What a Swell Party It Was!: Rediscovering Food and Drink from the Golden Age of the American Nightclub

Chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud once explained: "The future of cooking is about how we can rewrite the history of it--it's important to keep the memory and be entertained by it and inspired by it." What A Swell Party It Was! entertains and inspires with a delicious slice of nearly forgotten culinary history--an era that followed the Great Depression and prohibition's repeal, where America boomed and the nightclub scene flourished. Opening this book is like swinging open the doors to another time and place, when big city life was a unique mixture of innocence and sophistication, romance and formality. It spotlights twenty-five legendary clubs that thrived in the 1930s and '40s, just as Jazz exploded into mainstream popularity and alcohol was no longer illegal to serve. Through these pages and recipes, enter past the proverbial velvet rope into establishments forever-immortalized, such as Chez Paree in Chicago, Café Trocadero in Hollywood, The Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, The Blue Room in New Orleans, and New York City's Cotton Club. In addition to including entrée, appetizer, dessert, and cocktail recipes from their original menus, each featured venue will be introduced with vivid anecdotes and history, narrated in a breezy style and illustrated with reproductions of vintage menu covers, beverage napkins, matchbooks, postcards, and rare photos. An unabashedly joyful journey and a deeply authentic perspective on American culture in a rich, tumultuous age, What a Swell Party It Was! promises a cookbook/cocktail guide with a tip of the hat to history, crammed with details that bring life again to a fascinating American era.;Intro; Title Page; Copyright; Table of Contents; In the Mood: An Introduction; Chez Paree (Chicago, Illinois); Chicago Cocktail; Oysters Rockefeller; Chicken Vesuvio; Toasted Pound Cake; Leon & Eddieâ#x80;#x99;s (New York, New York); Mamie Taylor; Spaghetti Caruso; Spanish Omelette; Zabaglione; The Blackhawk (Chicago, Illinois); South Side Cocktail; Spinning Salad Bowl; Fresh Shrimps de Jonghe; Grand Marnier Strawberry Sundae; The Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles, California); Freddie Martin Frosted Daiquiri; Hearts of Romaine, Thousand Island Dressing. Intro Title Page Copyright Table of Contents In the Mood: An Introduction Chez Paree (Chicago, Illinois) Chicago Cocktail Oysters Rockefeller Chicken Vesuvio Toasted Pound Cake Leon & Eddieâ#x80 #x99 s (New York, New York) Mamie Taylor Spaghetti Caruso Spanish Omelette Zabaglione The Blackhawk (Chicago, Illinois) South Side Cocktail Spinning Salad Bowl Fresh Shrimps de Jonghe Grand Marnier Strawberry Sundae The Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles, California) Freddie Martin Frosted Daiquiri Hearts of Romaine, Thousand Island Dressing. Filet of Pacific Sole, Bonne FemmeCalifornia Figs Romanoff El Morocco (New York, New York) Vodkatini Frogsâ#x80 #x99 Legs à la Tartare Breast of Duckling a lâ#x80 #x99 Orange Cherries Jubilee The Mocambo (Hollywood, California) Monkey Wrench Lobster Thermidor Prince de Monaco Scallopini of Veal Sauté Crîpes Suzette Paradis The Copacabana (New York, New York) Zombie Lobster Cantonese Chicken Chop Suey Pear HélÃn̈e The Cotton Club (New York, New York) Harlem Cocktail Cannibal Sandwich Shrimp Foo Yong Peach Melba The Pump Room (Chicago, Illinois) Bath Cure Steak Diane Veal Piccata. Pump House Peaches in FlameBilly Reedâ#x80 #x99 s Little Club (New York, New York) Between the Sheets Caesar Salad Monte Cristo Sandwich Vienna Almond Cookies The Stork Club (New York, New York) French 75 Walter Winchell Burger Omelette Steve Hannagan Coconut Snowball Ciroâ#x80 #x99 s (Hollywood, California) Satanâ#x80 #x99 s Whiskers Steak Minute Sauté Le Coq au Vin Bourguignonne Baked Alaska The Rainbow Room (New York, New York) Pousse-Café Carrot and Peanut Salad Chicken Gismonda LadyFingers The Latin Quarter (New York, New York) Pink Lady Moo Goo Gai Pan Chicken Chow Mein Americaine. Mitzi Green ParfaitTerrace Room at the New Yorker Hotel (New York, New York) Boo Snooker Ham Hash with Poached Eggs Filet de Sole Marie Walewska Strawberry Pavlova Empire Room at the Palmer House (Chicago, Illinois) The Bijou Palmer House Oyster Stew Welsh Rarebit Golden Buck Palmer House Brownies Chez Ami (Buffalo, New York) Millionaire Cocktail Long Island Rarebit Chicken Eugenie Angel Food Cake Starlight Roof at the Waldorf-Astoria (New York, New York) Bronx Cocktail Waldorf Salad Scotch Woodcock Palm Beach Cake Slapsy Maxieâ#x80 #x99 s (Los Angeles, California). Joan Blondell CocktailSpaghetti Tetrazzini Salisbury Steak with Peppers and Onions Dusty Road Sundae Billy Roseâ#x80 #x99 s Diamond Horseshoe (New York, New York) Blue Moon Poached Eggs Zingara Filet Mignon Roumanille Coupe au Marrons Terrace Garden at the Morrison Hotel (Chicago, Illinois) Dubonnet Cocktail Crab Louis Veal Piccata Floating Island La Conga (New York, New York) Cuba Libre Calvesâ#x80 #x99 Liver and Onions La Conga Combination Hash Arctic Roll Blue Room at the Hotel Roosevelt (New Orleans, Louisiana) Sazerac Shrimp Remoulade Eggs St. Denis. Chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud once explained: "The future of cooking is about how we can rewrite the history of it—it's important to keep the memory and be entertained by it and inspired by it." What A Swell Party It Was! entertains and inspires with a delicious slice of nearly forgotten culinary history—an era that followed the Great Depression and prohibition's repeal, where America boomed and the nightclub scene flourished. Opening this book is like swinging open the doors to another time and place, when big city life was a unique mixture of innocence and sophistication, romance and formality. It spotlights twenty-five legendary clubs that thrived in the 1930s and '40s, just as Jazz exploded into mainstream popularity and alcohol was no longer illegal to serve. Through these pages and recipes, enter past the proverbial velvet rope into establishments forever-immortalized, such as Chez Paree in Chicago, Café Trocadero in Hollywood, The Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, The Blue Room in New Orleans, and New York City's Cotton Club. In addition to including entrée, appetizer, dessert, and cocktail recipes from their original menus, each featured venue will be introduced with vivid anecdotes and history, narrated in a breezy style and illustrated with reproductions of vintage menu covers, beverage napkins, matchbooks, postcards, and rare photos. An unabashedly joyful journey and a deeply authentic perspective on American culture in a rich, tumultuous age, What a Swell Party It Was! promises a cookbook/cocktail guide with a tip of the hat to history, crammed with details that bring life again to a fascinating American era. "Spotlights twenty-five legendary clubs that thrived in the 1930s and '40s, just as Jazz exploded into mainstream popularity and alcohol was no longer illegal to serve. Through these pages and recipes, enter past the proverbial velvet rope into establishments forever-immortalized, such as Chez Paree in Chicago, Café Trocadero in Hollywood, The Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, The Blue Room in New Orleans, and New York City's Cotton Club. In addition to including entrée, appetizer, dessert, and cocktail recipes from their original menus, each featured venue is introduced with vivid anecdotes and history, narrated in a breezy style and illustrated with reproductions of vintage photos."--Jacket flap