DELMONICO'S FIFTH AVENUE N EW YORK Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Gift of Seymour B. Durst Old York Library lEx ICtbrts SEYMOUR DURST When you leave, please leave this book Because it has been said "Ever thing comes t' him who waits Except a loaned book.'' DELMONICO'S FIFTH AVENUE NEW YOK Li H. C. Lloyd, Publisher Press of Art Color Printing Co. Delmonico's Beaver Street Bclmontco's FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK OR eighty years Delmonico's has been the leading restaurant of America. Established by Peter and John Delmonico in 1827, it at once became the fashionable resort of the city and has never since retrograded from that position. Delmonico's first achieved its reputation be- cause of the excellence of its cooking, the per- fection of its vintages and the art which marked its services. All these component principles of dining are still preserved and wherever improve- ments are found expedient its patrons are the recipients of those benefits. Its cellars are stocked with every wine that connoisseurs may demand, the rarest and oldest vintages being always at the command of pa- trons, and all are kept in such condition as is called for by their varying qualities. Nothing but the highest grade of all delicacies is used in this establishment — a rule that has obtained for three generations. Delmonico's has moved successively, as the residential portion of the city advanced north- ward on Manhattan Island, from its original house to Fourteenth Street in 1862, thence to Broadway and Twenty-sixth Street in 1875 and thence to its present location at Fifth Avenue and Forty-fourth Street in 1 897. It has always been identified with the heart of the fash- ionable district and, should the future call for another establishment still farther uptown, there is every reason to believe that the call will receive the same response as have those of the past. The house at Beaver and William Streets, in its comparatively modern building erected in 1895, is still in active operation and is daily thronged with the bankers, lawyers and merchants who transact their business in the great exchanges, banking houses and business offices in the neighborhood of which it is the central point. Both the Fifth Avenue house and that on Beaver Street are under the sole ownership of Miss Josephine C. Delmonico, while their man- agement is in the hands of Mr. Eugene Gar- nier, for more than twenty-five years connected with the house and for more than fifteen its active manager. The Fifth Avenue house was built about ten years ago at a cost of, approximately, one mill- ion dollars and stands today as the acme of per- fection in restaurant architecture. Tasteful, yet simple, decorations in floral and artistic artisan- ship mark its every detail. On the ground floor will be found the Cafe, extending along the easterly side of the build- ing and facing on Forty-fourth Street; an ex- quisite apartment in the Old English style, par- ticularly designed to rest and relieve the eye by 2 the harmony of its decorations and the simplic- ity of its furnishings. The Palm Garden, with its beautiful arched glass dome, its plate glass wall and its tall, slender palms which may be seen from the cor- ridors, should be viewed at night to be best appreciated ; for then, with the twinkling candles on every table and the fronds of the palms waving gracefully while scores of ladies and gentlemen dine, the scene is one to be ever remembered. This room, and the ladies and gentlemen's dining room on the Fifth Avenue front, are finished in oak and pointed with gold, while the furnishings, in rich, red silks and velvets, lend an atmosphere of comfort and coolness in Summer and warmth and restfulness in Winter. There are three ballrooms, the largest having a capacity, when used as a banquet room, of four hundred and twenty-five persons, seated. The upper floors are partially devoted to these ball- rooms, to private dining rooms and banquet halls. One of the most beautiful rooms in the build- ing is the reception room on the third floor on the Fifth Avenue side. This room is 38 by 60 feet in dimensions and is finished in ivory and gold, with a musicians' gallery at the north end. Twelve private dining rooms for small parties are located on the upper floors, each having its own private reception room and each floor be- ing equipped with its own service rooms, so that there is never the slightest conflict in any regard. These rooms accommodate from twelve to thirty 3 Delmonico's Fifth Avenue persons with comfort, and all are furnished with care to their particular needs and size. Delmonico's has its own warehouse for the distribution of rare wines and, to assure both age and uniformity in the quality of its special brands, it may be mentioned that it buys its wines and liquors in large lots direct from the place or country of their production, storing and using them as occasion demands. The two top floors are arranged in bachelor quarters, where a small number of suites are provided for the accommodation of those who are real lovers of a solitary life, and on the east- erly end of the fifth and six floors is the Winter Garden, particularly designed for stag dinners and for the use of those who care for the en- joyment of a private cafe in connection with the dances and weddings, where smoking, because of the presence of many ladies, is not customary. The force which moves this establishment consists of an army of cooks, butlers, maids, waiters and others whose business and pleasure it is to exert all their energies toward the com- fort of the guests of the house. In the kitchen there are, besides the Chef, fifty cooks under the direction of specialist assistant chefs in each branch of the art of catering. The chefs, or assistants, who make any particular portion of the menu, such as soups, sauces or entrees, have nothing whatever else to do ; likewise does this apply to game, to fish, to vegetables, to pastry and creams and all the other viands which make 4 up the necessities of such an establishment. Therefore, by such a system, a greater degree of perfection is attained and retained. Every- thing is systematized, and more than two hundred employes are at the instant command of the Manager, to carry out his orders ; so that at no time is either a small dinner party or the largest banquet delayed or disjointed in any manner. In conclusion, a word concerning the outside catering business of Delmonico's may not be out of place. Although at times, during the busy season, as many as six hundred persons are served in the restaurant, Palm Garden and Cafe, and six or eight hundred in the banquet halls above, yet, on the same day, perhaps even at the same hour, other parties, unlimited as to number, are being served in town or in the country, sometimes many miles away. Del- monico's has long made a specialty of these outside parties, and is ready at all times, fully equipped with men and material, to serve from the simplest collation to the most elaborate course dinner, furnishing every requisite, any- where that can be reached by rail, regardless of distance or the number of guests. This is but an outline of the character of the work of the house which has been for many years the leading restaurant of America. It makes its respects to its present patrons and begs to welcome the newcomer who wishes to taste the best that experience and knowledge can produce in the art of dining. 5 I