The wonderful foods of the Golden Era

[PeterGunnLives]

By the time I was old enough and able to occasionally afford a nice restaurant, most of the world you are describing was gone, but occasionally, I'd wind up in an old elegant restaurant (usually looking a little tired) and loved all the pomp and ceremony of table-side preparation.

To be fair, it was a novelty for me, so I'm not sure if I'd love it as a "real thing," but I enjoyed it the few times I encountered it. In particular, anything with flames was fun - as was all the brouhaha and commotion that occurred around making a Caesar salad table side. You can capture some of that experience again today when, in some places, they make the guacamole fresh table side.

Another great way to experience all of that is in old movies. Every once in awhile in an old movie, the characters will be in an upscaled restaurant and all the things you describe (right down to flaming this or that) will go on.

Another thing I notice in those old movies is how there was almost a chain of command where a formally dressed and serious host would walk you to your table and properly had you off to an equally serious waiter who would hand you a menu. Occasionally, the waiter would bark orders to what I guess where water boys or "helpers" or something, but there was more than a bit of military orderliness to it all. Certainly none of this "hi, I'm Jane and I'll be your waitress this evening" stuff going on.

Probably all just cultural stuff that changes and evolves, but clearly a different standard in those days at those types of restaurants.

I like to put on small dinners for friends or family and prepare table-side flambeed entrees and desserts for them. To me, table-side service is the essence of the vintage dining experience.

The old-school upscale restaurant scene definitely isn't a mainstream, everyday thing anymore. I use Peter Moruzzi's book "Classic Dining" as a starting point for finding these kinds of establishments: https://petermoruzzi.com/2012/07/01/moruzzis-new-classic-dining-book-available-for-pre-order/

Unfortunately, some of the examples that are listed in the book have already closed down. I want to try as many as I can before they go extinct!

 

[Fading Fast]

I like to put on small dinners for friends or family and prepare table-side flambeed entrees and desserts for them. To me, table-side service is the essence of the vintage dining experience.

The old-school upscale restaurant scene definitely isn't a mainstream, everyday thing anymore. I use Peter Moruzzi's book "Classic Dining" as a starting point for finding these kinds of establishments: https://petermoruzzi.com/2012/07/01/moruzzis-new-classic-dining-book-available-for-pre-order/

Unfortunately, some of the examples that are listed in the book have already closed down. I want to try as many as I can before they go extinct!

Wonderful looking book - thank you for pointing it out. I'll be picking up a copy (and a copy for my girlfriend's father who will love it).

 

[green papaya]

heres how they use to deliver groceries back in 1917

 

[Fading Fast]

View attachment 77254

heres how they use to deliver groceries back in 1917

In NYC, bikes with large metal boxes jerry-rigged on (usually in front - and sometimes with an extra wheel) that can hold - my guess- 20 or more bags of groceries are used regularly today as biking is an efficient way to make deliveries in this densely populated city with very limited parking.

 

[BlueTrain]

It's a Kroger, too. I suppose they all were downtown storefronts at one time. Even a small town had a "downtown." In my hometown, though, we called it "up town," because you went up hill to get there (all of two blocks away). Don't know what people on the other side of the main street said.

 

[LizzieMaine]

We always said "upstreet." "You goin' upstreet? Drop this in the mail."

 

[BlueTrain]

Washington, D.C., has both an uptown and a downtown, although it wouldn't be correct to think that it's clearly defined. Not like East Side and West Side in Manhattan. "Uptown" suggests something classy, like that's where the expensive apartment buildings are. That was where an old movie detective (the movie is old, not the detective) went to visit a client, who was always a beautiful blond living in a penthouse apartment with a well-stocked bar with a padded front, a sunken living room and a handy parking place right out front. She was always dressed in a low-cut sheath dress and had nice hair. That's "uptown." But Petula Clark, on the other hand, went downtown. There's also a midtown but it had to be a good sized city to have all three. If the town is really small and, like, squaresville, where you want to be is outta town. Dig?

 

[green papaya]

Hot dogs at a California fair in 1905