Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-10
AN OLD CHOP-HOUSE.
The Only Place Remaining That Re-
calls New FORKS Early Days.
SEVERAL MODERN INVITATIONS.
Places Where One Can Buy the Character
istie Meal of Any Nation.
AVERAGE COST OF A GOOD DINNER

CORRESPONDENTS OF THE DIsPATcH.l
NEW YORK, August 9.-Eating can
scarcely be called '.fad." Yet there are
so many and such rapid changes in the
manner in which people prefer to have
their meals served that this part of eating
NAV be called fashionable whim. The
o'clock club dinner came in with Sam
Ward; the chophouse little latter became
q New York institution. For few years
the grill rooms fourished. In the mean
time the hotel table d'hote remained fixed
American custom. The 6 o'clock dinner
has stayed by us, and with it the bunet
lunch down town has grown to e1traordi-
nary proportions.
But the chophouse and the grill have
dwindled into nothingness; the hotel table
d'hote has largely given way to service la
carte. The first thing Hildreth, OF the
Long Branch West End, and Allen, of the
Astor House, did when they took the old
Metropolitan was to change to the European
plan. Most of New York's hotels are now
run that way, although few provide Dotn
restaurant and old-fashioned dining room.
In connection with these the gentlemen
cafe, corresponding in some respects TO tine
English coffee room, holds an important
place.
TABLES FOR EVERY NATION.
The large admixture of foreign population
and the proportionately large floating body
of cosmopolitan travellers are responsible
for this change and for this variety. 1t has
come to pass that a man of almost any
nationality whatever on the civilized globe
can eat in New York in the way he eats at
home. and have the same kind of food
served in the same way. In this respect
New York has adapted itself to the mani
fold demands of the world in a surprisingly
short time. The same changes could not
occur in London, Paris, Berlin or Vienna in
$50 years that have come about here in less
| than 20. The American, however, is not
| hampered by traditions.
The chophouse and grill are essentially
English. In certain quarters Of the city
the old town-the chophouse may be said to
| have been handed down, turned over to us
by the mother country with the rest of our
early possessions. But one by one these
quaint old places vanished and were for
| gotten until the grill craze struck in on US.
| Then the chophouse fever began to rage,
finally burning itself out by its own lux
uriant magnifcence.
LAST OF IT'S KIND.
Perhaps the nearest approach to the old
| fashioned colonial chophouse remaining to
us is that known as "Old Toms" 1t is sit.
uated near old Trinity aud still retains its
musty English air, suggested BY Thames
street and the ancient revolutionary grave
J yard. Many of those who once sat around
| the little mahogany tables at "Old Toms"
lie closely packed beneath the sod just over
the way in that sleep which the clangor of
the chimes will never disturb-aye, and
and have lain there these 30 years. Old
Tom himself has long joined his kindred
customers in the great beyond and his son,
Tom, now growing old, serves the new gen.
Grafton.
You would probably call Thames street an
alley and the buildings hereabouts are very
high and dingy. On the corner Of the angle
| of the streets is "Old Toms" A rusty
colonial sign swings over the door-a faded
portrait of an erstwhile gallant gentleman,
which might now pass for that of Washing
ton, Clinton or Lafayette, being family dis
| cernible thereon, though a microscope and
wash-rag would develop the fact that it is,
or was, the picture of "Old Tom"
IMMoRrALIzED BY AsToR.
Mr.. William Waldorf Astor, the present
head of the Astor family, when law stud
ent ID years ago, wrote it thus: "Down this
gloomy lane, one block from Broadway,
may be seen suspended in the air at right
angles with the street an old faded, weather.
beaten sign, portrait of q pleasant-looking
gentleman apparently refreshing himself
with glass Of beer" I found the Astor
essay in a little magazine his set printed
for their own amusement in 1876, along with
other amateur contributions. His father
and the old, original John Jacob Astor are
said to have been excellent patrons OF "Old
Toms" This is not improbable, since the
place is in the very heart of the then busi-
ness center and the present uptown restau-
rant was unknown. 1t was established in
1900.
But let me get little more out Of this
reputable witness. Gas long ago as the be-
ginning of this century," continues Mr..
| Astor, old Toms corner was noted as
one of the best places for refreshment in this
Knickerbocker town. 1t was then kept by
Mrs. Weeks, who was succeeded by man
named Nuns" under both Of whom its
fame steadily increased.
RIVAL HOUSE.
"It was not until after 1887" says our
aristocratic chronicler, shat its sterling
character began to be thoroughly developed
under the auspices of Thomas Holahan, nc
other than the genial o. 7.
"From him the house took its name and
reputation it still bears. During this time
the old house was pulled down and a newer
and better edifce rose in its place. When
the place was rebuilt the house next door
claimed to be the original sold Tom," and
great and bitter was the rivalry. There wa.
some ground for the claim, it would appear
for in the old place the two were connected
under one management.
To the modern New Yorker the frs
glance within would excite wonder as tt
what there was there to get warmed uI
about. He is ushered into an irregular room
of rather painfully restricted proportions. A
small wooden bar does not ornament the lef
foreground, but it serves. Above it hang
the motto. "Old Lang Syne," and on thu
two wooden shelves are the usual bottles
and long rows of unusual "tobys, big bel
lied earthen mugs. A chop and a toby o
ale 90 we'll together. The bar, insigni6can
as it is, breaks the tradition of the chop
house. To the right are few old-fashionet
! round tables sprawling in rank baroness OF
the sawdust covered floor.
THE KITCHEN wINKS.
At the further end of the room is q slidin,
panel, up and down like an eyelid, through
which orders are given and taken to ant
from the kitchen. Thus through your mea
the kitchen seems to wink at you, as if h
saw: "You may think yourself prett,
good fellow, but the good fellows I've seeI