History
The famous chefs of Delmonico's Restaurant
By
Joe O'Connell,
Food Writer
First posted 3 July 2003 at 1840 GMT
Last updated 30 November 2003 at 1724 GMT
NEW YORK, New York -- The history of
Delmonico's Restaurant in New York parallels in many ways the history of American cuisine.
This sets forth the detailed history of
how the Delmonico family built a institution that lasted for almost a
century and came to be synonymous with haute cuisine.
Before reviewing this history, the reader should be familiar with the
Background and Locations of Delmonico's Restaurant.
John Lux
Upon the 1837 opening of the Citadel -- Delmonico's Restaurant on
South Williams Street -- John Lux became the chef de cuisine.
For the next 15 years, Lux guided Delmonico's Restaurant to
culinary excellence.
Alessandro Filippinni
Alessandro Filippini, an Italian, had been the Delmonico chef in the
1850s. In 1889, he published a cookbook, The Table, with
recipes simplified from the actual Delmonico’s preparation.
After Filippini left Delmonico’s in 1863, they hired a brilliant
French chef, Charles Ranhofer. See Pilgrim Hall
Museum website on chefs.
Charles Ranhofer
Charles Ranhofer, a French chef, was the chef at Delmonico's from 1862 to 1896. During
this classic period, Delmonico's set the standard for gourmet food, with
its 7-page menu, written in French
and English, and a wine cellar with 62 imported
wines. Ranhofer was responsible for many recipes which continue to
be famous, such as Baked Alaska (which he "invented" in 1867
to celebrate the purchase of Alaska from Russia. See Linda's Culinary Dictionary.
In 1894, Ranhofer
published The Epicurean, a treatise on food with more than 1,100
pages and 3,500 recipes. See Brian Mohan's article. American food historians note that it was not until 1903, almost a
decade after Ranhofer published his treatise on "French"
cuisine, that Auguste Escoffier (perhaps the most famous food author in
history, who was the chef at the Ritz Hotel in London in the early
1900s) published his "Le Guide Culinaire". For more information about Ranhofer, see Russ Parsons article in the Los Angeles Times of
February 15, 2000.
By early 1898, Ranhofer had completed the transfer of Delmonico's central kitchen operations from
the Madison Square restaurant on
26th Street to the new restaurant on 44th Street. Then he retired, and he died a year later.
M. Grevillet
In 1898, M. Grevillet succeeded Ranhofer as the chef de cuisine at
Delmonico's Restaurant.
Conclusion
Delmonico's Restaurants succeeded for almost a century because of the
excellence of its food, which in turn owed its excellence to the
creativity and expertise of its master chefs.
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