Menu Planning 2

These menus are a little different from the previous page: for these I looked up vintage restaurant menus (mostly from the NYPL "What's On The Menu?"), decided what I would order off of them, then cross-referenced with contemporaneous cookbooks. I've tried to stay away from too complicated or difficult-to-recreate recipes, but your milage may vary!

Oh, and I've also tabulated the costs of most of these meals, and converted them to 2024 dollars using an online inflation calculator.

Brunch Buffet at the Narcissus Fountain Tea Room in 1919

• Salads: Green Pea and Chicken, Cooked Vegetable (Macedoine), Grapefruit and Orange
• Breads: Blueberry Muffins, Bran Muffins, Home-made Rolls, Cream Biscuits, Currant Buns
• Desserts: Sour Cream Peach Pie, Oatmeal Honey Wafers, Lady Fingers, Maple-Nut Cake, Whipped Cream
• Meats/Cheeses: Cottage Cream Cheese, Swiss Cheese, Sliced Baked Ham
• Relishes: Blackberry Jam, Black Cherry Preserves, Currant Jelly, Apple Butter, Chutney, Piccalilli
• Drinks: Lemonade, Iced Chocolate Malted Milk, Iced Tea, Hot Tea, Hot Coffee
• Cost: ???

"Special Evening Dinner" at Donahoe's, "One of America's Foremost Restaurants", on August 25, 1938

• Crab Meat Cocktail
• Minestra Milanaise
• Omelette with Mushrooms
• Home Fried Potatoes
• Head Lettuce with Dressing
• Pineapple Pie
• Dinner Rolls or Hot Biscuits with Butter
• (Iced) Tea
• Cost: 85c in 1938, $19.01 in 2024

Nash's (formerly Herbert's) "Special Dinner", on July 28th, 1938

• Rice Tomato Soup or Chef's Salad
• Country Sausage with Corn Sticks and Syrup
• Fresh Vegetables in Season (String Beans), Potatoes, Hot Muffin or Roll
• Peach Sherbert (cream, egg white, water)
• Beverage
• Cost: 65c, $14.54 in 2024

A Cheap Dinner or Lunch at Nash's (formerly Herbert's), on July 28th, 1938

• Barbecued Ham on Toasted Bun, with Old Southern Tomato Relish
• Health salad
• Pot of Tea
• Cost: $0.35, $7.83 in 2024

A Nice Dinner at Pfeiffer's Marine Grill, July 10, 1938

• Iced Canteloupe
• Crabmeat Ravigote in Shell with Cole Slaw, Served Cold with Rolls and Butter
• Fresh Blueberry Pie
• Champagne Cocktail
• Cost: $1.10, $24.60 in 2024

Dinner at Ye Golden Lion Tavern, "San Diego's Famous Eating Place", July 17, 1938

• Hamburg Steak De Luxe (Ground Sirloin), with Onions, Special Steak Sauce, Hashed Potatoes
• Sliced Cucumber with French Dressing
• Coffee Parfait (easier, harder)
• Drink???
• Cost: $1.15, $25.72 in 2024

A Slightly Unusual Dinner at Healy's 42nd Street Restaurant, March 26, 1928

• Curried Chicken with Rice
• Carrots Sauté
• Parfait Pralinee
• Your selection from their wine list
• Cost: $1.40, $25.37 in 2024

Grabbing Lunch at The Coffee Shop, La Guardia Airport, September 1940

• Natural Apple Juice
• Sour Pot Roast of Beef (Sauerbraten), Mashed Potatoes, Red Cabbage
• Cheese Cake New Yorker
• Cost: $0.72, $18.47 in 2024

Table D'Hote Luncheon in the Southern Pacific Dining Car, February 1937

• Breaded Veal Cutlets, Milanaise
• Straw Fried Potatoes
• Salad from the Bowl
• Hot Corn Bread
• Green Apple Pie
• Tea
• Cost: $0.75, $16.42 in 2024

A La Carte Luncheon in the Canadian Pacific Dining Car, April 1937

• Breaded Lamb Chops, Jardiniere
• Mashed Potatoes
• Deep Rhubarb Pie (Individual)
• Tap Water?
• Cost: $0.90, $19.71 in 2024

Light yet Chic Dinner, 2601 Parkway, February 23, 1941

• Consomme Rice
• Chicken Salad, with Roquefort Cheese Dressing
• Orange Chiffon Pie
• Beverage
• Cost: $1.45, $31.10 in 2024

Light yet Chic Dinner, Summer Edition, The Cortile, August 13, 1937

• Lobster Salad with Saratoga Potatoes
• Raspberry Layer Cake
• Jack Rose (cocktail)
• Cost: $1.55, $33.94 in 2024

Four People Getting Brunch at Steinberg's Dairy Restaurant, August 1941

1. Cinnamon Toast, Sour Cream with Blueberries/Fresh Peaches/Bananas (65c, $13.94 in 2024)
2. Cream cheese, Walnut, and Jam on a Bagel, Grapefruit/Pineapple/Orange Juice (55c, $11.80 in 2024)
3. Fresh Huckleberry Muffins, Swiss Gruyere or Camembert Cheese (45-50c, $9.65-10.72 in 2024)
4. Cheese Latkes or Cheese Blintzes, Stewed Peaches/Cherries (60-70c, $12.87-15.01 in 2024)

An Old-World Dinner at Steinberg's Dairy Restaurant, August 1941

• Brown Cabbage Soup
• Homemade Noodles with Cheese, Stewed Fresh Mushrooms
• Fresh Cherry Cake
• Glass of Pabst Blue Ribbon
• Cost: $1.40, $30.03 in 2024

Luncheon Set Menu at Hotel Winthrop (a Roger Smith Hotel), on August 11, 1944

• Deviled Ham Canape
• Fresh Vegetable Luncheon with Fried Egg
  • EITHER: Stewed Tomatoes, Chicory/Endive, Carrots O'Brien, and Waffle Fries
  • OR: Steamed Corn, Carrots, Summer Squash, and Broccoli, with Sauteed Potatoes
• Spice Cup Cake with Apple Sauce
• Coffee, Buttermilk, or Tea
• Cost: 75c, $13.44 in 2024

Eating Lunch on the R.M.S. "Queen Mary", Sunday, July 11, 1937

• Proscuitto Ham and Sweet Gherkins
• Chicken Sauté Parmentier
• Broccoli en Purée
• Romaine with Lemon Dressing
• Charlotte Russe au Grand Marnier
• Cost: presumably included in ticket price