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Lüchow's

Lüchow's was a restaurant at 110 East 14th Street at Irving Place in East Village (near Union Square) in Manhattan, New York City, with the property running clear through the block to 13th Street. It was established in 1882[1] – at a time when the surrounding neighborhood was primarily residential[2] – when a German immigrant, August Lüchow, purchased the cafe where he worked as a bartender and waiter.[3] Lüchow's remained in operation at this place for a full century, becoming a favorite establishment for people in the entertainment world, helped by its proximity to the Academy of Music, the city's opera house, as well as Steinway Hall and Tammany Hall, where other entertainment was offered.[2]

Caption from postcard: 80th Anniversary. Renowned for its superb food, imported beers, and fine wines, Luchow's, The Gourmets' Rendezvous Since 1882, continues to be the favorite eating place of the world's celebrities. Open every day except Monday.

Luchow's c. 1902: "Garden" as seen from "Cafe" showing the effect created by skylights added in the extensive 1902 construction. The big arched opening at the rear is actually a mirror. Gaslights are shown. To the left is the door where the headwaiter stood. Within, right, is the office, later a semi-private dining room.

Although in the 1930s columnist O. O. McIntyre had written "In a changing world, nothing changes at Lüchow's", eventually even the long-running establishment came to an end,[4] closing after an attempt to stimulate business in 1982 by moving to the Theater District.[5] This new effort failed and ended in 1984,[2] leaving behind satellite locations which closed permanently in May 1986.[6] The 14th Street building was finally demolished in 1995[7] after being gutted by a fire the year before.[8]

Pronunciation edit

The German name Lüchow is pronounced [ˈlyːçoː] with the ⟨w⟩ being silent. The restaurant's name has generally been pronounced /ˈlz/ LOO-chowz, an Anglicization. The umlaut over the ⟨ü⟩ was left out between 1917 and 1950,[9] which is said to have caused difficulties: "The absence of the umlaut had led many new customers to believe that the place was a Chinese restaurant," according to The New York Times.[9]

History edit

Through the doors of Luchow's pass all the famous people of the world.

—Legend seen on entering the main reception room,
originally said by James Montgomery Flagg[10]

Context edit

August Guido Lüchow, an immigrant from the city of Hanover, Germany, arrived in the United States in 1879 at the age of 23.[11] After working as waiter for a cafe on Duane Street, he became a bartender and waiter at a cafe and beer garden belonging to Baron von Mehlbach.[12] Three years later, aged 26, he was able to purchase the business with the help of a $1500 loan from William Steinway, the piano magnate,[3] who had his concert-hall-and-showrooms venue Steinway Hall across the street at Union Square, and was a regular customer at the von Mehlbach establishment.[12] The property was only about an eighth in size of what would become Lüchow's, and did not yet reach 13th Street on the downtown side.[12]

At that time the stretch of 14th Street extending crosstown on either side of Union Square was at the heart of the most prestigious part of the city, and August Lüchow's new establishment quickly became known as "the capital of 14th Street".[13]

 
William Steinway has been called the "patron saint" of Lüchow's[14]
 
Diamond Jim Brady was a habitué of the restaurant ...
 
... and had noted actress Lillian Russell as his eating companion

Steinway and his circle of touring and transplanted European musicians comprised Lüchow's core clientele during the early years. A pre-sailing farewell engagement at Lüchow's in honor of the pianist Ignaz Paderewski – which lasted six hours – is noted by The New York Times in 1906.[15] James Huneker, writing for the Times in 1919,[16] describes how he was called upon in the 1890s to introduce Antonín Dvořák – who is referred to as "Old Borax" – to New York society by founder of the National Conservatory Jeanette Myers Thurber, who had engaged the composer to lead her nascent musical institution: "Later we went down to Gus Lüchow's. For a musician not to be seen at Lüchow's argued that he was unknown in the social world of tone." Huneker also relates several anecdotes about Oscar Hammerstein, another Lüchow's habitué.[16]

Early operation edit

By 1885 Lüchow had become the American agent for Würzburger Beer and shortly thereafter for Pilsner,[17] another famous brand, made with soft water. Space was at a premium, and so the beer garden located behind the original restaurant on the east was made to provide access to a newly purchased lot extending back to 13th Street, on which stables were built to enable delivery of beer throughout the city.[18] In 1902 further construction was undertaken,[19] converting the stables, beer garden, and another large space behind the bar on the west into three ornate dark-panelled rooms, two of which had 30' ceilings – with frosted skylights with etched stained glass. These became known as the "Heidelberg Room" – still being called "the New Room" eighty years later,[18] "Garden" – because it occupied the location of the original beer garden – and "Cafe", respectively. With the purchase in 1910 of the Huber Museum property at 106 East 14th Street[20] the restaurant's physical layout took its final form, allowing the addition of two more public rooms: Hunting, and Nibelungen. The restaurant opened a satellite restaurant at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo, NY, as part of its German Village ("Alt Nürnberg").[21]

The Heidelberg Room featured the enormous 7'x10' painting of The Potato Gatherers by Swedish artist August Hagborg, that Lüchow had purchased at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, when he was there to run the food concession for the Tyrolean Alps Exhibit.[19] The painting was still to be found in its place at the back of the New Room in 1980[18] – near the 13th Street entrance.[22] Also prominent in the Heidelberg Room was an extremely large model of the four masted clipper ship Great Republic[18] which was visible from the majority of tables in the six main rooms, in addition to numerous "small masterpieces of the Dutch, Austrian and Flemish schools".[23] Multitudes of mounted animal heads[24] and colorful beer steins having German and Austrian geographical significance – of varied and sometimes extreme size – were displayed throughout the room.[10][25] The Hunting (or Hunt) Room – where, as latter-day owner Jan Mitchell once observed[23] "twenty-one mounted deer heads gaze in blank nonchalance upon the pleasant spectacle of their descendants being eaten with considerable satisfaction" – was especially prolific in regard to taxidermy, and provided a few big tables to accommodate the larger parties of guests within the public rooms.

The art nouveau "Diamond Jim Brady Room" was fitted out with matching cabinetry appointments and Tiffany glass, with arched mirrors of beveled glass and cut flowers across an expanse of marble and dark carved mahogany: "At one end stands the knightly figure of Lohengrin, and at the other, on the wall, broods a shaggy buffalo head obtained at the St. Louis World's Fair. An oil painting of Bacchus appropriately surveys this scene from the opposite wall."[10] The room was named after Diamond Jim Brady, a voracious eater who was referred to by one New York restaurateur as "the best twenty-five customers I ever had".[26] Brady was not a gangster, as some assumed, but a successful executive and founder of an automobile and railroad rolling stock manufacturer, the Standard Steel Car Company – later merged with Pullman – who had a passion for fancy jewelry. He said, "Each must have a good time in his own way."[27] Brady's long-time eating companion was the noted actress Lillian Russell,[28] for whom another room at Lüchow's was named.

Latter years edit

August Lüchow died in 1923, and ownership of the business passed to Victor Eckstein, who was his nephew-in-law.[29] Prohibition had begun in 1921, and the restaurant had to survive on the strength of its cooking and traditions. After the first few years, Luchow's stopped celebrating New Year's Day, as the customers who brought their own flasks of alcohol were too rowdy. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, Luchow's was the recipient of the first café liquor license in New York City.[30]

The umlaut in "Lüchow's" was restored in 1950, when Jan Mitchell, an entrepreneur who rescued several New York restaurants – including the Longchamps chain[9] – bought the restaurant from Eckstein after five years of persuasion.[31] Mitchell restored the tradition of holding week-long galas such as the annual Venison Festival, Bock Beer Festival, a goose fest, and so on,[9] but one of the biggest attractions at Lüchow's, and a tremendous customer draw, was the nightly lighting of the Christmas tree,[31] which began around Thanksgiving and lasted till New Year's.

By the time Lüchow's reached its final iteration on 14th Street, it was owned by one of the two big restaurant conglomerates in New York City at the time, Restaurant Associates,[32] having passed from the hands of the other, Riese Brothers, a couple of years before.[33] Riese Brothers is a restaurant management company, with such names as Schrafft's, Longchamps, Chock Full o' Nuts and Childs figuring prominently in their real estate-oriented business formula.[34] Over time the quality of Lüchow's food and service had taken a turn for the worse, with stemware abandoned in favor of short glasses, and no tablecloths at lunch, according to employees of the period.[35]

 
NYU's University Hall was built on the site of Lüchow's in 1998

With completion in 1979 of the final round of refurbishments at 14th Street by Restaurant Associates,[35] whose principal, Peter Aschkenasy, was friends with Mayor Ed Koch,[36] providing much needed publicity, the place was seemingly resurrected, and there were a few years of capacity Christmas season business. Architecture students made their weekly visits to view the eclectic bric-a-brac and statuary, stained glass skylights and art nouveau appointments; and it was said that the frequently mentioned "1500 couverts" (pronounced "covers") in one day occurred multiple times.

Demise edit

By the 1980s, the Union Square area had deteriorated considerably. The park itself was rundown and in serious need of refurbishment. The discount S. Klein's department store across the street was closed and abandoned; and the movie theatre next to the restaurant had become a rock concert venue, initially also dubbed the "Academy of Music", but later changed to the "Palladium". There was little left in the neighborhood to attract the type of clientele that Luchow's was intended to appeal to, and in 1982–83 the 14th Street location was abandoned,[37] dealing a serious blow to efforts to revitalize the neighborhood.[38] The saleable contents were auctioned off,[39][40] and the business was moved to a spot below street level at 51st Street and Broadway, with the aim of attracting Theater District crowds,[5] and the umlaut was dropped once again.[41]

The Theatre District restaurant lasted only a few years longer, but Luchow's lived on at other locations, notably Penn Station.[42] Restaurant Associates having decided to branch out and make use of the famous name.

After Lüchow's moved out, the 14th Street location was briefly the "Palace", a nightclub-cabaret-restaurant [43] and later a gay bar.[44] An attempt was made to have the building demolished in 1985,[45] and it stood vacant for several years, never achieving protected landmark status despite local efforts.[7][46] It became the home of various squatters, drug addicts and prostitutes. In 1994, a mysterious fire destroyed any historic remnant of its vibrant past. The city ordered the building demolished.[47] The building was replaced by University Hall, a New York University dormitory and multi-use complex having retail frontage on 14th Street.[7] Before the dorm was built, NYU announced plans to "revive" Luchow's by including a street-level "Gay 90's" themed restaurant in the building, which they intended to call "Luchow's" if permission could be obtained to do so,[48] but these plans never came to fruition.

Music edit

At the turn of the twentieth century Lüchow's was prospering, and a good part of the bottom line came from beer sales.[17] Although he was not the first man to serve these fine imported beers in America, he was first to make them popular, a fact attested to by the popular song Harry Von Tilzer wrote to honor August and his restaurant, "Down Where the Würzburger Flows".[17] "The song traveled from Fourteenth Street to the beer gardens of Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, and far beyond, and attained such popularity that August declared in some bewilderment: 'I feel like a kind of beer Columbus!'"[49]

 
Victor Herbert was instrumental in founding ASCAP in Luchow's
 
Illustrated bookjacket by co-author and official Luchow's illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans; the restaurant as seen from above the Garden, looking across a corner of the Cafe toward the Hunting Room

Victor Herbert was a concert cellist, conductor and composer of forty-three operettas and numerous other choral and instrumental works. He brought an eight-piece orchestra back from Vienna to perform at Lüchow's after one of his tours, and presided as its leader for nearly four years,[17] starting a musical tradition that carried through to the 1980s.[50] A corner table with a commemorative plaque was remembered at Lüchow's as the "Victor Herbert Corner" and the place where Herbert and his associates founded the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1914.[51][52] Songwriter Gus Kahn was another regular at the restaurant; he wrote the lyrics for "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby" there.[2]

Other works and composers which were featured at Luchow's include the art songs of Richard Strauss or Johannes Brahms, "In a Persian Market" by Albert Ketèlbey, Franz Schubert's "Moments Musicaux" or Schwanengesang, Richard Wagner's "Wesendonck Songs", or Tannhäuser. For comic relief, there was a strolling Oompah Band, the Royal Bavarians, which played songs such as "Lili Marleen", "The Beer Barrel Polka" and Sigmund Romberg's "Heidelberger Trinklied" drinking song from The Student Prince.[53]

Herbert's and Romberg's Viennese counterpart Franz Lehár and his music, including "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" and the "Merry Widow Waltz" represent the gemütlicher (comfortable and cozy) side of the restaurant's personality. Other musical fare from this branch – The Tales of Hoffmann by Offenbach and Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck, along with the Strauss Waltzes such as "Blue Danube" – made up a good part of the basic Lüchow's repertoire performed by the piano and string ensemble first known as the Vienna Art Strings, or Quartet,[14] and later as the Victor Herbert Quartet, or Trio.[54] Also played during the Christmas season were some of the numbers from Herbert's Babes in Toyland, such as "Toyland" and "March of the Toys", as well as pieces from The Nutcracker, and many popular Christmas carols and songs.

Cuisine edit

Lüchow's menu was German-oriented throughout its existence, with dishes including Wiener Schnitzel and various wild game. "Knackwurst and Sauerkraut", Bratwurst, red cabbage and beets, Sauerbraten and pumpernickel bread were perennial staples. Pfannkuchen mit Preiselbeeren (flambéed thin pancakes with lingonberry sauce) and Sachertorte, a recipe borrowed from the famous Sacher Hotel in Vienna, were favorites of the dessert selection. Apparently the German orientation was relaxed somewhat in the years after 1923 when August Lüchow died, putting the restaurant under control of his sister's husband Victor Eckstein.[29] Even during August Lüchow's lifetime it was necessary to make compromises: during the First World War anti-German sentiment ran so high that by 1917 he thought it prudent to remove the umlaut over the "u" of Lüchow's in all public occurrences of the name.[9]

Noted guests edit

Literature edit

Lüchow's appears in many non-fiction and fiction books, including La Bonne Table (1964) by Ludwig Bemelmans, Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1975) by Judith Rossner, The Anatolian (1982) by Elia Kazan, My Life as Author and Editor (1993, posthumous) by H. L. Mencken, Sidewalk Critic (1998, posthumous) by Lewis Mumford, and The Stories of John Cheever (2011) by John Cheever.

Mencken wrote, "Nathan and I saw him for the last time at lunch at Lüchow's in June 1920. He looked somewhat thin and pasty, but we ascribed his appearance, not to illness, but to the fact that he was drinking tea. Tea in Lüchow's, the citadel of Pilsner!"[75]

References edit

Notes

  1. ^ Grimes, William (December 3, 2009) "Jan Mitchell, Restaurateur, Dies" The New York Times
  2. ^ a b c d Jackson, Kenneth T. "Luchow's" in Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. (1995). The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300055366., p.773
  3. ^ a b Mitchell, p. 25
  4. ^ Mitchell, p. 20
  5. ^ a b Fowler, Glenn (March 23, 1982) "Luchow's Moving to Theater District" The New York Times
  6. ^ Staff (December 8, 1986) "Foodies Anonymous" New York
  7. ^ a b c Lüchow's October 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine at the New York Preservation Archive
  8. ^ Staff (December 10, 1994) The New York Times
  9. ^ a b c d e Grimes, William (November 30, 2009) "Jan Mitchell, Who Put the "ü" Back in Lüchow's, Dies at 96" The New York Times
  10. ^ a b c Mitchell, p. 21
  11. ^ Staff (August 22, 1923) "August G. Lüchow, Restaurateur, Dies" The New York Times
  12. ^ a b c Mitchell, p. 24
  13. ^ Meyer, John H. (January 28, 2011) "Massapequa Getaway for Luchow Family" April 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Massapequan Observer
  14. ^ a b Mitchell, p.26
  15. ^ Staff (April 18, 1906) "Farewell to Paderewski" The New York Times
  16. ^ a b c d Huneker, James Gibbons (August 24, 1919) "Musical Memories, Oscar Hammerstein and Dvorak" The New York Times
  17. ^ a b c d Mitchell, p. 27
  18. ^ a b c d Mitchell, p. 23
  19. ^ a b Dana, Robert W. (April 1957) "Luchow's Restaurant Celebrates 75th Anniversary" in Tips on Tables At the bottom of page is a photo of the view from front wall of Cafe (back wall of barroom) all the way to the back of Nebelungen.
  20. ^ Staff (July 16, 1910) "Huber's Museum Closes its Doors" The New York Times
  21. ^ "DAILY MENU [held by] LUCHOWS PAN-AMERICAN RESTAURANT CO. [at] "PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION, BUFFALO, NY GERMAN VILLAGE" (REST;)".
  22. ^ Landgraf, Greg (June 19, 2007) "A Centennial Blog: Meet Me at the Fair" October 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine American Libraries
  23. ^ a b Mitchell, p. 22
  24. ^ Mitchell, p. 12
  25. ^ One room was lined with animal heads; another displayed a collection of beer steins.
  26. ^ Maeder, Jay (1998) "Plenty: The Fabulous Diamond Jim Brady, 1912" in Big Town Big Time, A New York Epic, 1898–1998, New York: Daily News Books. p.37
  27. ^ Staff (April 14, 1917) "Diamond Jim Brady Dies While Asleep" The New York Times
  28. ^ Jeffers, Harry Paul (2001) Diamond Jim Brady: Prince of the Gilded Age, New York: Wiley. p.4
  29. ^ a b Mitchell, p. 29
  30. ^ Mitchell, p. 30
  31. ^ a b Mitchell, p. 34
  32. ^ Staff (June 29, 1979) "Luchow's Restaurant is Sold to Aschkenasy" The New York Times
  33. ^ Hammer, Alexander R. (September 29, 1971) "Longchamps to Sell Luchow's and 4 Others for $8-Million" The New York Times
  34. ^ . Archived from the original on November 23, 2011.
  35. ^ a b Sheraton, Mimi (November 16, 1979) "Restaurants: Luchow's" The New York Times
  36. ^ Haberman, Clyde (March 30, 1982) "Panel Considers Citing Luchow's as a Landmark" The New York Times
  37. ^ Fowler, Glenn (March 23, 1982) "Luchow's Moving to Theater District" The New York Times
  38. ^ Staff (March 28, 1982) "14th St. Upgrading Dealt Blow by Luchow's Move" The New York Times
  39. ^ Krebs, Albin and Thomas, Richard G. Jr. (October 9, 1981) "Notes on People" The New York Times
  40. ^ Reif, Rita (October 23, 1981) "Auctions" The New York Times
  41. ^ Staff (August 3, 1982) "Topics: Pronouncements: Two Little Dots" (editorial) The New York Times
  42. ^ McFaddon, Robert (December 22, 1980) "Two Bombs Go Off in Penn Station..." The New York Times
  43. ^ Staff (September 20, 1982) "Nightclubs" New York
  44. ^ "Then & Now: From Luchow's German Restaurant to NYU Dorm". August 2, 2023.
  45. ^ Anderson, Susan Helen and Dunlap, David W. (August 28, 1985) "New York Day by Day: Demolition Request for Old Luchow's" The New York Times
  46. ^ Staff (September 19, 1982) "Owners of Luchow Building Fight Landmark Designation" The New York Times
  47. ^ . October 6, 2011. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  48. ^ Staff (January 23, 1997) "N.Y.U. Plans a Revival of Luchow's" The New York Times
  49. ^ Mitchell, p. 28
  50. ^ Staff (December 31, 1981) "Dining and Dancing Through the Night" The New York Times
  51. ^ Mitchell, p.129
  52. ^ Staff (August 2, 1978) "A Restaurant Dress List" The New York Times
  53. ^ Mitchell, p. 136
  54. ^ Staff (December 31, 1981) "Dining and Dancing Through the Night" The New York Times
  55. ^ a b c d Staff (September 9, 1955) "Hugo Schemke, Waiter at Luchow's, Dies" The New York Times
  56. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb Mitchell, passim
  57. ^ Staff (December 20, 1978) "Cardinal Finds an Ad Personally Indigestible" The New York Times
  58. ^ a b c d e f Haberman, Clyde and Krebs, Albin (November 23, 1978) "Notes on People" The New York Times
  59. ^ a b c Klemesrud, Judy (November 20, 1981) "The Evening Hours" The New York Times
  60. ^ a b c d e Staff (November 11, 1965) "Julius Richter, Violinist, Dead; Played for diners at Luchow's" The New York Times
  61. ^ a b c d Duka, John (November 16, 1980) "Notes on Fashion" The New York Times
  62. ^ Grimes, Ellen R. (November 11, 1977) "Now In New York" The New York Times
  63. ^ a b Du Bois, W. E. B. (1976) "The Correspondence of W. E. B. Du Bois Volume II: Selections, 1934–1944", Herbet Aptheker (ed.) Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press. p.134
  64. ^ Staff (December 16, 1956) "Ernst Seute, Luchow's Official, Is Dead" The New York Times
  65. ^ Phillips, McCandlish (October 15, 1956) "Javits Campaigns in Boyhood Area" The New York Times
  66. ^ Norwich, William (April 18, 2004) "Style: Gentlemen Prefer Maggie" The New York Times Magazine
  67. ^ a b Nemy, Enid (October 31, 1979) "It Was Not a Night Meant For Staying Home by the Fire" The New York Times
  68. ^ Fabricant, Florence (October 8, 2003) "Food Stuff: LeRoy Neiman Dined Here With Pen and Fork" The New York Times
  69. ^ Donavan, Robert J. (April 25, 1965) "Over Nominated, Under Elected, Still a Promising Candidate" The New York Times
  70. ^ Berg, Andrew Scott (1978). Max Perkins, Editor of Genius. Dutton. ISBN 0525154272. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  71. ^ Price, Mary and Vincent (1965) A Treasury of Great Recipes, p.237
  72. ^ "Limelight Show" (June 26, 1965)
  73. ^ Capt. Turner dined in the Nibelungen Room on the eve of the RMS Lusitania's final voyage. Larson, Erik (2015). Dead Wake. p. Lusitania:Menagerie 9.
  74. ^ Associated Press (December 9, 1955) "World Concerts Honor Sibelius" The New York Times
  75. ^ Mencken, H. L. (1993). My Life as Author and Editor. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0679413154. Retrieved March 26, 2017.

Bibliography

  • Mitchell, Jan, Lüchow's German Cookbook, Doubleday & Co., Garden City, NY, 1952, 1986

External links edit

  •   Media related to Luchow's Restaurant at Wikimedia Commons

40°44′2″N 73°59′20.5″W / 40.73389°N 73.989028°W / 40.73389; -73.989028

lüchow, confused, with, lüchow, restaurant, east, 14th, street, irving, place, east, village, near, union, square, manhattan, york, city, with, property, running, clear, through, block, 13th, street, established, 1882, time, when, surrounding, neighborhood, pr. Not to be confused with Luchow Luchow s was a restaurant at 110 East 14th Street at Irving Place in East Village near Union Square in Manhattan New York City with the property running clear through the block to 13th Street It was established in 1882 1 at a time when the surrounding neighborhood was primarily residential 2 when a German immigrant August Luchow purchased the cafe where he worked as a bartender and waiter 3 Luchow s remained in operation at this place for a full century becoming a favorite establishment for people in the entertainment world helped by its proximity to the Academy of Music the city s opera house as well as Steinway Hall and Tammany Hall where other entertainment was offered 2 Caption from postcard 80th Anniversary Renowned for its superb food imported beers and fine wines Luchow s The Gourmets Rendezvous Since 1882 continues to be the favorite eating place of the world s celebrities Open every day except Monday Luchow s c 1902 Garden as seen from Cafe showing the effect created by skylights added in the extensive 1902 construction The big arched opening at the rear is actually a mirror Gaslights are shown To the left is the door where the headwaiter stood Within right is the office later a semi private dining room Although in the 1930s columnist O O McIntyre had written In a changing world nothing changes at Luchow s eventually even the long running establishment came to an end 4 closing after an attempt to stimulate business in 1982 by moving to the Theater District 5 This new effort failed and ended in 1984 2 leaving behind satellite locations which closed permanently in May 1986 6 The 14th Street building was finally demolished in 1995 7 after being gutted by a fire the year before 8 Contents 1 Pronunciation 2 History 2 1 Context 2 2 Early operation 2 3 Latter years 2 4 Demise 3 Music 4 Cuisine 5 Noted guests 6 Literature 7 References 8 External linksPronunciation editThe German name Luchow is pronounced ˈlyːcoː with the w being silent The restaurant s name has generally been pronounced ˈ l uː tʃ aʊ z LOO chowz an Anglicization The umlaut over the u was left out between 1917 and 1950 9 which is said to have caused difficulties The absence of the umlaut had led many new customers to believe that the place was a Chinese restaurant according to The New York Times 9 History editThrough the doors of Luchow s pass all the famous people of the world Legend seen on entering the main reception room originally said by James Montgomery Flagg 10 Context edit August Guido Luchow an immigrant from the city of Hanover Germany arrived in the United States in 1879 at the age of 23 11 After working as waiter for a cafe on Duane Street he became a bartender and waiter at a cafe and beer garden belonging to Baron von Mehlbach 12 Three years later aged 26 he was able to purchase the business with the help of a 1500 loan from William Steinway the piano magnate 3 who had his concert hall and showrooms venue Steinway Hall across the street at Union Square and was a regular customer at the von Mehlbach establishment 12 The property was only about an eighth in size of what would become Luchow s and did not yet reach 13th Street on the downtown side 12 At that time the stretch of 14th Street extending crosstown on either side of Union Square was at the heart of the most prestigious part of the city and August Luchow s new establishment quickly became known as the capital of 14th Street 13 nbsp William Steinway has been called the patron saint of Luchow s 14 nbsp Diamond Jim Brady was a habitue of the restaurant nbsp and had noted actress Lillian Russell as his eating companion Steinway and his circle of touring and transplanted European musicians comprised Luchow s core clientele during the early years A pre sailing farewell engagement at Luchow s in honor of the pianist Ignaz Paderewski which lasted six hours is noted by The New York Times in 1906 15 James Huneker writing for the Times in 1919 16 describes how he was called upon in the 1890s to introduce Antonin Dvorak who is referred to as Old Borax to New York society by founder of the National Conservatory Jeanette Myers Thurber who had engaged the composer to lead her nascent musical institution Later we went down to Gus Luchow s For a musician not to be seen at Luchow s argued that he was unknown in the social world of tone Huneker also relates several anecdotes about Oscar Hammerstein another Luchow s habitue 16 Early operation edit By 1885 Luchow had become the American agent for Wurzburger Beer and shortly thereafter for Pilsner 17 another famous brand made with soft water Space was at a premium and so the beer garden located behind the original restaurant on the east was made to provide access to a newly purchased lot extending back to 13th Street on which stables were built to enable delivery of beer throughout the city 18 In 1902 further construction was undertaken 19 converting the stables beer garden and another large space behind the bar on the west into three ornate dark panelled rooms two of which had 30 ceilings with frosted skylights with etched stained glass These became known as the Heidelberg Room still being called the New Room eighty years later 18 Garden because it occupied the location of the original beer garden and Cafe respectively With the purchase in 1910 of the Huber Museum property at 106 East 14th Street 20 the restaurant s physical layout took its final form allowing the addition of two more public rooms Hunting and Nibelungen The restaurant opened a satellite restaurant at the 1901 Pan American Exposition held in Buffalo NY as part of its German Village Alt Nurnberg 21 The Heidelberg Room featured the enormous 7 x10 painting of The Potato Gatherers by Swedish artist August Hagborg that Luchow had purchased at the St Louis World s Fair in 1904 when he was there to run the food concession for the Tyrolean Alps Exhibit 19 The painting was still to be found in its place at the back of the New Room in 1980 18 near the 13th Street entrance 22 Also prominent in the Heidelberg Room was an extremely large model of the four masted clipper ship Great Republic 18 which was visible from the majority of tables in the six main rooms in addition to numerous small masterpieces of the Dutch Austrian and Flemish schools 23 Multitudes of mounted animal heads 24 and colorful beer steins having German and Austrian geographical significance of varied and sometimes extreme size were displayed throughout the room 10 25 The Hunting or Hunt Room where as latter day owner Jan Mitchell once observed 23 twenty one mounted deer heads gaze in blank nonchalance upon the pleasant spectacle of their descendants being eaten with considerable satisfaction was especially prolific in regard to taxidermy and provided a few big tables to accommodate the larger parties of guests within the public rooms The art nouveau Diamond Jim Brady Room was fitted out with matching cabinetry appointments and Tiffany glass with arched mirrors of beveled glass and cut flowers across an expanse of marble and dark carved mahogany At one end stands the knightly figure of Lohengrin and at the other on the wall broods a shaggy buffalo head obtained at the St Louis World s Fair An oil painting of Bacchus appropriately surveys this scene from the opposite wall 10 The room was named after Diamond Jim Brady a voracious eater who was referred to by one New York restaurateur as the best twenty five customers I ever had 26 Brady was not a gangster as some assumed but a successful executive and founder of an automobile and railroad rolling stock manufacturer the Standard Steel Car Company later merged with Pullman who had a passion for fancy jewelry He said Each must have a good time in his own way 27 Brady s long time eating companion was the noted actress Lillian Russell 28 for whom another room at Luchow s was named Latter years edit August Luchow died in 1923 and ownership of the business passed to Victor Eckstein who was his nephew in law 29 Prohibition had begun in 1921 and the restaurant had to survive on the strength of its cooking and traditions After the first few years Luchow s stopped celebrating New Year s Day as the customers who brought their own flasks of alcohol were too rowdy When Prohibition was repealed in 1933 Luchow s was the recipient of the first cafe liquor license in New York City 30 The umlaut in Luchow s was restored in 1950 when Jan Mitchell an entrepreneur who rescued several New York restaurants including the Longchamps chain 9 bought the restaurant from Eckstein after five years of persuasion 31 Mitchell restored the tradition of holding week long galas such as the annual Venison Festival Bock Beer Festival a goose fest and so on 9 but one of the biggest attractions at Luchow s and a tremendous customer draw was the nightly lighting of the Christmas tree 31 which began around Thanksgiving and lasted till New Year s By the time Luchow s reached its final iteration on 14th Street it was owned by one of the two big restaurant conglomerates in New York City at the time Restaurant Associates 32 having passed from the hands of the other Riese Brothers a couple of years before 33 Riese Brothers is a restaurant management company with such names as Schrafft s Longchamps Chock Full o Nuts and Childs figuring prominently in their real estate oriented business formula 34 Over time the quality of Luchow s food and service had taken a turn for the worse with stemware abandoned in favor of short glasses and no tablecloths at lunch according to employees of the period 35 nbsp NYU s University Hall was built on the site of Luchow s in 1998 With completion in 1979 of the final round of refurbishments at 14th Street by Restaurant Associates 35 whose principal Peter Aschkenasy was friends with Mayor Ed Koch 36 providing much needed publicity the place was seemingly resurrected and there were a few years of capacity Christmas season business Architecture students made their weekly visits to view the eclectic bric a brac and statuary stained glass skylights and art nouveau appointments and it was said that the frequently mentioned 1500 couverts pronounced covers in one day occurred multiple times Demise edit By the 1980s the Union Square area had deteriorated considerably The park itself was rundown and in serious need of refurbishment The discount S Klein s department store across the street was closed and abandoned and the movie theatre next to the restaurant had become a rock concert venue initially also dubbed the Academy of Music but later changed to the Palladium There was little left in the neighborhood to attract the type of clientele that Luchow s was intended to appeal to and in 1982 83 the 14th Street location was abandoned 37 dealing a serious blow to efforts to revitalize the neighborhood 38 The saleable contents were auctioned off 39 40 and the business was moved to a spot below street level at 51st Street and Broadway with the aim of attracting Theater District crowds 5 and the umlaut was dropped once again 41 The Theatre District restaurant lasted only a few years longer but Luchow s lived on at other locations notably Penn Station 42 Restaurant Associates having decided to branch out and make use of the famous name After Luchow s moved out the 14th Street location was briefly the Palace a nightclub cabaret restaurant 43 and later a gay bar 44 An attempt was made to have the building demolished in 1985 45 and it stood vacant for several years never achieving protected landmark status despite local efforts 7 46 It became the home of various squatters drug addicts and prostitutes In 1994 a mysterious fire destroyed any historic remnant of its vibrant past The city ordered the building demolished 47 The building was replaced by University Hall a New York University dormitory and multi use complex having retail frontage on 14th Street 7 Before the dorm was built NYU announced plans to revive Luchow s by including a street level Gay 90 s themed restaurant in the building which they intended to call Luchow s if permission could be obtained to do so 48 but these plans never came to fruition Music editAt the turn of the twentieth century Luchow s was prospering and a good part of the bottom line came from beer sales 17 Although he was not the first man to serve these fine imported beers in America he was first to make them popular a fact attested to by the popular song Harry Von Tilzer wrote to honor August and his restaurant Down Where the Wurzburger Flows 17 The song traveled from Fourteenth Street to the beer gardens of Cincinnati St Louis Chicago Milwaukee and far beyond and attained such popularity that August declared in some bewilderment I feel like a kind of beer Columbus 49 nbsp Victor Herbert was instrumental in founding ASCAP in Luchow s nbsp Illustrated bookjacket by co author and official Luchow s illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans the restaurant as seen from above the Garden looking across a corner of the Cafe toward the Hunting Room Victor Herbert was a concert cellist conductor and composer of forty three operettas and numerous other choral and instrumental works He brought an eight piece orchestra back from Vienna to perform at Luchow s after one of his tours and presided as its leader for nearly four years 17 starting a musical tradition that carried through to the 1980s 50 A corner table with a commemorative plaque was remembered at Luchow s as the Victor Herbert Corner and the place where Herbert and his associates founded the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers ASCAP in 1914 51 52 Songwriter Gus Kahn was another regular at the restaurant he wrote the lyrics for Yes Sir That s My Baby there 2 Other works and composers which were featured at Luchow s include the art songs of Richard Strauss or Johannes Brahms In a Persian Market by Albert Ketelbey Franz Schubert s Moments Musicaux or Schwanengesang Richard Wagner s Wesendonck Songs or Tannhauser For comic relief there was a strolling Oompah Band the Royal Bavarians which played songs such as Lili Marleen The Beer Barrel Polka and Sigmund Romberg s Heidelberger Trinklied drinking song from The Student Prince 53 Herbert s and Romberg s Viennese counterpart Franz Lehar and his music including Dein ist mein ganzes Herz and the Merry Widow Waltz represent the gemutlicher comfortable and cozy side of the restaurant s personality Other musical fare from this branch The Tales of Hoffmann by Offenbach and Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck along with the Strauss Waltzes such as Blue Danube made up a good part of the basic Luchow s repertoire performed by the piano and string ensemble first known as the Vienna Art Strings or Quartet 14 and later as the Victor Herbert Quartet or Trio 54 Also played during the Christmas season were some of the numbers from Herbert s Babes in Toyland such as Toyland and March of the Toys as well as pieces from The Nutcracker and many popular Christmas carols and songs Cuisine editLuchow s menu was German oriented throughout its existence with dishes including Wiener Schnitzel and various wild game Knackwurst and Sauerkraut Bratwurst red cabbage and beets Sauerbraten and pumpernickel bread were perennial staples Pfannkuchen mit Preiselbeeren flambeed thin pancakes with lingonberry sauce and Sachertorte a recipe borrowed from the famous Sacher Hotel in Vienna were favorites of the dessert selection Apparently the German orientation was relaxed somewhat in the years after 1923 when August Luchow died putting the restaurant under control of his sister s husband Victor Eckstein 29 Even during August Luchow s lifetime it was necessary to make compromises during the First World War anti German sentiment ran so high that by 1917 he thought it prudent to remove the umlaut over the u of Luchow s in all public occurrences of the name 9 Noted guests editFred Allen 55 Jules Bache 56 John Barrymore 56 Abraham Beame 57 Carol Bellamy 58 Jack Benny 55 Mario Biaggi 58 James B Brady 56 James Cagney 59 Irving Berlin 56 Leonard Bernstein 60 David Bowie 61 Eddie Cantor 56 Andrew Carnegie 56 Enrico Caruso 56 Dick Cavett Walter P Chrysler 56 Bob Considine 56 Terrence Cardinal Cooke 58 Thomas B Costain 56 Linda Darnell 56 Marlene Dietrich 56 Mike Douglas 62 Theodore Dreiser 56 W E B Du Bois 63 Antonin Dvorak 16 James Montgomery Flagg 56 Jane Fonda 61 Lillian Gish 56 Oscar Hammerstein 16 Helen Hayes 58 Anna Held 56 O Henry 56 Victor Herbert 56 James Huneker 56 Vincent Impellitteri 64 Jacob Javits 65 Rafael Joseffy 56 Gus Kahn 56 George S Kaufman 56 Ed Koch 58 Fritz Kreisler 56 Alan J Lerner 60 Beatrice Lillie 56 Frank Loesser 60 Frederick Loewe 60 Anita Loos 66 O O McIntyre 56 Norman Mailer 59 Dudley Field Malone 56 J P Marquand 56 H L Mencken 56 J P Morgan 56 Charles F Murphy 56 Bess Myerson 67 George Jean Nathan 56 LeRoy Neiman 68 Richard M Nixon 69 Ignacy Jan Paderewski 56 Dolly Parton 61 Adelina Patti 56 Anna Pavlova 56 I M Pei 67 Max Perkins 70 Cole Porter 60 Vincent Price 71 Sergei Rachmaninoff 56 Kenneth Roberts 56 Richard Rodgers 56 Sigmund Romberg 56 Theodore Roosevelt 56 Anton Rubinstein 56 Lillian Russell 56 Rosalind Russell 55 Carl Sandburg 55 Mack Sennett 56 Jean Shepherd 72 Al Smith 56 Sigmund Spaeth 56 Andrew J Stein 58 William Steinway 56 Richard Strauss 56 Herbert Bayard Swope 56 Lily Tomlin 61 Arturo Toscanini 56 Helen Traubel 56 William Thomas Turner RMS Lusitania 73 Kurt Vonnegut 59 Robert F Wagner 74 Lester Walton 63 Jerome Weidman 56 Orson Welles Henryk Wieniawski 56 Charles W Yost Eugene Ysaye 56 Florenz Ziegfeld 56 Efrem Zimbalist 56 Literature editLuchow s appears in many non fiction and fiction books including La Bonne Table 1964 by Ludwig Bemelmans Looking for Mr Goodbar 1975 by Judith Rossner The Anatolian 1982 by Elia Kazan My Life as Author and Editor 1993 posthumous by H L Mencken Sidewalk Critic 1998 posthumous by Lewis Mumford and The Stories of John Cheever 2011 by John Cheever Mencken wrote Nathan and I saw him for the last time at lunch at Luchow s in June 1920 He looked somewhat thin and pasty but we ascribed his appearance not to illness but to the fact that he was drinking tea Tea in Luchow s the citadel of Pilsner 75 References editNotes Grimes William December 3 2009 Jan Mitchell Restaurateur Dies The New York Times a b c d Jackson Kenneth T Luchow s in Jackson Kenneth T ed 1995 The Encyclopedia of New York City New Haven Yale University Press ISBN 0300055366 p 773 a b Mitchell p 25 Mitchell p 20 a b Fowler Glenn March 23 1982 Luchow s Moving to Theater District The New York Times Staff December 8 1986 Foodies Anonymous New York a b c Luchow s Archived October 6 2011 at the Wayback Machine at the New York Preservation Archive Staff December 10 1994 Fire Guts Old Luchow s Building photograph The New York Times a b c d e Grimes William November 30 2009 Jan Mitchell Who Put the u Back in Luchow s Dies at 96 The New York Times a b c Mitchell p 21 Staff August 22 1923 August G Luchow Restaurateur Dies The New York Times a b c Mitchell p 24 Meyer John H January 28 2011 Massapequa Getaway for Luchow Family Archived April 3 2012 at the Wayback Machine Massapequan Observer a b Mitchell p 26 Staff April 18 1906 Farewell to Paderewski The New York Times a b c d Huneker James Gibbons August 24 1919 Musical Memories Oscar Hammerstein and Dvorak The New York Times a b c d Mitchell p 27 a b c d Mitchell p 23 a b Dana Robert W April 1957 Luchow s Restaurant Celebrates 75th Anniversary in Tips on Tables At the bottom of page is a photo of the view from front wall of Cafe back wall of barroom all the way to the back of Nebelungen Staff July 16 1910 Huber s Museum Closes its Doors The New York Times DAILY MENU held by LUCHOWS PAN AMERICAN RESTAURANT CO at PAN AMERICAN EXPOSITION BUFFALO NY GERMAN VILLAGE REST Landgraf Greg June 19 2007 A Centennial Blog Meet Me at the Fair Archived October 1 2011 at the Wayback Machine American Libraries a b Mitchell p 22 Mitchell p 12 One room was lined with animal heads another displayed a collection of beer steins Maeder Jay 1998 Plenty The Fabulous Diamond Jim Brady 1912 in Big Town Big Time A New York Epic 1898 1998 New York Daily News Books p 37 Staff April 14 1917 Diamond Jim Brady Dies While Asleep The New York Times Jeffers Harry Paul 2001 Diamond Jim Brady Prince of the Gilded Age New York Wiley p 4 a b Mitchell p 29 Mitchell p 30 a b Mitchell p 34 Staff June 29 1979 Luchow s Restaurant is Sold to Aschkenasy The New York Times Hammer Alexander R September 29 1971 Longchamps to Sell Luchow s and 4 Others for 8 Million The New York Times The Riese Organization Company History Archived from the original on November 23 2011 a b Sheraton Mimi November 16 1979 Restaurants Luchow s The New York Times Haberman Clyde March 30 1982 Panel Considers Citing Luchow s as a Landmark The New York Times Fowler Glenn March 23 1982 Luchow s Moving to Theater District The New York Times Staff March 28 1982 14th St Upgrading Dealt Blow by Luchow s Move The New York Times Krebs Albin and Thomas Richard G Jr October 9 1981 Notes on People The New York Times Reif Rita October 23 1981 Auctions The New York Times Staff August 3 1982 Topics Pronouncements Two Little Dots editorial The New York Times McFaddon Robert December 22 1980 Two Bombs Go Off in Penn Station The New York Times Staff September 20 1982 Nightclubs New York Then amp Now From Luchow s German Restaurant to NYU Dorm August 2 2023 Anderson Susan Helen and Dunlap David W August 28 1985 New York Day by Day Demolition Request for Old Luchow s The New York Times Staff September 19 1982 Owners of Luchow Building Fight Landmark Designation The New York Times Luchow s The New York Preservation Archive Project October 6 2011 Archived from the original on October 6 2011 Retrieved August 7 2023 Staff January 23 1997 N Y U Plans a Revival of Luchow s The New York Times Mitchell p 28 Staff December 31 1981 Dining and Dancing Through the Night The New York Times Mitchell p 129 Staff August 2 1978 A Restaurant Dress List The New York Times Mitchell p 136 Staff December 31 1981 Dining and Dancing Through the Night The New York Times a b c d Staff September 9 1955 Hugo Schemke Waiter at Luchow s Dies The New York Times a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb Mitchell passim Staff December 20 1978 Cardinal Finds an Ad Personally Indigestible The New York Times a b c d e f Haberman Clyde and Krebs Albin November 23 1978 Notes on People The New York Times a b c Klemesrud Judy November 20 1981 The Evening Hours The New York Times a b c d e Staff November 11 1965 Julius Richter Violinist Dead Played for diners at Luchow s The New York Times a b c d Duka John November 16 1980 Notes on Fashion The New York Times Grimes Ellen R November 11 1977 Now In New York The New York Times a b Du Bois W E B 1976 The Correspondence of W E B Du Bois Volume II Selections 1934 1944 Herbet Aptheker ed Amherst Massachusetts University of Massachusetts Press p 134 Staff December 16 1956 Ernst Seute Luchow s Official Is Dead The New York Times Phillips McCandlish October 15 1956 Javits Campaigns in Boyhood Area The New York Times Norwich William April 18 2004 Style Gentlemen Prefer Maggie The New York Times Magazine a b Nemy Enid October 31 1979 It Was Not a Night Meant For Staying Home by the Fire The New York Times Fabricant Florence October 8 2003 Food Stuff LeRoy Neiman Dined Here With Pen and Fork The New York Times Donavan Robert J April 25 1965 Over Nominated Under Elected Still a Promising Candidate The New York Times Berg Andrew Scott 1978 Max Perkins Editor of Genius Dutton ISBN 0525154272 Retrieved March 26 2017 Price Mary and Vincent 1965 A Treasury of Great Recipes p 237 Limelight Show June 26 1965 Capt Turner dined in the Nibelungen Room on the eve of the RMS Lusitania s final voyage Larson Erik 2015 Dead Wake p Lusitania Menagerie 9 Associated Press December 9 1955 World Concerts Honor Sibelius The New York Times Mencken H L 1993 My Life as Author and Editor New York Knopf ISBN 0679413154 Retrieved March 26 2017 Bibliography Mitchell Jan Luchow s German Cookbook Doubleday amp Co Garden City NY 1952 1986External links edit nbsp Media related to Luchow s Restaurant at Wikimedia Commons 40 44 2 N 73 59 20 5 W 40 73389 N 73 989028 W 40 73389 73 989028 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Luchow 27s amp oldid 1208848091, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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