Lifestyle

Andrew F. Smith: My food New York


You can thank the Erie Canal for the cronut, the Reuben sandwich and pretty much every other NYC culinary innovation. The canal opened in 1821 and brought grain, which made the city an important economic hub by helping it increase financial and manufacturing operations. “From that point on, you had everything you need to make a a great culinary city,” says historian Andrew F. Smith. “You had money, you had ingredients and you had chefs coming in.” Gotham’s culinary history is long, and much of it is outlined in Smith’s latest book, “New York City: A Food Biography.” This is his food history New York.

Fraunces Tavern, 54 Pearl St., at Broad Street

Fraunces TavernChristian Johnson

“It’s one of the oldest, if not the oldest structure in New York City, built around 1719. Samuel Fraunces was an immigrant from the West Indies and was selected by George Washington as his first chef. The restaurant now tries to have dishes, like veal cutlets, from Washington’s time. They’re [close], but you wouldn’t like dishes from Washington’s time. The types of food that he ate were very plain. They didn’t have a lot of spice and flavor. His favorite was roast beef.”

McSorley’s Old Ale House, 15 E. Seventh St., between Second and Third avenues

McSorley’s Old Ale HouseJ.C. Rice

“McSorley’s claims to be the oldest saloon in New York City, dating back to 1854. It’s part of the city’s alcoholic heritage. New York City supposedly consumed more alcohol than any other place in America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

“Saloons were male-only [before Prohibition]. Any female who would have gone in there would have been someone of ill repute. That doesn’t mean women didn’t drink. Women drank as much as men, but they did not drink publicly in saloons. They’d send their sons into the saloons to pick up alcohol and bring it back home. Or they’d go to the back door and pick it up themselves.”

‘21’ Club, 21 W. 52nd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues

21 Club.Christian Johnston

“It was launched [in 1929] during Prohibition, and like every other place in New York, it violated the law from the beginning. By 1929, the police commissioner estimated there were 32,000 illegal speakeasies in the city. Others say it was two or three times that amount. In New York, no one ever paid any attention to the laws, and it changed social life. The speakeasies were the first places that women and men could sit down together and drink in a public place. The ‘21’ Club is a symbol of all the things that happened in the 1920s. You can go downstairs and see how it operated as a speakeasy during Prohibition time. To me, that’s an important part of the city.”

International Culinary Center, 462 Broadway, at Grand Street


“Culinary schools in New York City are extremely important. By the mid-19th century, more families were able to hire domestics. The problem with many immigrant household servants, especially the Irish, was that they were unable to prepare the food their employers wanted. One solution was developed by Pierre Blot, a Frenchman who came to New York in about 1855. He launched a cooking school called the Culinary School of Design. Today, there are many more cooking schools in NYC, but by far the most incredible cooking school is the International Culinary Center.”

Grand Central Oyster Bar, 89 E. 42nd St., at Park Avenue

Anne Wermiel/NY Post

“New York City was the world oyster capital from the colonial days until the early 1800s. And we’re not talking the small stuff that you get now — we’re talking about oysters a foot across. The estimate was that 20 to 50 percent of the oysters in the world were in the waters around New York City.

“Oysters, at the time, were one of the foods that was consumed by everybody: men, women, children, the poor and also the well-to-do. The oyster bars were places that the poor and the wealthy ate at the same time and the same place, which was unusual. The Oyster Bar, which opened in 1913, is an example of that.”

Junior’s, 386 Flatbush Ave., at DeKalb Avenue

Junior’s famous strawberry cheesecake.Paul Martinka

“New Yorkers have consumed cheesecake since colonial times. Those were made from ricotta, cottage cheese, cheese curd, sour cream and farmer’s cheese, and the crust was pastry. They were chunkier and not what you’d think of as cheesecake [today]. During the early 20th century, a new type, made from cream cheese, emerged in the New York delis and restaurants. It was very smooth. Junior’s, which is famous for serving cheesecake, has been making it since the 1950s. Many of the other places that were famous for cheesecake have gone out of business, like Lindy’s, but Junior’s is still alive.”

Oscar’s Brasserie, Waldorf-Astoria, 540 Lexington Ave., at 50th Street

“Oscar Tschirky was the maitre d’ of the Waldorf Hotel [later to become the Waldorf-Astoria] beginning in 1893 all the way through the 1940s. He always used his first name, because no one could pronounce his last name. Traditionally, upper-class menus were written in French. Oscar had the Waldorf’s menu written in English. Another change was in the number of items listed on the menu. Some haute cuisine restaurants had thousands of items. Tschirky simplified the menu. The brasserie, which was named for him, opened in 1966.”