
The First American Restaurants’ Culinary Concoctions - samclemens
https://daily.jstor.org/the-first-american-restaurants-culinary-concoctions
======
simonsarris
I love looking at old menus. The New York Public Library actually has a
collection of 17,000 scans of them, organized by decade, going back to the
1850's: [http://menus.nypl.org/menus](http://menus.nypl.org/menus)

And all of the offerings broken down into dishes, also by decade:
[http://menus.nypl.org/dishes/decade/all](http://menus.nypl.org/dishes/decade/all)

It even has things like airline menus from the 1980's,

TAP:
[http://menus.nypl.org/menu_pages/53824/explore](http://menus.nypl.org/menu_pages/53824/explore)

The Menu of Air France's Concorde:
[http://menus.nypl.org/menu_pages/44451](http://menus.nypl.org/menu_pages/44451)

(If you like this sort of thing I try to maintain a list of high quality art
collections and archival finds, here: [https://simonsarris.com/art-
collections](https://simonsarris.com/art-collections) Please let me know if
you know of any great resources that should be on the list that I don't have.)

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tpmx
> For one thing, it was fashionable for European visitors to complain about
> American food. Famous visitors like Frances Trollope groused that it was
> “abundant but not delicate” in 1832. Ten years later, Charles Dickens’s
> first trip to America was “a culinary disaster.”

Feels familiar...

~~~
Melting_Harps
> Feels familiar...

Sadly, very much so as a person who has actually been in the Industry on both
Continents. My old teammate and I went to a renown Chef's place near a skiing
village to seek other prospects for him and he ordered one of the daily
specials for the table, Linguini and clams, what we had was in his words 'like
the packaged Lipton noodles.'

Italian is my repertoire, so while I didn't speak my face said it all and we
abruptly ended the meal then and there and they chose to drink instead. I
couldn't even enjoy the house spirits, which they made on site at the
distillery, as it was incredibly bitter and I just slid it to my friend.

Hours earlier we were eating local, seasonal stone-fruit and some so-so
grocery store tier charcuterie paired with wine from Rioja I had brought for
an aperativo, that quite honestly was 1/5 the price of the bill but overall
way more balanced and satisfying then anything I had in that restaurant.

It's sad, because I know that restaurants are really hurting right now as a
whole, and some of the stories really cut deep, but I'd argue that had nothing
changed the US culinary World would eventually just be indistinguishable from
the Commercial crap that litters Attractions like DisneyLand and such and
caters to the lowest common denominator.

Commercialization and commodification is almost like a Religion in the US and
that expands to its food/diet with horrible consequences (diabetes/heart
disease); whereas in much of the rest of the World, Food has much more
significance and reverence than Religion as an institution ever had: I've
eaten Sunday Ragu at the Nona's house, covered in Catholic Art and crucifixes,
with a devout Atheist in Italy who would bow his head before eating just to be
able to enjoy the amazing 2-3 hour dining experience!

I mean the idea of re-inventing the grilled cheese, or Bao with friend chicken
or having sprinkle-laden sweets is quite honestly pathetic given how rich the
Ag culture is in certain places of the US. Not to mention all of the European,
Asian, African and Central/South American diaspora that happened.

To this day my favorite spots to eat are usually tiny, mom/pop Asian spots
like pho places, or Thai restaurants with limited menu offerings. They do
something they know and love, and do it well.

No glitz, no glamour, no celebrity chef: just amazing food. And when you tip
them 50-100% of the bill their faces still light up.

> Americans were also renowned for eating with great speed: Delmonico’s
> scheduled an average of eight to ten minutes per course for their fourteen-
> course meal. Dinner was served from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Food could still be had
> later in the evening, but choices were more limited.

This is also something I think really irks me about US (food) culture in
general; I never accepted any job offer that didn't allow me to have a 1 hour
lunch after my horrible experience when I worked in a Lab.

And while this haste model makes sense for things like Ramen, something I only
have a luke-warm relationship with, it's not something I would ever consider a
desirable attribute in a Culture, and one of the reasons I never felt truly at
home in the US. The notion of rushing what is often the most social, a
pleasurable period of my day (Dinner) is unfathomable to me. Being at the
table for 2-4 hours is not an exception, it's a norm when I dine with family
and friends.

~~~
phonypc
I think they were commenting on the fact that it's _still_ fashionable to look
down on American food as uncultured.

Case in point, your post.

~~~
Melting_Harps
It doesn't have to be, is _my point._ I've done 'New American' at a Farm to
Table and we did 20k+ nights 4-5 day days of the week during the peak season.

~~~
phonypc
It isn't in general, and never was, is my point. Merely fashionable to think
of it as so.

My local McDonald's probably does 20k+ days all week too. What of it?

~~~
Melting_Harps
> It isn't in general, and never was, is my point. Merely fashionable to think
> of it as so.

I disagree, and many chefs in the US have been trying to make significant
inroads to that end: some more than others of course. Fashionable, well,
that's the to be expected its called _Culinary Art_ for a reason, and the
whims of fashion are inevitable: if you go back to what was regarded as
gastronomical Haute couture in the 80s it looks pre-historically antiquated
and drab in comparison to something coming from someone like Ferran Adria, or
René Redzepi from the last decade.

But just focusing on the synopsis of what was found in those menus in the US,
I'd argue those menu's of the past are far more sophisticated then they are
now and would be an improvement to revert to in just about every way:

> Freedman’s appendix lists 928 entrees served at New York’s Fifth Avenue
> Hotel between 1859 and 1865. Nine variations on calf’s head. Fillet of beef
> and fish, but also chicken, duck, goose, green turtle, grouse, lamb, mutton,
> pigeon, pork, veal, and venison. Almost all of those meats could also be
> found hashed. Fried eel and six variations of frog, including “fried English
> style.” If you hungered for lamb fries (which are testicles), there were at
> least five ways they could be prepared. Many wild birds were on the menu,
> including plover with Champagne sauce, snipe in cases, and rice birds with
> toast. For the nose-to-tail crowd, there were thirteen different tripe
> preparations.

> My local McDonald's probably does 20k+ days all week too. What of it?

Many things, not least of which is that its upholding to the standards of a
more sustainable and nourishing business model, but also proving that doing
things the _right way,_ that is eating local, seasonally and organic can also
be profitable.

It's incredibly hard work running for 8.5 months like that with 60+ hour work
weeks and only one day off to recover, I had ran kitchens before but that
level of volume was not something I had ever encountered until my last role
where I had over 60% of the menu on the busiest station in the restaurant, but
my aforementioned teammate, who worked saute, actually did 21 day runs at one
point when we were losing everyone.

But looking back at it the reward is pretty significant, especially now that
the Industry is literately in shambles and may never fully recover or go back
to what it was. Which for some of us is ultimately a good thing.

If you have time to actually look into what this Industry is, as I doubt you
have or will ever work in it given what you've said thus far, check out David
Chang's Too Small to Fail podcasts [1] where both David Chang and Chris Ying
interview some Restauranteurs/Chefs who have dared to defy the odds and try to
make those 'inroads' on their own own dime. The episode with Ann Kim, a Korean
immigrant chef who's family migrated to Minneapolis, spoke about the recent
riots was f'ing heart heart-breaking and emotive.

I never wanted to launch my own restaurant, I had enough sadistic ventures
being a boot-strapping fintech Founder for one Lifetime, but I could totally
empathize with her story and plight.

1:
[https://open.spotify.com/show/0y4DksD5a6sJvcVR6okX5r?go=1&ut...](https://open.spotify.com/show/0y4DksD5a6sJvcVR6okX5r?go=1&utm_source=embed_v3&t=0&nd=1)

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gautamdivgi
Wonder how their supply chain worked for all that variety back then. Without
reliable refrigeration I'm curious to see how food was preserved.

~~~
Melting_Harps
> Wonder how their supply chain worked for all that variety back then. Without
> reliable refrigeration I'm curious to see how food was preserved.

Laboriously, but perhaps far more superior to much of today's 'on-demnad'
delivery method as we know it in terms of quality. I have a passion for both
Culinary and Supply Chains, and to be honest, the Restaurant Industry was one
where I gave it a pass for not being fully optimized and automated as much as
possible.

When I was in Europe I really enjoyed seeing and visiting the restaurants we
supplied to when I was a farming apprentice, I'd come through the back of the
Kitchen and see and smell a lot of the produce we made on the farm be used in
the recipes it was intoxicating and usually the highlight of my day. And then
we spoke with the Chef de cuisine or Exec Chef as he looked at what we had to
offer and his head was in going 100 MPH thinking what he could do for daily
specials and he'd pick what he wanted before we went to the Farmer's markets.

That experience is what got me out of retirement as a chef and I forgot how
much I enjoyed the entire experience, and what it could be (Farm to table in
the US was very limited, but rather common in the part of Europe I was in) and
I decided to run Kitchens while I underwent my Ag Apprenticeship, which meant
working 70+ hour weeks.

The same thing happened when I came out of retirement for the 3rd and last
time as a cook, this time in the US and solely focused on Farm to Table
concepts in Boulder. I did stage and work in Micheline, and James Beard places
but I never lasted as the passion wasn't there as I never got to see or
interact with the Farmers or much of their products, which to me is the
primary reason why I even bothered to get back in to an Industry I honestly
otherwise despise.

I imagine it was like much of the Bistros, Cafes, and Izakaya in Europe and
Japan that entailed being around Food Distribution Hubs/Marketplaces, waking
up your apprentices really early to shop for the day's service, and going to
Farmer's Markets/Green Market's for the rest and buying everything that was in
season (read: cheap and plentiful). I can't speak of the US culinary history
outside of places like California, because while I was introduced to the
Industry in the US it was run by a French baker and she operated the catering
business we were in with a brigade system, In Europe I ran agro-tourism
Kitchens and replicated the model with a smaller staff and filled the gaps
where needed, and on top of being the Sous/Chef I was also the Farm Manager so
I sourced upwards of 85% of the ingredients on the Menu on farm, things like
Wine, deserts and some liquors making up the other part.

When I cam back to the US I mainly focused on Farm to table models, and they
are not the most optimal in terms of delivering costs: our Oysters were over-
nighted from a Diver we had in the E. Coast. Our Beef, Pork and Chickens were
from local farms that did batch shipping for us multiple times a week, and
would send their farm workers during peak season if we needed more proteins.

Much of our seasonal veg came from local farms, we only used Suppliers for
things like seafood, condiments, spices and non-seasonal veg on a regular
basis and had to put in orders on a semi-daily basis. But because the volume
and cost/dish were optimized in such a way that we had very good ROI and good
food costs (benefits of knowing your farmers) we could carry the costs of a
sub-optimized supply chain.

Look up Eugénie Brazier, her story took place around that time in Lyon,
France. Bourdain did some stuff on his shows highlighting her work when he did
episodes that included Paul Bocuse and mentioned the tireless and laborious
nature of that model, but that yielded her 6 Micheline stars, for 2
establishments, something that had never been done.

But I imagine it had to be the same model in the US, wherein refrigeration was
scarce and limited (some places had ice delivery) but it was probably reserved
for the expensive proteins for the day. What always interested me was how it
was done in fine-dining Cross-Country Coaches/Trains, the amount of tight
logistical framework and infrastructure needed for that has to be immense!
Probably modeled much like the now seemingly defunct cruise-line ships.

~~~
tomcam
Fascinating article in its own right. Thank you. I would totally read your
book or blog.

~~~
Melting_Harps
> Fascinating article in its own right. Thank you. I would totally read your
> book or blog.

Thanks, Tom!

I hear that more and more these days, especially now that I've retired from
the Industry for good and have an overall positive outlook on my time within
it; had our Industry not been destroyed entirely by COVID I was supposed to be
working SpaceX in their Food and Beverage Department as I was working at
Kimbal Musk's restaurant in order to learn as much as I could to take over
there. My interview at the Boca Chica Launch facility had gone really well,
too.

I really should try and do a pilot of a food series I wanted to do, and I've
been encouraged to do so by friends within the Industry but with how things
are right now I'm not sure how I'd go about it even though I have an idea of
what and how I'd base it on and what platform I'd use.

Thanks for the feedback, it means a lot!

~~~
tomcam
Blog! Stream of consciousness! The shape of the pilot will reveal itself.
Don’t try too hard.

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tomcam
Prices have gone up roughly 5000% since then (assuming a reasonably high-end
restaurant in Manhattan). The menu looks pretty awful. Am a stout USA patriot
who does not like most American food at all. I absolutely adore the diversity
of modern cuisine.

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miohtama
Interesting is that dinner was 2pm to 5pm. When I was a kid in Nordics, the
school lunch was 10:30 and dinner usually 17:30 when both parents were home
from the work.

As far as I have seen most Western countries follow a later schedule.

~~~
asciimike
I assume this is due to the subtle semantic differences between "dinner" and
"supper", particularly in the 1800s and early 1900s (up to about WWII).

"Dinner" at that time referred to the mid-day meal (often the largest meal of
the day: laborers needed the food to get through the rest of the day, it's
hard to have a big meal without good lighting), while "supper" is the evening
meal.

Source/anecdata: my grandfather, who, born in 1916, referred to "dinner" as
"supper" until his death in 2018.

~~~
war1025
Here in Iowa, the evening meal is almost universally called supper. The noon
meal is called lunch. Dinner is mostly a less-used alternate for supper. I
can't remember anyone ever calling lunch "dinner".

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soared
Interesting that they are so many birds, when I only ever eat chicken, turkey,
and very very rarely duck.

Not to mention turtle/etc! Also curious that beaver wasn’t mentioned, I’d
imagine that to be a delicacy.

