


































Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 45. © American Folklore Society 2018

Abstract:

This Research Note sketches the biography of Swiss immigrant Alessandro
(or Alexander) Filippini (1849­1917), a chef at New York City’s Delmonico’s
restaurants for over 25 years, and provides a short analysis of his culinary
heritage. Mostly forgotten today, and overshadowed by the reputation of
French chef Charles Ranhofer for creating many of the dishes that made
Delmonico’s famous, Filippini authored the very first Delmonico cookbook
(1889) and made significant contributions to the evolution of fine dining in
the United States—in restaurants as well as in private homes and on
transatlantic passenger ships. This note seeks to elevate his importance in
the role that Delmonico’s restaurants—founded in the nineteenth century by
two Swiss brothers of that name—played in the history of the American
restaurant and the development of American cuisine.

Keywords: Delmonico’s, Alessandro Filippini, Charles Ranhofer, American
restaurant history, cookbooks

Introduction

The history of the American restaurant and the development of American
cuisine are inextricably tied to one particular nineteenth century
establishment in New York City—“Delmonico’s”—whose name to this day
evokes a picture of lavish dinners, grand balls, famous patrons and fanciful
new dishes. What in 1827 started as a small café and pastry shop on 23
William Street in the lowest part of Manhattan, where the hot chocolate was
“unlike anything served elsewhere in New York—rich, thick, and foaming”
(Thomas 1967:9), became quickly the most famous and successful culinary
empire of its day. It was founded by two brothers who emigrated from the
little village of Mairengo near Faido in the Canton of Ticino, the Italian­
speaking part of Switzerland. Giovanni (John) Delmonico was a wine
merchant, while his younger brother Pietro Antonio (Peter) was originally a
chocolate maker with a shop in Berne (Messerli 1922:6). In 1830, they
opened their first restaurant on 25 William Street, hired French chefs for
the kitchen and sought the help of their nephew Lorenzo Delmonico, who

The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro
Filippini (1849­1917)
An Appreciation on the Centenary of his Death

By: Michael A. Meer



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 46. © American Folklore Society 2018

joined them from Switzerland in 1831. The restaurant surprised its clientele
by the novel feature of ordering “à la carte” from a menu that listed the
dishes in both English and French (Choate and Canora 2008:11, Thomas
1967). The peak of success came with New York’s Gilded Age in the last
quarter of the nineteenth century. Primarily recognized today as
Delmonico’s culinary exponent is Charles Ranhofer (1836­1899), a French
chef who worked for Delmonico’s during that period, from 1862 until his
retirement in 1896 (with a short three­year break in between). Ranhofer,
credited with creating many of the dishes that made Delmonico’s famous,
published The Epicurean, a massive 1,200­page cookbook, in 1894.

Another cookbook of that period that is regularly mentioned when
Delmonico’s culinary achievements are discussed is a work not by a chef, but
by someone who (much) later confessed that he “never cooked anything
more difficult to prepare than a plate of scrambled eggs” (Schriftgiesser
1943:5): Oscar Tschirky (1866­1950). Also originally Swiss, he worked as a
maître d’hôtel at Delmonico’s for three years, after a first stop at the
Hoffman House, one of the grandest hotels in New York at that time. In
1891, he then moved on to the new Waldorf hotel before it even opened.
There he became “Oscar of the Waldorf,” the embodiment of a professional
host. The Cook Book – By ‘Oscar of the Waldorf’ was first published in 1896.
While one would assume that Tschirky was the actual author of that
comprehensive collection of recipes, it was in fact a compilation “from the
recipes of some of the most famous chefs New York has ever known”
(Schriftgiesser 1943:5), including, obviously, those from Delmonico’s
kitchens, even if Tschirky does not name any of them.

Often mentioned in connection with Delmonico’s, but getting no more than
a passing mention, and thus never lifted to the culinary Olympus, is yet
another Swiss, Alessandro (or Alexander) Filippini, who was with
Delmonico’s for over 25 years. Filippini was the author of five cookbooks,
including the very first cookbook about Delmonico’s, published in 1889 in
New York under the title The Table: How to Buy Food, How to Cook It and
How to Serve It, and at the same time in London as The Delmonico Cook
Book. A supplement, published in 1890, was incorporated in later editions
of the book. Like the other two cookbook authors, but before them, he
presented the menus and recipes of America’s most famous eating place to
an amateur audience, the private home.

While Filippini appears in the contemporary New York press as a key figure
in Delmonico’s kitchens1 at least to the same extent as Charles Ranhofer,
unlike Ranhofer he sank into oblivion quickly after the publication of his last
book in 1906. He is largely unresearched, to the extent that even his basic
life dates had remained elusive.2 However, Filippini’s contribution to the
evolution of fine dining in the United States, in both restaurants and private



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 47. © American Folklore Society 2018

households as well as on transatlantic passenger ships, justifies a closer look
into his life and work.

The story of Alessandro Filippini is also a typical example of nineteenth
century emigration from Switzerland to the United States. The region the
Delmonicos and Filippini originally came from, today the Canton of Ticino,
Switzerland, has been of geostrategic, and thus political and economical
interest since the Middle Ages because of the Gotthard Pass, one of the most
important crossings of the Alps, connecting northern and southern Europe.
So naturally the Ticinesi came into frequent contact with travelling
merchants from all over the continent, and most certainly got a taste of

Frontispiece of The Table, 1889.



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 48. © American Folklore Society 2018

foreign culture, customs, and culinary habits much earlier than other Swiss.
Maybe it is not a coincidence, then, that the region also fathered the author
of the world’s first modern cookery book and celebrity cook of fifteenth
century Italy, Maestro Martino (or Martino de Rossi). He was born around
1430 in Torre, a village in the valley of Blenio, neighboring the Leventina
Valley where the Delmonicos and Filippini originated. But despite its
importance, Ticino has been notoriously poor, and this poverty certainly
contributed to the high rate of emigration over centuries, first into other
European countries, then in the nineteenth century in particular to the
United States. The immigrants did not bring any significant pecuniary
assets to the New World, but many of them were capable of making fruitful
use of their cultural heritage and skills—including gastronomy—on fresh
grounds.

My combined interest in the emigration history of Swiss citizens to the
United States, the history of New York, and the history of food and specific
dishes brought me to researching and writing the following essay. Hopefully
it will shed some new light on how Swiss emigrants helped shape the
culinary evolution of America.

Alessandro Filippini—a Biographical Sketch

Alessandro Filippini was born on New Year’s Eve of 1849 in the little village
of Airolo, Switzerland (Filippini 1900), merely 10 miles north of Mairengo,
the village where the Delmonicos came from. In his early teens, he went to
Lyon, France where he received full training in one of the city’s famous
culinary schools. He proved to be a gifted student, and the school, instead of
having him pay for instruction, employed him as an instructor (Los Angeles
Times, July 23, 1899:20). Not yet seventeen years old, with practical
experiences in Switzerland and Germany, he embarked on the steamer Ville
de Paris from Le Havre, bound for the United States. Young Alessandro
Filippini arrived in New York on June 5, 18663 where he immediately found
employment at Delmonico’s 14th Street restaurant (New­York Tribune,
February 3, 1891:3).

Work in the New World was to start with a life­shaping experience. At
Delmonico’s for only two months, the young cook learned what it meant to
be in the kitchen of the city’s most famous restaurant: President Andrew
Johnson was visiting New York, and of course it was at Delmonico’s that the
citizens of the city hosted the dinner in his honor on August 29, 1866. It was
“the finest dinner with which I ever had anything to do,” Filippini much
later told a journalist (New­York Tribune, February 16, 1890:15). The bill of
fare was composed as follows (Filippini 1889:403)4:



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 49. © American Folklore Society 2018

DINNER BY THE CITIZENS OF NEW YORK,
TO HIS EXCELLENCY

PRESIDENT JOHNSON,
IN HONOR OF

His Visit to the City, Wednesday, August 29, 1866.
­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Menu.

POTAGES.

Variés. Timbales de Gibier à la Vénitienne. Variés.
POISSONS.

RELEVÉS

ENTRÉES.

SORBET.
A la Dunderberg,

ROTIS.

ENTREMETS.

SUCRES.

Fruits et Dessert.

PIECES MONTÉES.

Consommé à la Chatelaine

Saumon à la Livonienne.

Selle d’Agneau aux Concombres.

Suprêmes de volaille à la Dauphine.
Ballotins de Pigeons à la Lucullus.
Filets de Canetons à la Tyrolienne.

Bécasses Bardées.

Petit Pois.
Aubergines.

Pêches à la New York.
Macédoine de Fruits au Curaçoa.

Bavarois aux Fraises.
Crême aux Amandes.

Beauséjour au Malaga.
Gâteau Soleil.

Bisque aux Quenelles

Paupiettes de Kingfish à la Villeroi.

Filet de Boeuf à la Pocahontas.

Côtelettes à la Maréchale.
Ris de Veau à la Montgomery.

Boudins à la Richelieu.

Ortolans Farcis.

Tomates Farcies.
Artichauts à la Barigoul.

Abricots Siciliens.
Moscovites aux Oranges.

Gelée Californienne.
Méringue Chantilly.

Mille­feuilles Pompadour.
Biscuits Glacés aux Pistaches.

Monument de Washington.
Temple de la Liberté.

Casque Romain.
Char de la Paix.

Cassolette Sultane.

Fontaine des Aigles.
Trophée Nationale.
Colonne de l’Union.

Rotonde Egyptienne.
Cornes d’Abondances.



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 50. © American Folklore Society 2018

VINS.

POTAGES.
Amontillado 1824.

POISSONS.
Hochheimerberg.

RELEVÉS.
Champagne.

ENTRÉES.
Château Margaux ’48.

ROTIS.
Clos de Vougeot.

ENTREMETS SUCRES.
Tokai Impériale.

DESSERT.
Madère Faguart.

An impressive menu, indeed, and it came with an appropriate price tag:
“about $100 a plate” ($1,500 in today’s money) (New­York Tribune,
February 16, 1890:15). While it is very unlikely that seventeen­year­old
Filippini was actually involved in composing the bill of fare, that dinner
shaped his notion of fine dining and a grand banquet. The menu most
certainly was Ranhofer’s choice, since he had joined Delmonico’s four years
earlier, in 1862. It is interesting to note, however, that in 1866 the signatory
dishes of the Gilded Age for which Delmonico’s is famous still today are not
yet on the menu, which is still very much in the contemporary French
tradition. It does not feature the delicacies that used more local produce
such as canvasback duck or terrapin and evolved into the French­American
cuisine attributed to Delmonico’s. Also, specific new Delmonico creations
such as Lobster Newburg, Delmonico Steak, or Baked Alaska had not yet
been invented.

From the restaurant at 14th Street, Filippini went on to their Broad Street
restaurant (until 1883), then to their Pine Street restaurant, and when that
closed in 1889, he moved to the new Delmonico’s restaurant at 341
Broadway. A journalist recounted Filippini’s achievements with



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 51. © American Folklore Society 2018

Delmonico’s — in full praise—as follows:

Alessandro Filippini has been a power of strength in the Delmonico
establishment for twenty­five years. He has been at one and at all times
the manager, the buyer and the inventor of toothsome dishes. Every
morning for twenty­five years he arose in time to visit the markets by 3
o’clock, where he purchased the daily supplies for all of the Delmonico
restaurants, uptown and downtown. No man ever knew better than he
the value of food products, and none could buy so well for his employer.
Every day he visited the various restaurants, studied their needs, made
suggestions and improvements in the service, and kept everything
running with perfect smoothness. Not an hour of the day was he ever
idle, and his black hair has become silver­streaked in his long service.
(New­York Tribune, February 3, 1891:3)

Another contemporary report, by Deshler Welch, a New York journalist,
connoisseur, and author of The Bachelor and the Chafing­Dish (1896),
describes Filippini’s standing within the Delmonico empire and with its
notable patrons:

In no other one place in this country or Europe could the assemblage
have so obtained in its notabilia. I have seen at one time statesmen of
several countries, world­wide­known actors, diplomats, literary men,
critics and the best known representatives of music, art and money—for
I regard the accumulation of the latter as a high and mighty art. That
was during the latter Eighties, when that really great cook Alexander
Filippini had charge of the kitchen, where he marshaled his forces and
drilled them with Napoleonic accomplishment in the batterie de
cuisine. I met Filippini several times then, while I was under the
guidance of “Charley” Delmonico in exploring the wonderful studies of
preparation. He was a personal friend of many eminent people who
visited Delmonico’s: John Hay, Gordon Bennett, Chauncey Depew,
Cleveland, the Belmonts, Vanderbilts, Whitneys, Oelrichs, and
hundreds of others known as good raconteurs and bon­vivants. (Welch
1915)

Not only was Filippini friends with the celebrities who frequented
Delmonico’s, but he is reported to have been in culinary interaction with
them as well. Welch recounts the story of Li Hung Chang, the famous and
controversial Chinese general, politician, and diplomat, who visited New
York in 1896. While in town, the “Viceroy” expressly desired to see



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 52. © American Folklore Society 2018

Delmonico’s, and he is supposed to have left with Filippini a particular
recipe for cooking eggs which the chef then gladly added to his repertoire:

Fried Eggs, Li Hung Chang

Prepare and trim six fresh toasts, three inches square, lightly butter and
place on a dish. Broil six exceedingly thin slices lean bacon for a minute
on each side, remove and cut each slice in two, and arrange over the six
toasts. Heat thoroughly a well­buttered, small frying pan, crack in two
fresh eggs, sprinkle over a teaspoon very finely grated, cooked ham,
season with a saltspoon salt and half saltspoon pepper, cook for two
minutes on the range, then set in the oven for one minute. Remove and
carefully glide over one toast, then prepare five more portions in a
similar manner. When all prepared sprinkle over half teaspoon curry
powder evenly divided. Place an ounce butter in a frying pan, shuffle the
pan until the butter attains a nice brown colour, then pour in a teaspoon
vinegar, toss a little, then pour over the eggs and serve. (Filippini
1906:770)

However, in all probability this story is too good to be true. While the
Chinese merchants of New York hosted a dinner for Li Hung Chang at
Delmonico’s on September 1, 1896, the guest of honor was notably absent
that night “because of a painful injury to his finger” (New York Times,
September 2, 1896:5). There are no reports of Li Hung Chang actually
visiting Delmonico’s on another occasion, and in 1896 Filippini was no
longer in Delmonico’s service anyway.

In 1885, just after the death of the great Charles Delmonico (who was
succeeded by Charles C. Delmonico), Filippini began collecting and writing
down the recipes used in the Delmonico kitchens. After five years of work he
published it in book form as The Table, or The Delmonico Cook Book. Not
only did Filippini give a bill of fare for the three meals of each day of the
year, with the corresponding recipes, but also extensive advice about the
seasonality of all kinds of foods and about how to set a table and serve the
food.

In the introductory chapter, “The Pleasures of the Table,” Filippini pointed
out that the evolution of the culinary art in New York in the second half of
the nineteenth century by establishments such as Delmonico’s was possible
largely because New York offered the required environment in terms of
quality of foods and patrons who were open to be educated:

. . . there is no place in the civilized world where the market for the



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 53. © American Folklore Society 2018

supply of food is so well provided as in New York, both as to variety and
excellence, and even as to luxuries. Educated as thousands of persons
have been, in the art of dining, by the famous Delmonico and his able
lieutenants, New York, perhaps, contains a larger number of so­called
high­livers than any other city.

These “gourmands” (if you please), and their number is legion, have,
with the aid of the excellent resources of the American market and the
encouragement given to the culinary art of the period, brought the
modern American table to virtual perfection. This is saying a great deal,
inasmuch as the famed restaurants of London, Paris, and Vienna have
ever claimed a reputation and an ascendancy over others that seemed to
form a part of history itself.

But as times change, so we change with them. Westward the course of
Empire sways, and the great glory of the past has departed from those
centres where the culinary art at one time defied all rivals. The sceptre
of supremacy has passed into the hands of the great metropolis of the
New World. (Filippini 1889:1­2)

A quarter of a century later, he had to revise his opinion. As he told a
reporter of The Christian Register (1906:772), he found “the very best and
freshest foundations in the way of meats and vegetables” in France and
Switzerland:

In Switzerland, particularly, the vegetable markets are exquisite, every
article daintily cleansed and tied with the national colors. These
markets put to shame the vegetable stands of New York, heavy with the
sweepings of near­by halls and the street, while the vegetables
themselves are kept by night in unventilated cellars. This destroys the
savor of fruit and vegetables.

And the people in the New World deserved to be enabled to bring that
supreme culinary art of Delmonico’s to their own homes: “Variety is the
spice of life,” Filippini writes, “but nowhere is it more important, aye,
actually necessary, than in the getting up of a palatable meal. This pertains
not only to the dining­room of a hotel of the least pretensions or to the so­
called ‘grand’ restaurant, but particularly to the family table.” (Filippini
1889:1).

Filippini held that, of course, the quality of the dish depended on the quality
of the ingredients, and so he devoted a good portion of his introductory



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 54. © American Folklore Society 2018

notes also on where and when to buy what kind of food. To Filippini, “one of
the leading questions” that directly affected the American cuisine at the time
was the transportation of meat to the East Coast. When reading his
statements today, they appear surprisingly modern, and it is hard to believe
that they were actually made almost 130 years ago.

The quality of meat does not depend upon the place where the animal is
slaughtered, but it does depend upon the state of the animal’s health
when it is slaughtered. Let the cattle­cars be improved so that cattle can
be transported without being knocked about and bruised, and let them
be properly fed and watered while in transit; after making the long
journey from the far West, let them be well rested and cooled off before
slaughtering.

The Western dressed­beef men will also have to be on their mettle in
order to meet the exigencies of the times. Let them keep their wild
prairie cattle and their scalawags out of their better markets, handles
their beef carefully, keep it subjected to a uniform temperature of about
38° Fahrenheit, discard all artificial preservative means, and all
opponents to their interest will be bereft of argument. (Filippini
1889:3)

Filippini then goes on to give detailed and precise instructions on how a
table is properly set, and how the food, once prepared, is served. “To set a
table seems, perhaps, very easy,” Filippini writes, “but to set it properly and
tastily, is not such an easy matter.” He points out that paying attention to
setting the table and service was more important for a successful dinner
than preparing “costly viands,” and also gives advice as to the temperatures
of the dining room (“should never exceed sixty degrees”), the food (“dinner
be served very hot”), and the different wines (“champagne . . . very cold,
almost at the freezing point”) (Filippini 1889:19­21).

In the second part of the book, Filippini compiled a bill of fare for the three
meals of every day of the year. The menus look impressive, in quantity and
in quality. For an arbitrary weekday in May, for example, Filippini, suggests
the following arrangement of food (Filippini 1889:69):

Breakfast.
Eggs à la Hyde.

Fried Cod’s Tongues.



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 55. © American Folklore Society 2018

Pork Chops, Apple sauce.
Hashed Potatoes, sautées.

Iced Timbale of Rice

Luncheon.
Broiled Soft­shelled Crabs à la Diable.

Tripe à la Mode de Caën.
Potatoes Soufflées.

Salad Suédoise.
Crême en Mousse au Curaçoa.

Dinner.
Oak Island Oysters.

Consommé Vermicelli.
Radishes. Olives.

Kingfish, Egg sauce.
Stewed Kidneys, with cèpes.

Tomatoes à la Bock.
Sweetbreads à la Pompadour.

Spinach, with Eggs.
Broiled Snipe, with Bacon.

Lettuce Salad.
Strawberry Shortcake.

Coffee.

On a Sunday, it would (appropriately) get even more sophisticated, and the
bill of fare includes dishes that the reader was familiar with from visits to
Delmonico’s (or hearsay), such as Terrapin à la Newburg for lunch or Roast
Canvas­back Duck for dinner. Most importantly, the reader for the first time
could learn how these famous Delmonico delicacies were to be prepared, for
in the third part of the book, Filippini made the hitherto secret recipes of all
suggested dishes public, with the blessing of his employer.

When reading the bills of fare and the recipes, one might wonder how the
host and the guests could actually cope with such a setting. First, while
Filippini designed his book “for the use of private families” (Filippini
1889:vi), it is implicitly assumed that the family had kitchen staff and
appropriate equipment. As the reviewer of the New­York Tribune noted on
February 16, 1890, “most of these menus are too elaborate for any but
families of wealth with many servants.” Further, the bill of fare was rather a
suggestion of choices than a strict order. Filippini recommends that menus
be placed at each cover5 and explains that “it is not a breach of etiquette to



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 56. © American Folklore Society 2018

refuse a course you do not desire; by knowing what is coming, you can with
propriety refuse a course, and take the next one” (Filippini 1889:20).
Nevertheless, the book was well received, sold very well, and was quickly re­
issued in a number of revised and enlarged editions. At the time, it was “one
of the most popular culinary books in [the] English language” (Fellows
1904:188).

In 1890, Charles Delmonico decided to close the restaurant at 341
Broadway, after only five years. The restaurant was not “as profitable as it
was hoped it would be,” according to an article in the December 9, 1890
New­York Daily Tribune. He had established it especially for the
accommodation of the dry goods and wholesale merchants who had their
business in the neighborhood—against the advice of his best friends who
thought it unwise to go farther uptown than Chambers Street. Filippini
regarded this as an opportunity and quit Delmonico’s service, sounding the
bell for the decline of the famous restaurant dynasty (see D’Aversa 2014:70­
75). Confident enough, he opened a restaurant of his own—Filippini’s—just
a block away, at 337 Broadway. Today we know little about Filippini’s own
establishment. A contemporary report in the New­York Tribune, published
March 14, 1891, the day of the opening, allows us at least to imagine
Filippini’s concept:

The new restaurant is fitted up in handsome style with all the modern
improvements and conveniences. The building has been altered
completely. The large, roomy kitchen is in the cellar. In order to
preclude the possibility of any odors penetrating to other parts of the
restaurant, Mr. Filippini has placed a brick shaft and pipe in the
building, which runs from the kitchen floor to a height of twelve feet
above the housetop. A huge fan, run by machinery, will drive any
possible odors through this outlet. The sub­cellar will be used for a
storage room and bakery, as Mr. Filippini will have the bread for the
restaurant baked upon the premises. On the ground floor are the bar,
the luncheon counter and the café. . . . A handsome stairway and an
elevator lead to the restaurant proper, for men and women, on the first
floor. In addition to the general room, it contains three private rooms
connected by folding doors. When occasion demands, the three rooms
may be thrown into one hall seating between sixty and seventy persons.



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 57. © American Folklore Society 2018

Large plate­glass windows admit the light from the Broadway side. The
natural, cheerful tone of the room is enhanced by the use of light
colored paper and carpet. The entire house is lighted with gas and
electricity. The chandeliers are artistic and ornamental.

Filippini told the press that he “intended to keep only the best food, wines
and other beverages” (ibid). One wonders what was on the menu at
Filippini’s, whether his offerings were similar to those at Delmonico’s, or
what individual handwriting Filippini added. However, only one menu
seems to have survived, from a private luncheon on New Year’s Eve 18916

that may not be representative for the restaurant as such. Nevertheless, it
shows a careful selection of classic dishes in the Franco­American tradition
of the time:

MENU
­­­­

HUÎTRES
­­­­

Consommé en tasse
­­­­­

Céléri Radis
­­­­­

Filet de sole en vin blanc, gratiné
Pommes de terre, duchesse

­­­­­
Côtelettes d’agneau, sauce Périgueux

Petit pois à l’anglaise
Champignons frais grilles sur toast

­­­­­
Cailles roties sur canapé

Salade de céleri, mayonnaise
­­­­­

Charlotte panachée
­­­­­

Fruits Café
­­­­­

DEC. 31, 1891 FILIPPINI’S

The New York Tribune on March 14, 1891 anticipated that—in view of the
opening of Filippini’s—“the restaurant, which will be run on the same plan
as Delmonico’s, is destined to have many patrons.” Alas, it did not, and
contrary to Filippini’s ambitions to replicate his prior employer’s overall



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 58. © American Folklore Society 2018

success, the restaurant failed to attain the same fame and standing as the
old Delmonico’s.

On May 16, 1893, the New­York Tribune reported that Filippini had to close
Filippini’s Restaurant and make an assignment of his property for the
benefit of creditors. One wonders why Filippini decided to open his own
place next door to the unfortunate Delmonico’s Broadway restaurant, but it
seems that he had been very optimistic and had invested the respectable
sum of $25,000 ($650,000 in today’s currency), partially with money
borrowed from the influential and wealthy friends he made during his time
at Delmonico’s. According to contemporary sources, the initial investment
was far from enough to cover refurbishment and operating costs. In two
years, he had amassed liabilities in the amount of $95,793 ($2.5 million in
today’s currency), whereas the actual value of the assets amounted only to
$8,623 ($223,000) (New York Herald, June 1, 1893:15).

During the short life of his restaurant, the chef and owner however found
time to put out three more cookbooks: One Hundred Ways of Cooking Eggs
(1892), One Hundred Ways of Cooking Fish (1892) and One Hundred
Desserts (1893), later published in a combined edition as 300 Culinary
Receipts (1893). We don’t know whether he filled spare time due to slow
business, or if he published these books as marketing tools for his own
restaurant. In any case, the three works are far less innovative than The
Table, and he recycled quite a number of recipes from his first book therein.

A new project to manage a Hotel Somerset in Bernardsville, New Jersey, in
summer 1893 seems to have been very short­lived and never materialized
(New­York Tribune, April 20, 1893:8), and Filippini may actually have been
out of work for some years until around 1898 when he entered into the
services of the International Navigation Company, which was later renamed
International Mercantile Marine. His new employer was the large
conglomerate, backed financially by the banker J. P. Morgan, that at one
point owned and operated 188 ships, including the American Line, the Red
Star Line, the White Star Line and half of Holland America (Wikipedia
contributors).

And what a job he got. The contemporary press described it with headlines
like A Unique Vocation (Los Angeles Times, July 23, 1899:20) or Queer
Job—And no other Man in the World has One Like It (Cincinnati Enquirer,
August 7, 1899:4): He became the “travelling inspector of the American
liners,” called in to “systematize steamship cooking on a new basis,” and
spent “practically no time on land, frequently reaching port in time to sail
back again on another liner upon the same day” (The Philadelphia Inquirer,
July 30, 1899:5). He reportedly got on board a ship without previous
arrangement, not being expected, and watched the preparation and serving
of meals, showed the cooks and bakers essential details, and also made sure



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 59. © American Folklore Society 2018

that the table stewards were in good training.

Apart from his inspectorial duties, he also oversaw the composition of the
menus served on board—evidently his core competence. An article in the
The Philadelphia Inquirer of July 30, 1899 described it as follows:

Then Mr. Filippini also studies the classes of people traveling at various
seasons, and prepares menus for each day to suit the tastes of people
from all parts of the globe. For instance, he does not forget to have roast
of beef for Englishmen occasionally, sauces and stews for Frenchmen,
Hungarian goulasch for Austrians, wiener wursts for the Germans, and
macaroni and all dressings for Italians, as extras, suiting the tastes of all
nationalities, without having the bills of fare predominate in dishes not
acceptable to others.

In 1899, he traveled through the largest cities of Europe (Los­Angeles
Times, July 23, 1899:20), and three years later took a long leave of absence.
Armed with a letter of introduction to United States consuls in all parts of
the world, obtained from Secretary Hay at the suggestion of Chauncey
Depew (then US Senator for New York, frequent patron at Delmonico’s, and
a personal friend of Filippini), Filippini went on a trip around the world,
starting in Honolulu in January 1902 and ending in Paris in September that
year (Filippini 1906:v­xv, Welch 1915). In between, he traveled through
Japan, China and Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, India, Egypt,
Greece, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Belgium, and his old
country, Switzerland. By visiting innumerable hotels, restaurants and
private homes, he gathered over 3,300 recipes that he arranged to form
suggestions (as in The Table) for “complete ménus of the three meals for
every day in the year” and published them as The International Cook Book
(1906). Filippini’s last culinary bow at the end of his career was again a
success. It saw several reprints, and a number of newspapers published
select exotic recipes from the book for their readers. As in 1889, he seems to
have hit the gastronomic Zeitgeist. A quarter of a century after The Table,
dining habits had changed drastically, with families having less time and
allocating fewer resources to preparing food at home. Filippini’s final work
reflects that social change: The menus are simpler, the preparation of the
dishes less complex, and the ingredients more commonly available than in
the 1890s. And to serve the public’s appetite for more meat on the bone than
just plain recipes, he spiced his compilation with anecdotes from his travels,
such as his adventures in China:

In the zealous search for knowledge of the kitchen in China, the writer
had several very narrow escapes from the violence of suspicious Boxers.
Not having been warned as to how dangerous it is for a traveller to enter



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 60. © American Folklore Society 2018

Canton unaccompanied by a native guide, I boldly made my way
through the old city early one morning. Beginning with rude nudges
from passers­by, the indignities increased until I was followed by an
increasing horde, and then through the narrow passages I hurried,
occasionally warding off an assailant. My curiosity had evidently led
them to take me for a war­tax collector, and when I eluded them finally
and got to the European quarters much surprise was expressed that I
had ventured there alone and had been able to get away. (Filippini
1906:vi)

Very little is known about Filippini’s private life. For the better part of his
life in New York City, he lived with two sisters and a brother, who also
emigrated from Switzerland. The busy life at Delmonico’s and then the long
periods on board ships seem to have prevented him from marrying. But
quite late in life he met Julia Martinoli, a Swiss widow 17 years younger,
who became his companion, and in 1898 their daughter, Alice Filippini, was
born. Alessandro Filippini died on December 8, 1917 in New York City, at
age 67.7 Neither a report nor an obituary was published in any of the
newspapers. New York had already forgotten about him.

Filippini’s Culinary Legacy

What remains of Alessandro Filippini today? Filippini was not the first chef
to write a cookbook for the general public with bills of fare for each day of
the month (see Déliée 1884, for example),8 but he made a remarkable
contribution to the democratization of haute cuisine and fine dining by
bringing, for the first time, the secrets of the most famous restaurant in
America, generally reserved for the higher society who could afford to dine
at Delmonico’s, to the modest homes of the American majority.

But does Filippini also deserve credit as the inventor of the dishes, in
particular the novel Delmonico dishes, he assembled in his works? Today, it
is difficult to tell who the actual creator of these culinary novelties
was—Filippini, Ranhofer or another chef at Delmonico’s (Tschirky, not
having been a cook, is not a contender). Many of the dishes in The Table
were later included also in the works of Ranhofer and Tschirky, without any
acknowledgment to Filippini. Filippini himself attributes one recipe
specifically to Ranhofer (“Chicken, Sauté à la Ranhofer”) and a number to
members of the Delmonico family (such as “Fillets of Shad à la Chas. C.
Delmonico,” “Striped Bass Boiled à la Lorenzo C. Delmonico,” “Chocolate
Macarons à la Aimée Delmonico,” “Beignets à la Josephine Delmonico,” “St.
Honoré à la Rose Delmonico,” or the famous “Canapé Lorenzo”).
Interestingly enough, Filippini publishes the recipes for dishes for which



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 61. © American Folklore Society 2018

Delmonico’s still today is most famous, namely “Delmonico Potatoes” and
“Delmonico’s Steak,” only later in his International Cookbook, even though
they had been around already when The Table came out. The attribution to
the Delmonicos may have been rather an honorary tip of the hat to a
particular individual, or a recipe that a member of the family particularly
liked or inspired, than an indication of inventorship. The Delmonicos were
not chefs themselves. Filippini also seems to have been quite close to the
Delmonico family, in particular the older generation. Coming into the New
World from villages just a few miles apart obviously forms a natural bond,
evident in the dedication of The Table to the Delmonico family “as a mark of
reverence to those departed, and of respect and esteem of those living.”

Ranhofer’s book contains far fewer references to specific Delmonico recipes.
We find a recipe for “Delmonico Sirloin Steak,”9 chicken, pheasant, and
roebuck “à la Lorenzo,” “Oysters in case à la Lorenzo,” and also the
“Canapés Lorenzo.” Prominently absent is the recipe for Baked Alaska, the
famous Delmonico dessert reportedly invented by him to celebrate the
acquisition of Alaska in 1867. Tschirky’s only explicit reference to
Delmonico recipes is, apart from Lobster Newburg, the recipe
for—again—“Canapés Lorenzo.”

When comparing the recipes of that dish given by Filippini, Ranhofer and
Tschirky, it does not come as a surprise that they are quite similar.
However, the comparison is to some extent indicative of the recipe’s origin.
While the textual and preparatory differences suggest that Ranhofer and
Filippini wrote them down independently, probably from memory or
personal notes, Tschirky’s text is obviously copied, directly from Filippini’s
book, with only minor alterations.

Filippini (1889)

Canapé Lorenzo.

Cut out from an American
bread six slices, the width of
the bread, one­quarter of an
inch in thickness; neatly
pare off the crust, fry them
in a sautoire with half an
ounce of butter, so as to
have them of a light brown
color. Boil eighteen hard­
shelled crabs in salted water
for twelve minutes, remove
them, and let cool until they
can be handled with bare
hands; then remove the
upper shell, and with the

Ranhofer (1894)

Canapés Lorenzo (Canapés
à la Lorenzo).

Fry colorless two ounces of
onions cut in one­eighth of
an inch squares, and when
done add a tablespoonful of
flour; let this cook for a few
minutes without browning,
then moisten with a pint of
fresh cream; season with
salt, cayenne pepper and
nutmeg, and reduce it to
the consistency of a well
thickened sauce; now throw
in one pound of crab meat
sautéd in butter over a
brisk fire in a pan, letting it

Tschirky (1896)

Canapes Lorenzo.

Cut six slices of bread the
width of an American loaf
and one­quarter of an inch
in thickness, neatly pare off
the crust and fry in a
sautoire, together with half
an ounce of fresh butter, so
as to make them a light
brown color; then boil
eighteen hard­shell crabs in
salted water for about twelve
minutes, after which remove
and allow them to become
cool, when the upper shell
should be removed, and with



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 62. © American Folklore Society 2018

aid of a pointed knife pick
out all the meat; crack both
claws, pick the meat out
also; place the meat on a
plate, season with a
tablespoonful of salt and a
saltspoonful of red pepper.
Place one ounce of butter in
a saucepan with half a
medium­sized, sound,
peeled, and very finely
chopped­up onion. Cook on
a moderate fire for two
minutes, being very careful
not to let get brown. Add
two tablespoonfuls of flour,
stirring constantly for two
minutes; then add one gill
of broth, stir well again for
five minutes while slowly
cooking. Add now the crab­
meat, and cook for fifteen
minutes more, lightly
stirring with a wooden
spoon once in awhile.
Transfer it into a vessel, and
let cool for fifteen minutes.
Place a tablespoonful of
good butter in a sautoire on
a hot stove, mix in well
together one tablespoonful
of flour, and cook very
slowly for three minutes.
Add two ounces of grated
Parmesan cheese, and the
same quantity of grated
Swiss cheese; stir all well
together. Then place in a
vessel and let cool. Place a
layer of crab forcemeat on
each toast a quarter of an
inch thick. Divide the
prepared cheese, etc., into
six equal parts, giving them
a ball­shaped form two
inches in diameter[.]
Arrange them over the layer
of the crab forcemeat right
in the centre. Place them on
a silver dish, and bake in a
brisk oven for five minutes.
Then take out from the
oven, and send to the table
in the same dish.

boil up once and then set it
away to cool. Cut slices of
bread a quarter of an inch
thick; from it cut round
pieces four inches in
diameter, using a cutter for
this purpose; divide them
straight through the center
to make two even­sized
pieces of each, toast them
on one side only; cover this
side with two ounces of the
crab preparation for each
half round, and lay the
following preparation on
top: with the hands work in
a tin basin half a pound of
butter, add to it grated
parmesan cheese, cayenne
and white pepper, and
knead these together,
adding grated parmesan so
as to form a thick paste;
cover the entire canapé
with a layer of this butter
and cheese, and set them
on a buttered baking­sheet
in the hot oven so they
attain a fine color, then
serve them as quickly as
they are removed from the
oven. They may be made
round shaped two and a
half inches in diameter if
preferred.

the aid of a pointed knife
pick out all of the meat,
cracking the claws and
removing all the meat from
there also; place it all on a
plate, season with a
teaspoonful of salt and half a
saltspoonful of red pepper;
then place one ounce of
butter in a saucepan, with a
peeled and very finely
chopped onion, and cook
them together for about two
minutes over a moderate
fire; add two tablespoonfuls
of flour, stir again for two
minutes, and add one gill of
broth, and stir while slowly
cooking for five minutes,
now add the crab meat, and
cook for quarter of an hour,
stirring once in a while with
a wooden spoon, then
remove into another vessel
and let it cool for fifteen
minutes. Put in a sautoire a
tablespoonful of good butter
over a stove, and mix in with
one tablespoonful of flour,
and cook for three minutes
gently; add a couple of
ounces of grated Parmesan
cheese and an equal quantity
of Swiss cheese, stirring well
together; place it in a vessel
to cool. Put a layer of crab
meat on each slice of toast a
quarter of an inch thick, and
divide the prepared cheese
in six equal portions,
forming them into ball
shapes about two inches in
diameter, and arrange them
over the layer of crab meat in
the center, place them on a
dish and bake in a brisk oven
for about five minutes, then
take them out and serve
them in the same dish in
which they have been
cooked.



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 63. © American Folklore Society 2018

Hence we may conclude that in many instances, there may be no sole
inventor of a particular recipe. The creation of the signature Delmonico
dishes is more likely the joint work of the chefs responsible for the
Delmonico kitchens, including both Filippini and Ranhofer. Filippini,
however, deserves the credit for being the first of the chefs to have made
them available to the public, and his collection of Delmonico dishes is by far
the most comprehensive. It remains a mystery, and subject to speculation,
though, why neither Ranhofer nor Tschirky acknowledged Filippini’s prior
work, and how Filippini could so effectively be put out of the public’s
perception of Delmonico’s history after the 1890s.10

His later work for the International Navigation Company at the end of the
nineteenth century, mostly unrelated to his time at Delmonico’s, then set
the standard for mass catering on cruise ships that became the generally
accepted fare for most of the first half of the twentieth century.

Filippini realized that eating standards were becoming more universal “like
the mail system and the standards of money,” and that he had to modify
many of the original recipes “for the American taste” as many dishes he
found on his travels were “too rich as prepared in the native homes”
(Filippini 1906:v­vii). Because he tried to accommodate the tastes of the
different cultures and adapted the recipes from different corners of the
world to the Western palate, it may thus be fair to name him a father of
“international cuisine”—which in a misconceived and widespread form
became the dreaded standard tourist fare of the twentieth century.

“The work you have now completed,” writes Charles C. Delmonico in his
reply to Filippini’s dedication of The Table to him, “I have no doubt, will
prove instructive and invaluable.” Right he was, and Filippini’s work merits
more attention by today’s culinary historians as the first comprehensive
collection of Delmonico’s culinary heritage, as a reformer of passenger ship
catering, and as a promoter of “international cuisine.” The table for that has
now been set.

Notes

1. See, for example, New York Times, September 14, 1883:8; Bangor Daily
Whig & Courier, January 17, 1884; New­York Tribune, March 15, 1888:2;
The American Hebrew, October 31, 1890:252. See also Welch (1916).

2. Various sources also contain erroneous biographical information, stating



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 64. © American Folklore Society 2018

wrongly that Filippini started working at Delmonico’s in 1848 as the
predecessor of Ranhofer and took up writing cookbooks after his
retirement, for example Smith (2013:264), Choate and Canora (2008:18).

3. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, 1820­1897. New York
Public Library, Microfilm Publication M237, Roll 266, Line 12, List Number
587.

4. Editors concur with the author’s choice to correct apparent typos in this
menu, restoring “Beauséjour” (from “Reauséjour”) and “Paupiettes” (from
“Panpiettes”) as represented in Ranhofer (1920:1082).

5. As used by Filippini, “cover” means the placement of the cutlery, plates,
glasses, and napkins for each guest.

6. New York Public Library, Buttolph Collection, 1891­134. Dejeuner for
Mr. John Shaw to Mrs. Thos. Brady and Daughter / In Remembrance of a
very Pleasant evening / April 1890.

7. New York City Death Certificate No. 34832 (1917).

8. This work is, however, much more general in nature, addressing at the
same time “private families, clubs, restaurants, hotels, etc.,” and much
simpler than Filippini’s, suggesting a more limited choice of dishes per
meal, and dishes that are less complex and novel. Also, it lacks any kind of
ancillary information on such matters as setting a table, serving food, or
seasonality of food.

9. The term “Delmonico Steak” designates the cut rather than the
preparation, which—in both Filippini’s and Ranhofer’s recipes—seems fairly
standard for a steak.

10. Intriguingly, both Ranhofer and Tschirky claim that their respective
works fill a gap by bringing the recipes of haute cuisine to the household
table for the first time—as if Filippini’s work had not existed: In the preface
to The Epicurean, Ranhofer writes, “In publishing this work I have
endeavored to fill a much needed want—viz: the best and most effectual
manner of preparing healthy and nutritious food. . . . . This edition contains
innumerable recipes which I have simplified and explained in a
comprehensive manner so as to meet the wants of all” (Ranhofer 1894:vii).



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 65. © American Folklore Society 2018

Similarly, Tschirky states that he had devoted particular attention to the
requirements of the “entertainment furnished at the hearthside,” as “the
giver of a small reception . . . has been, it might be said, rather neglected in
such works as have come before the notice of the undersigned, relative to
cookery” (Tschirky 1892:Preface).

References Cited:

Choate, Judith and James Canora. 2008. Dining at Delmonico’s—The Story
of America’s Oldest Restaurant. New York: Stewart, Tabori and Chang.

D’Aversa, Andrew. 2014. Delmonico’s: The Creation of the Modern
American Restaurant. Pennsylvania State University.

Déliée, Felix J. 1884. The Franco­American Cookery Book, or How to Live
Well and Wisely Every Day in the Year. New York and London: G.P.
Putnam’s Sons.

Fellows, Charles. 1904. The Culinary Handbook. Chicago: Hotel Monthly
Press.

Filippini, Alexander. 1889. The Table: How to Buy Food, How to Cook It
and How to Serve It. New York: C. L. Webster & Company. Simultaneously
published as The Delmonico Cook Book: How to Buy Food, How to Cook It
and How to Serve It. London: Brentano’s.

­­­­­. 1900. Passport application, July 28, 1900. New York Public Library,
M1372 Passport Application Roll 561, Vol. 925, 1900 July.

­­­­­. 1892. One Hundred Ways of Cooking Fish. New York: C. L. Webster &
Company.

­­­­­. 1892. One Hundred Ways of Cooking Eggs. New York: C. L. Webster
& Company.

­­­­­. 1893. One Hundred Desserts. New York: H.M. Caldwell Co.

­­­­­. 1906. The International Cook Book. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.

Messerli, Johann Chr. 1822. Adressbuch der Stadt Bern. Bern: C. A. Jenni.

Ranhofer, Charles. 1894. The Epicurean. New York: C. Ranhofer.



Meer, Michael A. 2017. The Forgotten Chef at Delmonico's: Alessandro Filippini.
Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 6: 66. © American Folklore Society 2018

­­­­­. 1920. The Epicurean: A Complete Treatise of Analytical and Practical
Studies on the Culinary Art. Chicago: The Hotel Monthly Press.

Schriftgiesser, Karl. 1943. Oscar of the Waldorf. New York: E. P. Dutton &
Co.

Smith, Andrew F. 2013. Food and Drink in American History: A “Full
Course” Encyclopedia, Vol. 1. Santa Barbara: ABC­Clio.

Thomas, Lately [Steele, Robert V.]. 1967. Delmonico's; a Century of
Splendor. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Tschirky, Oscar. 1896. The Cook Book by “Oscar” of the Waldorf. Chicago,
New York: The Saalfield Publishing Co.

Welch, Deshler. 1915. “Del’s:” Interesting Reminiscences of Charles
Delmonico. The Fra, For Philistines and Roycrofters 16 (March 1916): 208­
210.

Wikipedia contributors. 2018. International Navigation Company. In
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Navigation_Company
(accessed August 2, 2017).






