Oh goodness, this is the best kind of flashback: reviews of Chicago restaurants from the 1931 book Dining in Chicago by John Drury (the volume is available in its entirety as a free download here).
Every morsel of the book is a delight, from the exhortations to try birds’ nest soup (“that queer but tasty concoction made from the substance that certain Oriental birds use for cementing their nests”) to the dining room at the Congress Hotel (“the foods are of the best quality”).
The introduction is written by none other than Carl Sandburg, and of Chicago as a city populated by those who love to eat and drink, he says:
’On reading over the text of John Drury’s book one is not merely persuaded that Chicago is a place to stop for more than a sandwich and a cuppa coffee. From page to page he hammers home the evidence that cooking skill and kitchen science has drifted to Chicago from the continents of Asia, Europe, Africa and the archipelagoes of the seven seas.”
Drury on then-restaurant Kristensen, on the site that is now the bar Nick’s Uptown:
“Alfred Kristensen is one of the most interesting restaurateurs in Chicago. He was born in the United States, of Danish descent, but served his apprenticeship in the culinary art in Germany, France, and England. In 1910 he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago. Once he was chief steward for the United States Shipping Board. After holding various positions with the Astor and Vanderbilt Hotels in New York City, and the La Salle and Blacksone Hotels and the Canadian Pacific Railway in Chicago, he resigned from such work and set up this important uptown restaurant. As recently as a few months ago he received an honor diploma from the Societe de Cuisine de Paris in recognition for laboratory research work in connection with foods. So, with such a background, Mr. Kristensen ought to be expected to serve good foods—and he does. He has no specialties on his menu since every item on it is a specialty. Worth trying.”
With its owner’s plaudits for “laboratory research in connection with foods,” have we found the world’s first molecular gastronomist? A proto-Alinea? [Uptown History via Uptown Update]