New York Restaurant Memories

[Pan]

Sara, growing up in New York is one thing that you and I share. I have memories of favorite restaurants that are long gone, and I'm sure you do, too. What restaurants do you remember (and perhaps miss) from your childhood?

[Sara Moulton]

Luchows would be at the top of the list. We lived near by and used to go there every Christmas season with my grandparents. They had a huge tree in the middle of the restaurant and a huge toy train circling it and many of the tables as well. I have fond memories of wiener schnitzel and better yet, wiener schnitzel a la holstein.

Then alas, the Russian Tea Room. Why did that have to go bye bye?

Fonda del Sol (spelling?)

Cheese of All Nations

more recently Judson Grill (although we just ate at Bill Telepan's new restaurant, Telepan and it was excellent)

the tea room at the Plaze Hotel.

Which are the ones you miss?

[Jmahl]

Growing up in NY and then living away for many years I miss the Grotto Azzura - which I have read has a new incarnation.

I also miss Sam Woo on Mott Street in Chinatown. In the sixties I was there with friends one night and Woody Allen joined us. What I mean is he sat next to us. At that time my wife did not know who he was.

I also miss the fountain restaurant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The food was nothing but sitting around that reflecting pool was glorious.

[Pan]

[...]Which are the ones you miss?

←

We actually have a thread on this topic:

Favorite defunct restaurants

As a child, I loved Foo Joy on Division St., enjoyed Gitlitz on 77th St. and Broadway, and also liked two Chinese restaurants on the Upper West Side: Chun Cha Foo, a "Mandarin" restaurant between 91st and 92nd on Broadway, and a restaurant whose name I can't remember that served Sichuan-style food and was located on the 2nd floor of the block-long building between 109th and 110th Sts. on Broadway. I also used to like a Manchurian hotpot place right on Chatham Square in or near the current location of Goody's on East Broadway. Much more recently, it was a shame that the really cheap, good pierogies at Leshko's gave way to the more fashionable sceney places whose presence is dictated by rising commercial rents in the East Village. (Of course, the increasing safety and relative wealth in the East Village has also caused many positive developments in dining in the neighborhood, but that's another topic.)

[Sara Moulton]

Do any of you New Yorkers remember "the Underground Goumet," by Milton Glazer? It was my dining out bible when I was in high school. All the restaurants listed were cheap - I forget how much you were supposed to spend, maybe $10 for a whole meal or something like that. It was a great book. I wish someone would come out with an updated version. I have suggested it to Ed Levine but he already has too many projects.

[JohnL]

Do any of you New Yorkers remember "the Underground Goumet," by Milton Glazer? It was my dining out bible when I was in high school. All the restaurants listed were cheap - I forget how much you were supposed to spend, maybe $10 for a whole meal or something like that. It was a great book. I wish someone would come out with an updated version. I have suggested it to Ed Levine but he already has too many projects.

←

I loved the "Underground Gourmet"

Ed Levine would be the person to do an updated version--maybe Eric Asimov.

Arthur Schwartz has a great book out about New York Food.

I miss him on food talk--he may be the ultimate authority on New York food scene.

Remember the Cattleman and their "wagons" plying the streets around Times Square?

also all the "chains"--Nedicks, Childs Pancake House, Orange Julius, Krums (spelleing),and maybe best of all the "automat!"