Lincoln ate at Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York City

[David Lockmiller]

There is a story in today's New York Times referencing Lincoln entitled "The Dinners That Shaped History." The article led with a story about a famous Picasso dinner with a group of other artists in honor of the artist, Henri Rousseau. I thought the best part of this story was the following: "Marie Laurencin did a risqué dance for the crowd and then fell, blind drunk, onto the pastries that were supposed to be served for dessert." Sounds like a really good party.

The segment of the journalistic piece relating to Abraham Lincoln is the following: "Since 1837, the wealthy and the notable have eaten at Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York City: Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon III, Jenny Lind and even Charles Dickens, who despised American cuisine. Delmonico’s seemed to rebut single-handedly the notion that American cooking, as one historian put it, insulted every sense but hearing." I am wondering whether the historian referred to in the quote was a Lincoln historian.

[Steve]

I did a Google search for "insulted every sense but hearing", and the only result that popped up was this very article. So I'm guessing it was a remark made by one of the food historians interviewed by the reporter.

[L Verge]

Reportedly, Lincoln's favorite Delmonico's dish was their mashed potatoes with cheese and breadcrumb topping. Sounds good to me - Mom called hers potatoes au gratin.

[RJNorton]

(10-26-2017 10:51 AM)Steve Wrote:  I did a Google search for "insulted every sense but hearing", and the only result that popped up was this very article. So I'm guessing it was a remark made by one of the food historians interviewed by the reporter.

I did the same search, Steve, and came up with the same result as you. I continued searching and found this article:

http://www.americanheritage.com/content/...%E2%80%99s

"Abraham Lincoln, after dining there during the Civil War, called Lorenzo Delmonico to his table and told the restaurateur, “In Washington, where I live, there are many mansions, but no cooks like yours."

Maybe someone can find if this really happened. I wonder what the source is. As far as I know, Lincoln never ate in New York City during the Civil War. The only time he was there during the war (that I can think of) was when he went to West Point to visit General Scott; his train passed through New York City on this trip, but I do not think he stopped to eat at a restaurant. This was a quick trip: June 24-June 25, 1862. Maybe he did exit the train and eat; perhaps my aging memory is wrong.

[Steve]

The anecdote comes from page 97 of the 1967 book Delmonico's: A History of Splendor by Lately Thomas. Unfortunately, it doesn't give a source of the anecdote but it does give more context. It says that was during a meeting Lincoln had with Gen. John A. Dix, Thurlow Weed, and Henry Ward Beecher:


https://books.google.com/books?id=BcU1AQ...9D&f=false

I have no idea whether such a meeting actually happened.

[L Verge]

I have no idea whether such a meeting actually happened.

It would really be interesting to know about this meeting, if it did occur. Almost sounds like it might have been in the fall or winter of 1864-65. Back to the NY crowd???

[Eva Elisabeth]

Reminds me of when Lincoln ate in a NY restaurant at the occasion of the Copper Union speech. According to an accompanying friend, Mason Brayman, "Lincoln asked the waiter to translate the French menu. Even in English, the names of the dishes were unfamiliar to him; finally, when the waiter mentioned beans, Lincoln’s face brightened and he made a quick gesture. ‘Hold on there, bring me beans. I know beans .’” (From Burlingame's "A Life".)

Well, and Rousseau was a naive painter and autodidact... (I love his works...)

[JMadonna]

LOL Charles Dickens despised American cuisine.

England became a great naval power because all the young men went to sea to escape the English cuisine.

[ELCore]

I don't think the Delmonico's story is true.

The Lincoln Log says he was in New York City only one time during his presidency, as Roger has said, and that was on his way to West Point in the wee hours of June 24, 1862, when he merely switched trains.

I don't have the best memory, but I can only recall reading about one other long trip during the presidency, and that was to Gettysburg.

[Steve]

Unfortunately, that's what I suspected. I wish the account was more specific about when this supposed meeting took place, then we could check newspaper accounts to see if Lincoln was in New York at the time.

It does make one wonder how many of the other accounts of famous people eating at Delmonico's are true.

[David Lockmiller]

Delmonico steak (or steak Delmonico) is a particular preparation of one of several cuts of beef (typically the ribeye) originated by Delmonico's restaurant in New York City during the mid-19th century. (Joe O' Connell. "Delmonico steak: a mystery solved") In addition to the steak, the original meal also included a potato dish, known as Delmonico potatoes, prepared by making a mashed potato dish topped with grated cheese and buttered breadcrumbs, then baked until golden brown and served steaming.

Source: Wikipedia

New York was a fine dining desert until the arrival of John (Giovanni) and Peter (Pietro) Delmonico, Swiss brothers who used $20,000 in gold coins they saved to open a cafe serving French pastries at 23 William Street called Delmonico. They opened, along with nephew Lorenzo, in 1827 and by 1831 they evolved into a full-fledged French restaurant by expanding into the building next door. The restaurant also represented a cultural shift toward French dining. At the time, all of the best home cooks were preparing traditional British fare, and American cookbooks were British in nature.

Lorenzo let the lease run out on the hotel and opened a flagship Delmonico's on Chambers and Broadway, just north of City Hall, in 1856. Six years later, he went further north still and opened a branch in a three story building overlooking Union Square on 14th Street and 5th Ave. Here, Lorenzo hired his nephew Charles Delmonico to run the show, who in turn hired chef Charles Ranhofer to helm the stoves. Ranhofer, considered one of the great chefs of the day, would go on to work for the restaurant group for 35 years, host thousands of banquets, create hundreds of dishes (Delmonico's credits Ranhofer with inventing Eggs Benedict, Baked Alaska, Lobster Newburg and Chicken A la Keene, all of which are still on the restaurant's menu today), and compile them into a book called The Epicurean.

Source: “Remembering Delmonico's, New York's Original Restaurant” published in EATER NEW YORK by Amanda Kludt Jun 29, 2011

[JMadonna]

(10-26-2017 11:00 PM)Steve Wrote:  It does make one wonder how many of the other accounts of famous people eating at Delmonico's are true.

FWIW Teddy Roosevelt visited the Maxwell House but never said their coffee was "good to the last drop."

[Dennis Urban]

Pairing the words "English" and "cuisine" creates an oxymoron.

[Jim Garrett]

Lincoln did dine with the Sewards at Harvey's in Washington. Harvey's originally located on F St, was the innovator of the steamed oyster. They supplied the Union Army with barge loads of steamed oysters. Today, Harvey's is virtually unknown to most people in Washington, DC, but up through the 1970's, Harvey's was still considered one of Washington's fine dining institutions.

Today, the only historic restaurant of note in Washington is the Old Ebbitt Grill. It's in it's 4th location and while beautiful, it has none of the character of it's previous location.