In the 19^th century and well into the 20^th there was absolutely no doubt that Delmonico’s was the nation’s finest restaurant, the only one with a worldwide reputation. It was one of the few places in this country which European visitors compared favorably with the glittering restaurants of Paris’s “super mall” of the 19^th century, the Palais Royal. Founded by two Swiss immigrants in 1827 as a small confectionery shop in New York City, it soon grew into a “restaurant Francais” occupying various locations over its phenomenal 96-year-long run under the same family ownership. As a form of homage — sometimes tongue-in-cheek — restaurants high and low, all over the USA, named themselves after it.

Over time Delmonico’s gradually moved up Fifth Avenue, following in the path of its wealthy society patrons. In 1862 it moved into an elegant mansion at Fifth Ave and 14^th Street and in 1876 jumped up to 26^th. In 1897 the restaurant settled in its final location shown above, at 44^th Street, where it faced off with arch-rival Sherry’s. Through the years the restaurant always kept at least one other location farther downtown for businessmen.

For a long time Delmonico’s menu was entirely in French, without translation, and a la carte only. This presented a challenge to guests who knew no French and lacked the skill of ordering a perfectly composed meal. If a guest ordered badly he (only men were given this task) imagined he could hear his waiter snickering. And he might end up with a dinner of pickles and brandied peaches as happened to one hapless patron. The solution, of course, was to throw yourself on the mercy of the waiter and ask for his recommendations.

In 1897 Delmonico’s yielded to music and smoking in its hallowed halls, a sign many regarded as evidence of a downhill slide. It closed in 1923, a victim of weak management, increasingly informal dining customs, and Prohibition.

© Jan Whitaker, 2008

It’s always risky to declare that anything is a first. In some ways Julien’s Restorator, newly opened in July of 1793, may have been similar to the taverns that had been in business in Boston for ages. Almost any kind of eating place at this time would have taken in boarders who not only regularly ate their meals on the premises but slept there as well. What set Julien’s apart was that he modeled his restorator on the restaurants of Paris. Like them, he emphasized the healthful attributes of his dishes (intended to restore health — thus “restorator” and the French “restaurant”), presented diners with a written menu from which they could choose, and charged them only for what they ordered rather than following the prevailing custom of providing a buffet-type meal at a set price. The newspaper advertisement of which this is a part states that he will furnish soups, broths, pastry, beef, bacon, poultry, wines, and cordials. He later added oysters, green turtle soup, and coffee.

Julien’s full name was Jean Gilbert Julien and he had previously worked as a private cook. At the bottom of the advertisement he states he was “Late Steward to the Honorable Monsieur Letombe, Consul of the French Republic.” He was successful at the Leverett’s Lane site and soon moved up to a substantial house on Milk Street where he remained in business until his untimely death in 1805, whereupon his widow Hannah ran the restaurant for ten years and then sold it to another Frenchman.

© Jan Whitaker, 2008