New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-01-08
FOOD FOR SHOPPERS.
GROWTH OF THE BUSINESS

KEN AhkAbLE thOWi IN Or me DocANEoS
psvRLOPfxa FROM SMALL NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
OLA MO PLACE.
Fifty thousand oysters were opened In one deg
IN 1853 ct downtown restaurant IN this city.
The shipping districts hess wsrc further dowu.
town than they are now, and the customers Of this
restaurant which was famous In its day a.
"TayIor's Tavern" Included many women. This
oyster item gives IN idea of what shopping women
were satisfied with in those days Perhaps it would
be more accurate to say with what they had 70
be content for oysters, coffee, bread end ice cream
formed the usual bill of fare for the luncheon Of
the busy shoppers Of those times But as Alder
men were then content with ten which figured
Is the most sumptuous article OF diet ut their
after-session dinner In the basement Of the City
Hall. the tastes of the past generston were easily
satisfied, and the women Of the day did not know
to what they were entitled.
To-day shopping women have rcpasts for theiI
luncheons that need only to be served with the
exclusyeness granted by mems clubs to stamp
them ~ equal to anything that the business or
fashionable man can enjoy at his midday meal.
The shopping woman does not want this or that
little Bit Of plain food ; In all cases she expects
and gets. not oysters aud coffee with plain &c.
COMPARTMENTS but q square" meal She ordeu
from whole bill Of fare especially prepared for
like Delmonicos the Brunswick and others where
there are scores Of women to be found enjoying
O dainty luncheon. But IL economical. she can
take q high seat at Purssell's and bolt her lun-
cheon just like busy man, and only wonder why
the people who sit at the tables
in the cosey rooms there waste so
much time over their food. In short, tho
shopping woman can have just what she picases
for luncheon, according to her purse. She can
lunch foi ten cents II she wishes, she can make
IL SO as o party Of fifteen fashionable women
did the other day. when they paid broadway
caterer $3.50 for a luncheon.
woNAN's APPETITE HAS NOT MADE TINE CHANGE.
AL this change is not to be charged to woman's
appetite ALI these restaurants which are pat
ronized largely by women whom one sees In tho
shopping districts of the city. owe their rise to
the growth Of the fancy and dry goods business.
In the shopping thousands and thousands
of women pour into this city from neighboring
cities, towns and villages. These added to tho
thousands who live in this city make a total too
large to estimate Shrewl business men saw their
opportunity and established their restaurants in
the shopping districts and began catering to
women's tastes. They gave their customers
as much protection IN their places rs
private houses would afford and in time the feeling
which women had against the saloon" as the
restaurants generally called gradually gave
way and to-day the business Of catering TO women
is as much an incidental feature of the fancy
and dry goods business the delivery of packages.
Indeed, several Of the large houses here that
carry on a general business under one roof have
their own restaurants and ind that they pay.
The business of carrying restaurants for wom-
en- may be said to be distinctly American. In
Europe there may be some places where women
without escorts go free from fear OF insuIt,
but they are few and far between Many res
taurants in European cities display the sign:
Places reserved for women but that means as
much generally the sign "Englis spiked Here
Here there several restaurants which depend
on women largely for their patronage and there
arc others where women go for luncheon In az
large numbers as men. This list includes Del
monico's, the Hotel Brunswick, PursSelPs the
Vienna Cafe, St. Denis Cafe, Clark's. Dorlon's
and the Dairy Kitchen. These in and around
the Broadway shopping district. The number OF
women who, in shopping seasons, take luncheon
in these places, up to a surprising figure. In
busy times $40 or 900 day is the average for tho
Broadway places.
HOW ONE BIG PLACE ~ MANAGED.
II is interesting to know what methods are pur-
sued in supplying so many customers. Take
Broadway restaurant for example, where 500
women go every day In shopping seasons Hero
the proprietor is a confectioncr well as rcstau-
rateur One side of the ground floor is devoted
to the confectionery department, the other to the
restaurant At the back there is a long room
running of toward side street and parallel with
Broadway, where many customers can be seated.
Then there is lunch counter where nearly thirty
women can be served. Up stairs is private din
ing room rs large an ordinary restaurant This
establishment is made out Of several old houses
and many hooks and corners were left in the pro-
cess Of amalgamation, but they come in handy for
every bit Of space is economical. Back OF the
main dining room, for example, is small extra
kitchen especially for cooking coffee, oysters and
mullins.
The basement is divided into MS many depart
ments as a big store like Macy's. Here is the
kitchen with a twenty iive-foot range. Big fat
men with red faces. that are luminous contrast
to their white head gears and white aprons, mt
about like ghosts at Spiritualists' show They
all jabber in French, and bossed by the biggest
man Of al, the chef Each man is an authority In
his own line. One man broils steaks, another gets
up the salads and third looks out for ice cream,
etc. The chef does the ornamental work. Next
is the ice cream room. Between 500 and 900
quarts a week are turned out here, and the mana
ger Of the place says that 1t runs up to l,oOo OF
500 quarts in Christmas week. He says that
people remember well the time when ice cream COST
81 a quart The expense now seems to be regu-
lated BY the form in which it comes La little
closet of the ice room are models by the score
10 which the cream is made to take all sorts OF
forms. Here are models for obelislss, chickens,
ducks turkey gobblers with tails-al eolored-
forms familiar to the connoisseur in ice cream.
The next interesting room is where three OF
four big fellows stand at what looks like car
pentcr's bench. Dough Is to the right OF them,
dough Is to the left Of them, and ont OF IT they
turn 80, 900 losves Of bread q. week and $4,000
rolls 1t is worth while rccollectng that about
$500 eggs are used here every day.
Hazel nuts and almonds that arc appetizlng ana
possessed of excellent digestive qualities IN tneir
nreparcd crisp condition seem easy enough 10 mako
nm Bnt the peryersity Of inanmate things! 10
bianch almonds an ingenious machine is necessary.
II looks like tremendous coffee grinder: me Inc
almonds are poured into cylinder ana rs tle
machine Trinds away the jackets OF the almonds
ln Int Of The snnni hike big fakes Of snow, while