Dinner at Delmonico's

 By Bruce Shawkey

In 2007, Gwen and I made a trip out East that included a few days in New York City. I wanted to eat at Delmonico's, having recently finished "The Alienist" by Caleb Carr. The restaurant is mentioned no fewer than 18 times in the novel, and I wanted to experience it. I think the tab was well over $100, but worth it. Here is the entry from my journal:

I wanted to have dinner at Delmonico’s, so I asked the hotel concierge at the Affinia about this, and he told us there were probably a half dozen steakhouses in Manhattan that had better steaks. But I told him that this was a destination experience for Gwen and me (me in particular) so he went ahead and made the reservation for us at 6 p.m. Luckily we got in because that's a very early dining time by NY standards. We cabbed down to the financial district and caught a glimpse of the "bull" at Broadway and Wall Street, which Gwen had wanted to see on Friday but couldn't for lack of energy. The cab dropped us within 1/2 block, apparently not knowing where this most old and famous restaurant was! We walked in and thought there was some
kind of mistake, that perhaps this was the annex or perhaps "Delmonico's II," the second location that no one ever goes to. It's just that we had literally had the whole place to ourselves. What a hoot!

Now, what can I say about our dining experience? The ambiance was certainly second to none. We were dining in the company of past presidents, robber barons, mayors, financial giants, stars of stage and screen. No kitschy pictures on the wall here, though. Just acres of mahogany paneling and paintings from the gilded age in ornate frames painted gold. The service was also impeccable, using the old fashioned system where if you wanted to be a waiter, you had to work your way up from plate clearers, crumb boys, water pourers, etc. We barely finished a dinner roll or salad, when the plate would be instantly cleared away and a fresh change of silverware put down in front of us. Rolls were great. Salad was great. We split the classic Delmonico 20-ounce ribeye and a Del "special potato" and both were just so-so. The meat was tough, with gristle here and there, and not really prepared all that well, with a char coating that was clearly cindered in places. And the potato, while an interesting preparation of slices in a cheese sauce and then stuffed back into the potato shell, was overcooked and again a bit charred on the surface.

Honestly, we’ve had better steaks back home at Fitzerald’s. We ended with a piece of dessert for Gwen (a lemon meringue tart) and a GREAT cup of decaf, so the meal ended on a bright note. But what a disappointment from the purely food end of things. Not bad enough to send back to the kitchen, but certainly not up to expectations for what is supposed to be arguably the most famous (and oldest) steakhouse in NYC and probably the country. I think the problem is they are resting too much on their reputation. Still, we (I) were glad for the experience. And who knows? Perhaps they had the "B" team on that evening due to being the weekend.

Delmonico’s called a car service for us, and again we rode a more deluxe cab back to the Affinia and to bed.