Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1886-10-23
QUEER RESTAURANTS
TWO OF New York's Odd Eat
ing Houses Described.
Places with a National Reputation Whose
Surrounding are Unsa7ory.

achieved national reputation, although |
as unpretentious as Oliver Hitchcock's /
beanery. 1t is on Fourteenth street, near
Third avenue. You enter narrow and
dirty hallway, ascend a dusty flight of
stairs and are ushercd into dining room
filed with tables covered with linen any
thing but snowy in color. The chairs
are rickety, there is little ventilation and
the rooms are usually filled with the
fumes of garlic, coffee and tobacco. The
walls are lined with pictures of illustri-
Gus Italians, from Cavour down to Cam
panini and Cristadoro. The portraits are
rusty and musty, the restaurant is stuffv,
the plates and cups are nicked and
cracked, the walters are slovenly and out
ward appearances are far from appetizing.
Yet some of the most noted men and wo-
men of New York dine there. Moretti
himself does the cooking, and everybody
praises and apparently enjoys it. The
proprietor Frequently leaves his stew pans
and chatting dishes and wanders out among
his guests in his shirt sleeves. He usually
has a cigar in his mouth. He always
wears soiled apron and invariably looks
as though he had just come out of
stable. Yet millionaires and literati press
his hand with delight, and the ladies of
the haut ton greet him with their sweet
est smiles. He has been the rage for
years. The artist Page first discovered
him nearly thirty years ago. William
Henry Fry, Charles A. Dana, William
Stuart, George Arnold, Fitz Greene Hal
leck, William Cullen Bryant, Henry Ward
Beecher, William Henry Hurlbet, Joseph
Howard, Jr, and men Of that ilk quickly
recognized the Importance Of the discovery
and the cook began to get on his feet.
Politicians, merchants, brokers and men
about-town took the cue and followed
suit, and Moretti became famous His
place has been thronged for years. 1t is
almost impossible to secure a seat at a
table at the o'clock dinner hour. All
the dishes are Italian in concoction and
decoction. To the uneducated American
palate they are simply nauseating; yet
bon vivants revel in them. You get soup,
desserts, all favored with oil and garlic,
and to farmers boy all tasting alike.
Half the native Americans who drop in
there masticate the food with an imagin-
ative relish, and are sick for days after
ward. Yet all vie with the bon vivants
in praising Moretti's provcnder. Each
man wants to be thought an expert in
testing cookery, and therefore eats and
commends everything set before him. Men
eat cheese and game birds at Moretti's
tables who would pitch them out of the
window if they were served at home.
he is in the gastronomic line He makes
no effort to branch out in gorgeous mag
ntAence like Martinelli and Morell. He
sticks to his original plant and lets his
cooking speak for itself. He enjoys his
squalid surroundings, and makes no effort
to gild them. He taxes no vacations.
He spends no money in pleasure. His
life is bounded by his coolshop; beyond
Its confines there is no happiness for him.
Morning. noon and night both summer
and winter, you will find him stewing
and sweating in his Italian kitchen and
ladlinr on: his dollar meals How much
he is worth Is secret known only tc
himself. The figures must run up among
the hundred thousands.
Lately, however, competition mas reared
its head 4 beetlc-browei little Span
lard Of the nam Of pedro. some years
ago started a small restaurant in Duane
street. Il is in a little squatty wooden
building, within stones throw # o Don
ovan Rossa's den on one side, ard 0: tht
Five Points on the other. Pedro de
votes his attention - Spanish dishes
Hs table linen is rarely clean. and Ii
crockerv looks y though il had just
come out Of tenement house. Untu,orec
stomachs would declare the cooking TO b.
execrable. Tie smell Of garlic : abou
suifocatin-, the bread IS the color Of ma
ho-any, ard the wine - sour IS c1deI
vinegar; yet William Stuart, Charie.
Gaylor and other veteran eou-mand'
asse., that the cooking i perfection i,
self, and 20 into ecstacies over his din
ners Stock brokers give select Dime
parties in his shanty, aad armies Of fle
welcome them. ToEu-c4:s scattered anon.
the In cans lit:e-iag the yarls nea- b.
fu-nish9class music. and Pedro himself
arrayed " badI.. soiled gaFtneats, dishe
ola poiride ard other choice spanisl
dishes, sg-easainy WITH onions and garlic
Ladies frequently grace the s~aEsh
spaniari's gastroao-nic sac'uul, aaa Pc
d-o is Oh the highway OF fame, gs,herini