Harvest America CUES BLOG

PART ONE:

An Immigrant Nation Melting Pot:

America was the land of opportunity and tens of thousands came to our shores, through Ellis Island, and stood at the gates of New York ready to become American and bring their ethnic influence the country’s profile. Italians, French, Irish, Greeks, Germans, Chinese, Japanese, and every other nationality brought their cultural traditions in search of a place in American life. Many, saw restaurants and taverns to be American while exposing others to their food, beverage, and style of hospitality. Restaurants and bars portraying these influences began to pop up first on the east coast and gradually moving westward.

The Roaring Twenties:

A time of prosperity and carefree attitudes, fun was the name of the game, jazz was the music, and a renaissance of style, art, and music was the core of American life. Restaurants would have played an even more significant role had it not been for Prohibition which drove alcohol underground.

Prohibition and the Speakeasy:

Prohibition from 1920-1933 made it illegal to produce, distribute, serve, or consume alcoholic beverages except as a sacrament in the church and for medicinal purposes prescribed by doctors. However, this did not mean that alcohol was not produced, distributed, served, or consumed – it was simply driven underground, illegal, and exciting in speakeasies across the country. Speakeasies did oftentimes serve food, but it was not the centerpiece of their existence. Later, when Prohibition was repealed, these speakeasies became the restaurants for a new generation.

The Depression:

The Roaring Twenties ended when the markets collapsed worldwide. Lasting from 1929-1939, the world depression was a dark time for restaurants, but some learned to change with the times giving birth to “Penny Restaurants” where basic food was provided for a few cents, providing a dignified alternative to standing in food lines for the poor and needy. Many only stayed in business for a few months, but some were able to weather the storm of the depression and carry-on serving thousands of customers every week, allowing them to stay afloat. Restaurants have always been there as an oasis for people when times are tough.

Ah, but not everyone suffered during the depression. As is the case today, the wealthy found a way to maintain much of their lifestyle while the poor suffered even more. While the rich were still celebrating life in the grand hotels and established restaurants that remained viable during this time, the poor suffered immeasurable pain.

“To save money, families neglected medical and dental care. Many families sought to cope by planting gardens, canning food, buying used bread, and using cardboard and cotton for shoe soles. Despite a steep decline in food prices, many families did without milk or meat.”

-The Human Toll – Digital History

The Grand Hotels:

The grand hotels like the Boston Ritz Carlton – opened in 1927, and the Waldorf Astoria that was originally built in 1893, and then destroyed and rebuilt in 1931, were the meccas for America’s well-to-do icons of industry. But their real glory days were yet to come. These iconic properties, and those like them, still hosted lavish gatherings for the top 10% while 25% of Americans were without work. Restaurants and hotels rarely judge their audience, they accommodate those who can spend so that they can survive, employ talented workers, and even thrive in some cases.

Post War America:

Highways, Gas Stations, and the Growth of Towns:

President Dwight Eisenhower, in 1956, signed legislation that funded the construction of the Interstate Highways System from coast-to-coast. Not only did this provide easier access for American travel, but it also established the groundwork for small town expansion and with that a significant growth in the number of restaurants serving residents and travelers alike. This may have been the most important step in building the restaurant industry we know today.

Soldiers returning from war were determined to build a better family life leading to new home construction, birth of the baby boomer generation, establishment of neighborhoods across the country with loads of children the same age, expansion of neighborhood schools, a boom in available jobs, and new, found disposable income that was available for restaurant expenditures.

The Great Restaurateurs:

A new generation of restaurant operators found a home in established, bustling communities leading way to the “era of the restaurateur”. Joe Baum of the Rainbow Room, Anthony Athanis from Anthony’s Pier 4, Peter Kriendler from the famed 21 Club, Henri Soule of Le Pavillon and Le Cote Basque, Charles Masson from La Grenouille, Joseph Milano from the Union Oyster House (the oldest continuous operating restaurant in the U.S.), Louis Buich from San Francisco’s Tadich Grill, Dick and John Brennan from Commander’s Palace in NOLA, Sol Forman of Peter Luger’s Steakhouse, Herman Berghoff from Chicago’s Berghoff Restaurant, and the Tucci Family from Delmonico’s to name a few.

In the 1980’s those names were replaced by their contemporaries like Drew Nieporent, Danny Meyer, Joe and Lidia Bastianich, and Richard Melman. But the days of the restaurateur-centric operations were fading quickly. Food was always important, but it was the hospitality of the charismatic operator that had made the restaurant experience what it was up to this point. That was about to evolve.

Quick Service Storm:

Of course, when one thinks of American restaurants there is a tendency to equate quick service operators like McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell, and in current times – Chick-Fil-A, Panera, etc. as synonymous with food of the U.S. This is a dis-service to the great American restaurants, but not at all inaccurate when one considers the incredible reach and volume of these operations. They took centerstage for the better part of the sixties thru the eighties as their exponential growth took the country by storm.

The Hippy Influence:

When it comes to American culture (food being a major part of that) we should never discount the influence of the “Flower Generation”. Pushing aside inhibitions, avoiding work, drugs and West Coast Rock and Roll led to a fresh consciousness, concern for the planet, health and nutrition, and connections to a more decentralized approach towards cooking and eating. Starting as a raw, not always well thought out movement in the 60’s this became the organic food movement, sustainable practices, recycling and composting, the farm to table movement, and learning about the connections between what we eat and how we feel. Restaurant responded, and in many cases helped to lead the changes brought on by this once casual movement.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER

Harvest America Ventures, LLC

Restaurant Consulting

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