to 13th street in 1994. It was demolished in 1995 and NYU bought the large lot it was in to build more dorms. I loved looking at that old building when I walked to the subway. I still remember the radio ads for Luchow’s as a kid.
I just subscribed. I love anything about the Gilded Age and this was a very entertaining and fun to watch video. I have one suggestion: how about using background music that goes with the era? The jazzy modern day background music did not go with the lovely scenes & era in this video. Just a suggestion!
Thank you so much Kristy! It is definitely a Challenge to find non copyright music and I will keep your thought in mind!!
You did a fine job of acquainting us with the history, interiors and culinary masters who were responsible for this noted restaurant. I only wish you had allowed a few more seconds for us to view the menus; I’m afraid you flipped through them so fast, it was difficult to get a sense of what was being offered. Aside from that small point, I thoroughly enjoyed the video and learned from it.
Thank you so very much! I’m so glad you enjoyed!! I greatly appreciate your feedback!! I will make changes in the future!! My thought was that people could pause the video- but I like your point better!!
That's what the pause button is for LOL
@@CFinch360 Thanks, Finch. Good of you to remind me. Your thoughtfulness gives me pause.😉
Yummy...
Thank you, have always been fascinated with famous Delmonicos but in all my years of living and working in Manhattan years ago never ate there. My late father worked around Wall Street and he never ate there either! Always expensive and more so today than ever before! However, I do have the Delmonico cookbook with recipes from there, but it's a beautiful coffee table book with the history and great illustrations and photos, wouldn't want to mess it up while cooking and the recipes are chef intensive, long and quite complicated! Fun and interesting to look at though! Thankfully, this landmark restaurant still exists, hate it when they close down famous landmark restuarants like they did with Boston's famous landmark restaurant, "Durgin's Park" which was historic with great Yankee New England food! Once they're gone, there's no getting them back so support the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington DC that saves historic old homes, hotels, inns and restaurants! Europe still has restaurants like in beautiful Paris, Le Tour D'Argent where I ate, around 400 years old!! They're much better at preserving the past over there, than we are generally! We tend to take a wrecking ball to old historic buildings and build new! ♥♥
Much of the book "The Alienist" by Caleb Carr was set in Delmonico's. Also, the Dodge City restaurant in "Gunsmoke" was called Delmonico's but was a far cry from the real thing.
Fascinating
I found the menu especially interesting. Mainly the prices, so you can understand inflation.
you should do a video on the Crystal beer parlor of Savannah, Georgia
These huge New York restaurants were very popular. I wonder if this was the restaurant scene in "Hello Dolly"?
Delmonicos is on the show gunsmoke
Love it!
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I have wanted to dine there after seeing Life with Father, years ago…..someday…..
My wife's 2nd Great Grandfather was John Napoleon Longhi, who was Lorenzo Delmonico's 1st cousin, came with him to New York from Switzerland in 1831, and who ran the 22 Broad St. Delmonico location since its inception. We dug into the Longhi family's history (which is quite a story itself) but one thing missing was a photo of the 22 Broad St. location. I could find period photos of the other Delmonico locations, but not 22 Broad. I wondered if you had any luck (your photos of locations weren't labeled).
That is incredible!! Thank you for sharing this wonderful history! Welcome to the channel!! Let me look and get back to you!!
Charles Delmonico lived in the town I work in, Morristown, NJ.
Back when people had class.
We’ve got to bring it back!!
I’m glad I have discovered your Chanel, can you talk about how these high societies hosted parties
Last I was in New York I had Delmonico. Excellent food, though a little pricey. Fortunately, someone else picked up the check. I'd rather had pizza from Lombardi's on Water St. Cheers
It's interesting to see how the 1899 menu showed that poultry/bird roasts are much more expensive than beef or lamb
Yikes! Turtle soup! I saw it quickly on one of the menus. Oh my goodness that makes me sad because I’ve had a pet turtle going on 20 years now, and I could never imagine him being in my soup! Have a blessed day Susan Williams wife
I know right!! It was a very common dish in those days!! I used to have a turtle so I know how you feel!! What kind do you have? You have a blessed day too Susan!
I have a 1920 edition of The Epicurean by Charles Ranhofer, former Chef of Delmonico's. It claims to include "a Selection of Interesting Bills of Fair of Delmonico's from 1862 to 1894."
Wow how fascinating!!!
I could have used a course on what those foods were on the menu. Fascinating, but obscure.
Perhaps I’ll make another video on it!
Thank you for this beautiful video. I am now learning the Gilded Age eras thanks to your channel. Was it the era of The Age of Innonce novel? Also, somehow in my mind, Delmonico will always be the restaurant where Ross of Friends got stood up in season 8 or 9😂❤
You are wonderful! I so appreciate your kind words!! Welcome to the channel!! Yes the gilded age time was during the age of innocence novel!- the novel takes place from the start at 1873. Also it is my favorite movie!! The gilded age was roughly 1870s-1910s but some define it differently depending on what they are categorizing. Haha love that! Funny show! 💓💖❤️
That looks like the Continental Hotel from the John Wick movies.
Fascinating. I subscribed
Thank you!! Welcome to the channel!🙏⚜️
@@CulturedElegance I watched one other video about The Astors. Excellent. Thank you for your work. I'll watch more now that i've found your channel 😃
Thank you, it means so much!!
I have a copy of the Epicurean . Several pictures from the book were featured in this video. It is all about menus and recipes from Delmonico's.
Wow how amazing!!!
Was dining at Delmonicos à la Carte (pick and choose your dishes, aka how modern restaurants work) or Table d'hôte (a set number of courses, and a small selection of options for each course)? If Table d'hôte, when did it change to a la Carte? If I remember correctly, most restaurants in the US and Europe were Table d'hôte until the turn of the century, when à la Carte dining took over in popularity.
I find the history fascinating! How on earth did they feed everyone at that huge table?! The kitchen or kitchens? Must have been massive. And no electricity back then. Oh my goodness. I think a lot of small towns had at least one Delmonico’s. I’m sure named after the one in New York. Thank you! Really enjoyed learning about the family owned business. Wow.
I think they had gaslights back then to light up the restaurants, as well as gas ovens, if I'm not mistaken. However, I think that by the late 1890s, they started to install electricity in every home in the United States, as well as in every place of business, including restaurants. So, it's likely that they did the same thing with Delmonico's.
You're probably right about every small town in America having a Delmonico's restaurant in the 1800s. I think they may have had them in the old west, because such places were mentioned in the radio and television versions of "Gunsmoke." For example, at the beginning of the radio episode called "Legal Revenge," the character of Miss Kitty tells Sam, the bartender at the Long Branch saloon, "I'm going out to Delmonico's for something to eat." I know that because I used to have a record album with that story on Side Two of it. (The one on Side One was entitled "Reena Decker.")
Here's something else you probably didn't know. One of the Delmonico brothers was a volunteer firefighter. This would have been in the middle of the 19th Century, when fire engines were just small boxes on wheels that were usually dragged to fires by the firemen themselves. I know that because I read about it in a book entitled "The Romance Of Firefighting." (Bonanza Books, ©1956)
A lot of famous Americans were volunteer firefighters, including George Washington, Paul Revere, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin (who founded Philadelphia's first volunteer fire department, called the Union Fire Company), Thomas Jefferson, etc.
There's one thing I don't understand. The narrator said that the Delmonico brothers were born in Switzerland, but the name, Delmonico, doesn't sound Swiss to me. In fact, it sounds ITALIAN, LIKE MY LAST NAME!
Am I missing something?
@@michaelpalmieri7335 Switzerland contains an Italian Canton.
@@deirdre108
Gee, I never knew that.
Thanks for the information.
Would have liked to see the menu's more. They went away so fast I couldn't read them.
I thought one could pause the video if they wanted to take a closer look
I like the menu's 🎉
In the mid-60s working at #20ExchangePlace, we would have Cocktails there 🍹🍷🍸
They made the Best in the “neighborhood” #TipsyPayday
" 1964, Jerry Herman, “Put on Your Sunday Clothes”, Hello, Dolly!:
We're gonna ride through town / In one of those new horsedrawn open cars / We'll see the shows at Delmonico's / And we'll close the town in a whirl"