Background
Lorenzo Delmonico was born on March 13, 1813 at Marengo, at the eastern base of Mount St. Gothard, in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.
Lorenzo Delmonico was born on March 13, 1813 at Marengo, at the eastern base of Mount St. Gothard, in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.
Delmonico's father was a small farmer and Lorenzo’s schooling advantages were slight—a deficiency that he sought to remedy in after years.
At nineteen Delmonico left his native village and migrated to America, landing at New York, whither two uncles, John and Peter Delmonico, had preceded him.
John, the elder, had been master of a sailing vessel trading between Cuba and the United States, but in 1825 he had given up the sailor’s calling, settled in New York City, and become a dealer in wines. With his brother Peter he had started a small confectionery and catering business. After some hesitation, they took their nephew into partnership, and he soon suggested a departure in their modest business which was destined to make the name Delmonico famous throughout the United States and in every European capital.
His idea was that the firm open a restaurant in downtown New York which should provide foods cooked and served in the European manner of the day. As a people Americans had neglected the science of the table. The value of salads was practically unknown. In a land of abundance only the most imperfect use was made of vegetables, man of which could have been provided at a minimum of cost.
Lorenzo Delmonico became a teacher of gastronomy, and in a surprisingly short time he won national recognition. Without capital and at first without influential friends, within twenty years he made New York known the world over as a center of good living. From materials that could be had almost for the asking he prepared dishes such as few native New Yorkers had ever tasted. The variety of American game, fish, and meats that appeared on his menus astonished all visitors from the Old World. Yet he was merely making obvious use of what had been largely overlooked by the Americans themselves. He seems to have been guided by his own shrewd divination of New York’s culinary needs and the practical means of supplying them. His fame spread so quickly that within a few years experienced cooks from Parisian kitchens were coming to New York and offering Delmonico their services.
He was never at a loss for competent help nor for information of the latest developments in European cuisine. The first Delmonico restaurant, on William St. , was destroyed in the great fire of 1835. It was succeeded by restaurants at 76 Broad St. , and at Beaver and William Sts. About the same time the Delmonicos bought more than 200 acres of land within the limits of what later became the Borough of Brooklyn and began farming operations modeled on those with which they had been familiar in Switzerland.
Among their guests during that period were Louis Napoleon and the Prince de Joinville. John Delmonico having died in 1842, Lorenzo continued the business with Peter, and in 1848 succeeded to the chief proprietorship of the business. From 1846 to 1856 a Delmonico hotel was conducted at 21-25 Broadway and from 1855 to 1875 the principal restaurant was at Broadway and Chambers St. , but one was opened at Fourteenth St. and Fifth Ave. , the first year of the Civil War, and in 1876 began the career of the famous Delmonico restaurant at Broadway and Twenty-sixth St. Lorenzo’s brother Siro and other members of the family came from Switzerland and took places in the organization, which grew to be one of the greatest of its kind in existence.
In 1861, through unfortunate investments in oil stocks, Delmonico lost $500, 000, which was made up within a few years from the profits of the restaurants.
He founded a public school in his native village and was for years a liberal giver to the Catholic Church in New York. Before his time New York had no restaurants where extensive bills of fare were served, save at particular hours. His restaurants at once sprang into favor.
It was said at the time of his death, in 1881, that every president of the United States from Jackson to Garfield had been his guest, while New York, next to Paris, was believed to be better supplied with restaurants than any other city in the world.
For many years after his restaurant business had become the largest in the city he personally attended to the marketing.
Delmonico was a quiet, methodical man of business, noted for his thrift; he was an inveterate smoker, often consuming thirty strong Havana cigars in a day.
In 1856 Delmonico married a widow, Mine Miege.