Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-02-23
LETTER FROM NEW YORK.
The De1mOnicO, Hoffman. Brunswick
and 81. James Cafes A Great Hi.
valry Tenement Houses. Etc.
j Correspondence of THE EVENING STAR.

/
and 81. James Cafes a Great hi.
valry - Tenement Houses, Etc.
| Special Correspondence of THE EVENING STAR
NEW YORK, February %.
| A number of the better class of restaurants
here are now making every effort to get away
Delmonico's patrons. Immediately after the
death Of the head of the house and indeed for
short time prior to that event. the service at
the famous restaurants ran down lamentably.
| When Mr.. Crist came in as head of the concern.
the opposition restaurants pretended that they
no longer felt any soIictude. They said that
| Mr. Crist was too young man to be able to
manage the immense interests Of the belmont
cos establishments. and so they started in on
! the strongest opposition they could conceive.
! The st. James and the Brunswick, which face
| the opposite end Of Delmonico's up town res
| taurant began by reducing the prices of a great
| many OF the staple dishes and serving every
/ thing in portions. That is, while you paid tor
/ only one portion. you received two plates. two
/ knives and spoons, and thus were enabled to
dine with friend at precisely the same cost
that it would cost to dine alone. The prices Of
liquors in the Brunswick cafe were reduced ten
per cent below the reiHonicO cafe and over
/ lures We're made To the Saturday Night society
and other prominent dining Clubs hut thus tar
they have all remained resO'utPy with belmont
co. The advantage about the Brunswick aud
the st. James. in the matter of economy. over
Drlmonico's, has had some effect They catch
good many theater parties and there are
quite number Of people who prefer to take O
quiet bite at the Brunswick than go to the eX-
lPnse of supper at DelmoniCo's. This is par
( t!cularly the case with young men. The Eoff-,
man house has started In on an entirely different
tack. They have boldly announced that they
/ have restaurant in every way superior to their
older rival. The dnng-rO0ms are gorgeous
and the walters we'll trained-most OF them
have been lured away from Delmonicos
the table linen, cutlery etc. far superior to any
thing to be found at DemUncU's They serve
everything steaming hot and bring steaks on
the table mounted on tripods with burning al
cohoi lamps beneath them. The greatest atteil-
ton is paid to every detail. and the cooking is
uneXceptionable. OF course there are few
| dishes which the DemOniCO cooks excel in and
cannot be approached by the Hoffman house
yet. But they are the dishes of gour-
mands. To the ordinary diner, the
kitchen at the Hoffman seems quite as
good as at Delmonico's. The Hoffman is con-
sistent in its rivalry 1t scorns the tactics of the
| st. James and the Brunswick and realizes that
great many people believe that the more they
| pay for things the better they are, and have in
fiated their prices enormously. 1t costs more to
dine at the Hoffman than at Delmonicos. They
charge tor everything that comes on the table
even so far as to charge 20 cents on the bill for
| bread and butter. After one has paid so cents
for roast beef 80 cents for a little dish of pota-
toes 50 cents for coffee and 80 cents for mouth
full of celery he is apt to kick at the additional
20 cents for bread and butter. This the SIM
plest possible repast, which cost S1.95 at the
Hoffman, could be bought for nearly third
less at DelmOnicos. The effect of this high
price policy on the part of the Hoffman has been
to draw few of the more wealthy patrons of
the old house away. They are the people who
| have more money than they know what to do
with and consider 1t more Or less OF relieftO
have some one overcharge them With all the
| efforts OF the uptown houses, it must be said
that Delnlonico'S still holds its own as the best
| general restaurant of New York Catering for
| outside parties has become an extensive bust
| ness in New York, and it is just here that Def
| InonicOs Is beginning to lose its grip. Pnard
| Is unquestiOnaby the best caterer in New York
| to-day. He is extremely careful about the de-
| tails of a dinner or supper and has practically a
monopoly OF the best catering. He has been the
| thorn in the side of the Delmonco's for many
| years and has won his position through pure
merit.
| SO as to more thoroughly combat its rival.
| the Hoffman house has started restaurant
| down town in the vicinity of the lower Del
monico restaurants. The same tactics are prr-
sueu mere as up town. and the result is that the
! fashion has started in among the wpa}thirr
brokers of going to the Hnffman's down town
pace instead of to nelmonico's For a long
| lfle. men OIL moderate means ate in pelmonicOs
Broad street place 1t luncheon time by standing
up at the counters which run through from New
70 Broad streets. and eating sandwiches,
ccairts and the like. This class of customers
has been won away from Delmonicos by the
NILS building restaurant. As everyb body does
or does not know, the structure which bears
the name OF Mills is the largest building in New
OK. 1t Is many stories nigh and has six ele-
Vators, which shoot to the roof constantly In
stead of going to Delmon;co's economical
brokers' go across the street. tumble into the
elevators. are shot heavenward to the top floor
ana enter what is fast becoming the most pop
uiar restaurant down town. Here they serve
| e Well-Cooked, nutritious and tOothsOme table
q note, Including coffee and dessert for fifty
cents 1t Is admirably served, the table APP
polntmentS are excellent. and it is in uOWsp
Inferior to the two dollar table d. hote of the
cohmoner restaurants UP town. With so many
people working to encompass the downfall of
DemonlcO. it is not strange that the proprie-
tors OF the famous restaurants are beginning to
wake up. Inc competition has had some effect
upon Dem0nco already. No one can foretcll
the condition of things five years hence
GAMBLING HOUSES.
lt is certainly curious thing that there is not
yet established in New York a gambling house
which will compare with those in Boston or
Long Branch.
TENEMENT HOrsES.
had short chat with an inspector of tpne-
ment houses Yesterday and he rather SURPRISED
me by claiming that the cutlery against the tene-
ment houses was unfoundcd
II have visited, he said las MANY tenement
houses as any man in New York For a lone
while was on the board of health and have
been an Inspector Of buildings for four wears in
addition. My duty has called me into nearly
every tenement house in New York | have
come TO the conclusion that the tenement houses
here are In themselves about as healthy as those
OF any city on the globe. More than that. many
OF them are desirable habtations or rather they
would be If the inmates would take care Of
them. The trouble is that people who live in
tenement houses are so informally careless uep-
llgen: and actually dirty, that they would re-
duce the most immaculate house to condition
Oh squai0r In week. Everybody blames the
houses, but nobody the people Only a short
time ago Gen. Wood built some tenements over
in Delaney street. He is man OF considerable
experience in building. and is phanthropic by
Instinct. He decided to build model tenenentS
They had large windows, well lighted and airy
mans ana the sanitary arrangements were adj
mlrable throughout. Four months after the
tenants moved into the house it was in filthy
| condition. People dashed their ashes down the
| stairs. or piled them in the halls: the windows
We're broken and pasted up with brown paper:
the drain pipes clogged; the doors and balusters
broken. and the ceilings grlmy with smoke Ap-
parenty every effort was made by the tenants to
cOuntcract the good Intentions of the builder
ms Is only one case In thousand NV experience
has been that in almost every instance, the ten
ant Is more to blame than the landlord tor the
squalor and misery in the tenement houses of
New York"
(S nty,lxy