Redd's Roster of Restaurants of the Old Weird New York

maxwell's plum
it looked so adult and exotic

How could I mention Maxwell's Plum without mentioning another, similar place I don't think I ever entered,
The Quilted Giraffe

http://www.grubstreet.com/2011/10/quilted_giraffe.html
http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/dining/a980/quilted-giraffe-profile/
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/30/garden/the-quilted-giraffe-joins-the-dinosaurs.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/06/dining/the-quilted-giraffe-cooks-again.html

Address was 550 Madison, which for decades was known as the Sony Building, when it was owned by Sony. An ilxor or two used to go there sometimes to participate in an annual music trivia contest. The building not the restaurant.

Theater district:
Cafe Edison, 228 West 47th
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/07/nyregion/cafe-edison-a-longtime-broadway-hangout-is-closing.html

http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2014/11/cafe-edison.html
http://observer.com/2014/11/after-34-years-of-broadway-history-cafe-edison-is-closing/
http://ny.eater.com/2015/1/5/7493575/weeks-after-closing-times-square-classic-cafe-edison-has-already-been

It's sleepytime. Will leave you with article about Florent's life after Florent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/nyregion/florent-morellet-revels-in-a-new-scene-in-brooklyn.html?_r=0

Okay, just one last thing:
Map of Hudson Square retail, including several places we've mentioned:
http://330hudsonnyc.com/pdf/330Hudson_RetailMap.pdf

This has a very similar map:
http://www.cbre.us/o/newyorkcity/AssetLibrary/330%20Hudson%20Retail%20PDF_v12.pdf

That NYT Florent article is amazing. I wonder how he's holding up now.

Think they should make a combination Celebrity Chef/Big Brother-style reality show featuring Florent, Aggie, the guy from Patois and the daughter of the guy behind Maxwell's Plum.

I just remembered another small connective fiber here: Aggie was working at Giorgione 508 and when it closed she appeared a little while later at Walker's. Cannot use intranetz to verify but I am reasonably sure my memory is correct on this.

I skimmed through a Greenwich Village guidebook last night to look at the lists of restaurants and shops. I'm trying to remember if there was anything listed that is still around!

I have a guidebook from 1959 called New York Places & Pleasures, which believe it or not describes some still-surviving restaurants

Somewhere I have a guidebook to Soho from the 70s that has very detailed maps of all the galleries. I always wanted to walk around with it to see what luxury stores they've all turned into.

(Where I worked is a Hugo Boss.)

I've done some walking around like that trying to pinpoint old 1960s nightspots. It can be depressing because often the original building no longer exists

For those who want to dine old-school, here are some eateries mentioned in New York Places & Pleasures (1959; 1960 printing) that are still in business today at the same location:

Angelo's of Mulberry Street 146 Mulberry St. (near Grand)

Barbetta 321 W. 46th St.

Broadway Joe Steakhouse 315 W. 46th St.

Fujj (Sushi) 238 W. 56th St.

Gallagher's 228 W. 52nd St.

Grotta Azzurra 387 Broome St./177 Mulberry St. (was closed 1997-2003)

Isle of Capri 1028 3rd Ave. (@61st St.)

Keen's (English) Chophouse 72 W. 36th St.

Nom Wah Tea Parlor 13 Doyers St.

Old Homestead Steakhouse 56 9th Ave. (14th/15th Sts.)

Russian Tea Room 150 W. 57th St.

Serendipity 225 E. 60th St.

Sevilla 62 Charles St.

Le Veau d'Or 129 E. 60th St.

Until last weekend that list would've included the Four Seasons Brasserie at 99 E. 52nd St.

Flo says a few questionable things in that NY Times article but this is OTM and, er quite pertinent to this thread:

“I’m so sick of everyone in Manhattan complaining about the way things used to be.”

Who's complaining?

Trying to remember the name of the very old school restaurant that was in the Fulton Mall in Brooklyn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gage_and_Tollner

I liked Aggie's pesto omelette. It was the first place I tasted pesto!

Pao had a great cod and potatoes casserole. And gorgeous waitresses. Didn't know it was gone but doesn't surprise me, either.

Has Chumley's been mentioned yet?

What about Lansky Lounge, at Delancey and Norfolk? Good food, good DJs, a nice homage to Jewish gangsters. Long gone though.

My dad took me to Chumley's when i was 14. I was in awe that he knew which door it was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gage_and_Tollner🔗🔗

Lupe's on 6th and Spring seems like the kind of place that should have closed ten years ago, but it was still there last time I checked (about two years ago)

Sorry, 6th and Broome

6th and Watts!

Lol. I walked by there a month ago, on my way to Alidoro, which not only is still going but has another location now in midtown and was also surprised to see it was still there. Took my a while to figure out that the line of tourists waiting hours in the hot sun across the street were going to some trendy craft beer joint.

Not quite in the spirit of this thread but placed here for reference The Most Important Restaurants in Forty Years

Article about How Brooklyn Became Foodie Heaven. Cites Cucina as the pioneer, mentions Al Di La and Noodle Pudding.

Of course parallel to the blossoming of Fifth Ave. in Park Slope there was the Smith St. restaurant explosion (late '90s), which we've alluded to upthread - Patois being the pioneer. Here's a pessimistic take on Smith St. today:

http://www.bkmag.com/2016/03/22/the-rise-and-fall-of-smith-street/

Thanks for that article, Josefa. Did a little Redd's Roster research tonight, not sure when I will be able to post the results.

Referred to some information on this thread this evening. Very handy, thanks everybody for your hard work. I think I had a few more crumbs to add but nothing major.

http://whalebonemag.com/meet-married-couple-photographing-disappearing-face-new-york/

Lanza's is apparently closed for good. Had a 114-year run.

And on the more fancy-pants tip, Da Silvano is out of business too after 41 years.

Missed this thread. When I lived in Cobble Hill Patois was the only "new" restaurant on Smith Street. Court St had Harvest which was the brunch spot. They turned it into Lobo for some reason which I remember being bad, which had a satellite on 5th ave that may still be there?

Lansky Lounge took over the space that was Ratners, they had the big restaurant and the "speakeasy" with the entrance on Norfolk across from Tonic. I only went to Ratners once but that was great old Jewish NY.

Lobo on 5th Ave. is history. Never quite saw the appeal of it.

Lansky Lounge was fun, I wonder where they went wrong because the concept seemed good

Lobo was always trash; Patois was good, Robin Des Bois was dry, Tabac is the true heir

Is Sal's Pizza still on Court St? I lived a few doors down and would go there w/ a bunch of friends for special occasions. The waiters were surly and I couldn't believe the place wasn't better known as a classic pizza joint. Further down the street there was Lombardo's which I only went to once not long before it closed and it was fantastic. The gentrifiers didn't discover it in time because it closed and became a Dunkin Donuts I think.

Sal's or Sam's?

I don't remember, maybe it's Sam's? That sounds right. On Court near kane or baltic a block or two north of Cobble Hill Cinemas?

That's Sam's, which is still in biz

...and awesome

I used to get chicken parm heroes to go and you'd go into the back to pick up the order and they had this big Smith and Wesson poster.

There is also a Sal's, which is on Court and Degraw.

If I can go deep for a second, when I was a kid my mom would bring the family to a place called Betty Brown's Broadway Diner that is definitely in the top 10 memories of my childhood visiting the city. I remember it being HUGE and they served coffee in soup bowl sized coffee cups and I'd get sliders and french fries. I loved that place.

I'm going to get an egg cream from gem spa next time i'm in the area