Caption: So many persons are not content with a “perfect day,” but want a perfect evening, too, that a scene like this at the Hotel Biltmore, New York, is set every night.
There were some very elegant hotel restaurants a hundred years ago. Here are a few pictures from a April, 1917 article in Good Housekeeping.
Caption: The kitchen is the very heart of a hotel, where the tremendous task of feeding a multitude is always in process. This is a busy corner in the kitchen of the Ritz-Carlton, New York.
Caption: Managing the dining-room of a great hotel is, after all, much like managing the dining room of a private home. (Plaza Hotel, New York)
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A Hundred Years Ago 
Wow, those are grand dining rooms!
They were so large and elegant!
Wow, imagine having the option to go to a grand party like that every single night at the Biltmore!
It would have been so much fun to attend one of these events. 🙂
Hmm. Dear Caption, Plaza Hotel Dining Room: not so much like managing MY dining room 😉
🙂 Like you, it’s not much like managing my dining room.
Wow, it looks amazing!
They sure are impressive restaurants/ball rooms. 🙂
It was certainly a different time with the great hotels. I wonder how long it took to get your meal.
hmm. . . that’s an interesting question. I can’t decide whether I think the food generally arrived at the table more quickly or less quickly back then.
They remind me of the tea room at Yonker’s Department Store in Des Moines. Back in the day (way back), the grand department stores always had tea rooms that were destination spots for lunch. Yonker’s had crystal chandeliers, white-gloved attendants, and crystal water glasses. Farm wives and small-town mothers and daughters who couldn’t make it to the Biltmore still could have an experience of elegance.
The old-time department stores had wonderful restaurants. Similarly to what you described, I can remember that a highlight of shopping trips was getting an ice cream sundae with my mother in the store restaurant.
Reminds me of the movie HELLO DOLLY with the grand dining room at the hotel (Astoria Garden?? probably made up) in New York where they have the scene with Louis Armstrong as Barbara Streisand and all the dancing waiters.
It’s been a really long time since I’ve seen that movie. Your comment makes me want to see it again.
One of my favorite movies. Makes me happy.
BRAVO!
I’m glad you liked this post.
I wish I could visit a couple of those places ….
So do I. 🙂
Beautiful!
I agree.
Beautiful dining room.. cooking for people of that class would be different then my down home recipes I’m afraid.
My gut feeling is that the food is tastier at your house. Sometimes “elegant” dishes are all about presentation.
One of my happy subjects! Love those old hotel dining rooms!
It’s wonderful to hear that you liked this post. I love these pictures, too.
More more!
How wonderfully elegant!
They definitely had some very elegant venues a century ago.
In Canada we have the CN hotels, like the Algonquin in Saint Andrews New Brunswick. It is still a pleasure to stay there. Makes everything seem more elegant.
You’re fortunate to still have some lovely old-time hotels. We still have a few, but many have either closed or gone downhill across the years.
A major hotel chain took over most of the CN hotels and they have been refurbished in some cases. The Algonquin is as charming as ever.
Such a lovely post that I really enjoyed, my friend! Happy weekend! x
It’s wonderful to hear that you enjoyed this post. I hope that you also have a wonderful week-end.
Very informative. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked this post.
As you noted, Sheryl, it is all about the presentation! You know everyone loves it when there are table cloths and candles 🙂 Also, I agree: our home cooking is almost always better than the “fancy” cooking, although I do get impressed with flambe’ 😉
You are absolutely right -it’s all about presentation! Restaurants that have wonderful food, great staff, and a lovely ambience know how to create memorable meals.
While not a dining room, I was just reading about the return of hotel bars in an issue of Garden and Gun. Not the small, sports bar that we see in hotels now, but the grand places that were destinations at one time. When going to dinner or to the bar were special treats, not nightly occurrences. Places to experience. I can only imagine what it must have been like to experience dining in the Hotel Biltmore.
I like the idea of going out being a special treat at a grand destination.
Wouldn’t it have been wonderful to say that you had got to experience one of those evenings, I’m sure they were very special.
It only we could get into a time machine. . . .
You are a treasure trove Sheryl😘
Hugs and Regards
Ana