In 1998, New York magazine asked readers to vote for their favorites to be installed in a newly created New York Food Hall of Fame. In the category of Most Missed Restaurants, New Yorkers chose, along with Mama Leone's and Le Pavilion, Luchow's.
It was inevitable that New York's landmark German restaurant, at East 14th Street from 1882 to 1982, would be missed. It was also inevitable it would eventually inspire a cookbook: "Luchow's German Cookbook," compiled by Jan Mitchell in 1952.
In the beginning, 28 chefs chosen only from Austria and southern Germany kept the menu "pure German."
Later owners kept the cuisine that's reflected in the cookbook's classic recipes for appetizers (herring salad), soups (cold fruit), fish and shellfish (sea bass with white grapes; deviled crab), game birds and poultry (duckling in aspic), meats and game (veal cutlet with mushrooms; venison stew hunter style), cheese and eggs, dumplings and noodles, salads (cucumbers and sour cream), vegetables (red cabbage with apples), sauces, and desserts (hazelnut torte).
Luchow's was founded by August Guido Luchow, who came to America in 1879. He established his business in a three-story brownstone near Union Square, now a cut-rate shopping district but then the center of Manhattan culture and home to the Academy of Music. The food and the society who came to enjoy it made it popular.
Financier, gambler and glutton, Diamond Jim Brady (he was known to eat 12 dozen oysters at a sitting), gave banquets at Luchow's, where guests might find a piece of diamond jewelry tucked under their napkins. His companion was actress Lillian Russell.
Luchow's was a favorite of musicians, such as Enrico Caruso, Richard Strauss, Victor Herbert and, later, Toscanini, long after 14th Street ceased to be the center of New York's musical life.
Mitchell bought the restaurant in 1950. A condition of sale was a solemn promise to the heirs of August Luchow to preserve the traditions and Gemutlichkeit.
Luchow's survived the World Wars, the Depression and Prohibition, but its way of life finally succumbed to a changing neighborhood. It moved to midtown Manhattan in 1982 and closed a few years later. Luchow's is gone but not forgotten. The memories and the recipes live on.
LUCHOW'S POTATO SALAD
2 pounds (about 6 medium) potatoes (we used Yukon gold)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup beef or chicken stock
1/2 medium onion, chopped
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 hard-cooked egg yolk (optional)
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Add salt to water and boil the potatoes in their jackets until tender. Cool only enough to peel and slice into 1/4-inch slices.
Warm the stock over a low flame, then pour over the warm potatoes.
Add onion and pepper.
Mix oil and vinegar until smooth, mash in the egg yolk (if using) to thicken, pour dressing over the warm potatoes and toss to distribute. Serves 4 warm or chilled. Adapted from "Luchow's German Cookbook" by Jan Mitchell, 1952.