Delmonico's is the name of a series of restaurants that operated in New York City, and Greenwich, Connecticut with the present version located at 56 Beaver Street in the Financial District of Manhattan. The original version was widely recognized as the America's first fine dining restaurant. Beginning as a small cafe and pastry shop in 1827 at 23 William Street, Delmonico's eventually grew into a hospitality empire that encompassed several luxury restaurants catering to titans of industry, the political elite and cultural luminaries. In many respects, Delmonico's represented the genesis of American fine dining cuisine, pioneering numerous restaurant innovations, developing iconic American dishes, and setting a standard for dining excellence. Delmonico's (under the Delmonico family's ownership and management) shuttered all locations by 1923. In 1926, Delmonico's under new ownership by Italian immigrant Oscar Tucci reopened at 56 Beaver Street.
Today, Delmonico's continues to welcome the world to its 56 Beaver Street location.
History
Origin
The original Delmonico's opened in 1827 in a rented pastry shop at 23 William Street, and appeared in a list of restaurants in 1830. It was opened by Italian-Swiss immigrants, the brothers Giovanni and Pietro Delmonico. In 1831, they were joined by their nephew, Lorenzo, who eventually became responsible for the restaurant's wine list and menu.
The brothers moved their restaurant several times before settling at 56 Beaver Street (also 2 South William Street). When the building was opened on a grand scale in August 1837 after the Great Fire of New York, New Yorkers were told that the columns by the entrance had been imported from the ruins of Pompeii. It eventually became one of the most famous restaurants in New York, with its reputation eventually growing to international prominence.
Expansion and closure
Beginning in the 1850s, the restaurant hosted the annual gathering of the New England Society of New York, which featured many important speakers of the day. In 1860, Delmonico's provided the supper at the Grand Ball welcoming the Prince of Wales at the Academy of Music on East 14th Street. Supper was set out in a specially constructed room; the menu was French, and the pièces montées represented Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the Great Eastern and Flora's Vase. The New York Times reported, "We may frankly say that we have never seen a public supper served in a more inapproachable fashion, with greater discretion, or upon a more luxurious scale". In 1862, the restaurant hired Charles Ranhofer, considered one of the greatest chefs of his day.
The business was so successful that from 1865 to 1888, it expanded to four restaurants of the same name. At various times, there were Delmonico's at ten locations. By 1876, news of the prices at Delmonico's restaurants spread at least as far as Colorado where complaints about the cost of wine, eggs, bread and butter, coffee, and potatoes ("2 potatoes cost 15 cents") appeared in the Pueblo Daily Chieftain.
In 1899, Delmonico's vacated the six-story Delmonico Building at Fifth Avenue and 26th Street. (The edifice was sold to John B. Martin, owner of the Martin Hotel, in May 1901.)
In 1919, Edward L.C. Robins purchased Delmonico's. Its grand location at Fifth Avenue and 44th Street closed in 1923 as a result of changing dining habits due to Prohibition. That location was the final incarnation of Delmonico's with continuity to the original.