Great find, I love this stuff. I want to party with the American Boiler Manufacturers Association of the U.S. AND Canada , I bet they were a wild bunch. I've been in that hotel many times, it's now Pitt's student union building. There's a crappy cafeteria in the basement that definately doesn't serve blue point oysters, green turtle soup or fancy cakes. posted by octothorpe at 8:32 AM on July 30
What a wonderful find.
I like how there's a general freakout for all things classic French somewhere in the last quarter of the 19th century. Compare dinner menus:
I also like the menus of all the humerous society and club dinners and roasts thrown during the 1890s - the Sawdust club's dinner menu is my favorite.
And this mysterious menu is just wonderful. Chinese food via haute French, circa 1988 - Consommé à la Kuangsi and Sole à la Yen-tschung-ming (!?), Asperges à la Shanghaienne and Squabs de Pekin. posted by peachfuzz at 8:37 AM on July 30
Ditto on "love this stuff". The very first one I opened was an 1886 dinner hosted by the City of Nantes to honour Ferdinand de Lesseps. The wine selection included Chateau d'Yquem, Moet & Chandon and Chateau Margaux. 122 years sure doesn't seem like such a long time.
Flagged as a fave and looking forward to some long and happy divertissements. Thanks for linking it! posted by Mike D at 8:38 AM on July 30
Whoops, that first Willard Hotel link should have been this. posted by peachfuzz at 8:41 AM on July 30
(I occasionally attend functions at the Union League Club here in Chicago, and it's still almost this pretentious.) posted by applemeat at 8:51 AM on July 30
This only to prove my theory that the official secret language of the United States is indeed French! posted by parmanparman at 9:02 AM on July 30
Can anyone direct me to a recipe for "Blue Point" I can't find it anywhere posted by parmanparman at 9:27 AM on July 30
In my great grandmother's belongings I rescued an envelope that had been mailed to her in 1898 from Argentina. The sole content was a menu from the Hotel Metropol Restaurant there (I may have the hotel name slightly wrong, it's packed away right now) and I was totally floored by it. One of my goals this year is to get it framed and hanging in my kitchen. It's just the most beautiful thing and I'm so in love with it. The prices are all hand-written, even.
Besides being gorgeous, it's a mystery to me -- that I know of, neither my great grandparents or my grandparents ever left the continent. So I have no clue how or why this menu was in her possession or how a hotel restaurant in Argentina intersected in her lives and was important enough to be left in a safe place for over 100 years. I wish I knew the story. posted by miss lynnster at 9:27 AM on July 30
I'd be very curious to hear what the Laywers of Altoona felt should be done with the Philippines. And apparently they decided that we hadn't outgrown the Constitution yet. Since we still have it. So far. posted by miss lynnster at 9:36 AM on July 30
Huh, the linking is being temperamental. I blame the Philippines. Try this. posted by miss lynnster at 9:38 AM on July 30
Jeremiah Tower's book goes into his project of collecting and creating menus. They are most fascinating when they are an artful sequencing and building of sensations, rather than a bill of fare. posted by StickyCarpet at 9:46 AM on July 30
parmanparman: "Can anyone direct me to a recipe for "Blue Point" I can't find it anywhere"
Fact! You scooped me by seven years, o second mind with but a single thought. However, I think the Buttolph collection was only uploaded recently. Perhaps I am mistaken. posted by prefpara at 6:40 AM on July 31
Oh, don't get me wrong, I think your post is excellent and tasty. I just was proud of my earlier effort and wanted it to get a little love. posted by languagehat at 11:10 AM on July 31
I just was proud of my earlier effort and wanted it to get a little love.
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posted by HotPatatta at 7:47 AM on July 30