Delmonico’s has had many incarnations since the day when the brothers, Peter and John, established themselves in the humble basement at No. 27 William Street, back in 1827.  First there was the move to 76 Broad Street, and then to Broadway and Chambers Street.  But to that generation of New Yorkers of which only a few remain, there has been only one great Delmonico’s, the one which in 1861 opened its doors at the northeast corner of Fourteenth Street and Fifth Avenue.  It was the centre of the town in the sixties and early seventies.  Two blocks away was the Academy of Music, the Metropolitan Opera House of the time, and Fourteenth Street was burgeoning out as the new Rialto.  Society set its seal upon the establishment.  The clubs of the immediate neighbourhood, of which there were several, did not think it necessary to install cuisines when Delmonico’s was so close at hand.  The name of the house is still a byword in the land, but the names of Filippini and Lattard, two of the maitre d’hotel who helped to make Delmonico’s famous, have been forgotten by all but a very few.  What supper parties were given in the old establishment, and what dances of that exclusive circle to which Mr. Ward McAllister was later to give the sticking designation of the “Four Hundred,” before the house again marched on northward to Madison Square, and a rug-man installed himself and his wares in the halls that had been the scene of such good cheer and so much well-bred revelry!

M. de Balzac, planning to entertain a Russian nobleman at the Restaurant de Paris, asked the management to “put its best foot forward” for the occasion.  “Certainly, Monsieur,” was the retort, “for the simple reason that it is what we are in the habit of doing every day.”  Old-time patrons of the Fourteenth Street corner will tell you that such a reply might have fittingly come from the maitre d’hotel of the “Del’s” that was.  But conceding the quality of the everyday service there were famous dinners that have stood out in the annals of the house.  Here, for example, is the menu of what was known as the “Swan Dinner” held the evening of February 17, 1873.

  Potages. 
  Consomme Imperial.  Bisque aux crevettes.

  Hor d’oeuvres. 
  Timbales a la Conde.

  Poissons. 
  Red Snapper a la Venetienne. 
  Eperlan, sauce des gourmets.

  Releve. 
  Filet de boeuf a la l’Egyptienne.

  Entrees. 
  Ailes de canvas back, sauce bigurade. 
  Cotellettes de volaille Sevigne. 
  Asperges froide en branche. 
  Sorbet a l’Ermitage.

  Rotis. 
  Chapon truffes.  Selle de mouton.

  Entremets. 
  Choufleurs, sauce creme.  Carbons a la moelle. 
  Petits pois au beurre. 
  Poires a la Richelieu. 
  Gelee aux ananas.  Gaufres Chantilly Sultanne. 
  Gateaux a la Reine.  Coupole a l’Anglaise. 
  Pain de peche Marechale.  Gelee au fruits.