Food critics are not prone to being Pollyannas, but in the face of so much gloom and doom about the future of the world’s restaurant industry during the current pandemic, as a culinary historian I remain very optimistic.
    The California Restaurant Association contends that as many as 30,000 of the state’s 90,000 restaurants might close for good. “I expect 70% of restaurants will close as a result of this,” said Tom Colicchio, host of Bravo’s Top Chef. He may well be right, but there will be another 70% to replace them. For more than most industries providing a social need restaurants have a long history of adapting to boom and bust times, not least because of the kind of people who go into a business that is very difficult even in
good times. To open and run a restaurant takes not just a commitment of time and effort — as it would be for, say, a dry cleaners, an auto body shop or hair salon, whose owners are likely drawn to the business for the chance to make a living for their families.
     Opening a restaurant demands a fervent love of the business, from the owners to the chefs and often the waiters and busboys who fantasize about someday owning their own place. Even restaurateurs who beg their sons and daughters not to follow them in the rough-tough business find their children often leave other, more secure professions to come back to work in the family’s restaurants.  And because of that love restaurants have historically proven far more resilient than many other small businesses, not least after wars and pandemics have utterly destroyed them.
        One cannot go back to Ancient Rome, the Middle Ages or even the 18th century to demonstrate restaurants’ survival abilities, simply because, before the 19th century, the only eating places open to the public were just roadside taverns and cafés. Restaurants as we know them—where you can sit at a table, choose from a menu, order wine and get  good service—are really a phenomenon of the era following the bloodiest days of French Revolution, when the former cooks for the aristocracy opened bistros and full-fledged restaurants to appeal to the burgeoning bourgeoisie. (Some believe the word “bistro” comes from the days when, after the Napoleonic Wars, Russian troops streamed into Paris shouting “bistra, bistra!”—“quick, quick!”—to get a meal.)
    Even during the Prussian siege of Paris in 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War, with many people starving and butchers selling cats and dog meat, the bistros and fine dining restaurants stayed open. Running low on basic ingredients, cooks began serving elephant steak and stewed beaver from zoos.  In fact, one journalist wrote, “We will end up going through the whole of Noah’s Ark.”
     After the war,  the Golden Age of Paris restaurants began with the establishment of grand brasseries on Montparnasse, which became the epicenter of artistic social life, and the opening of the vast Les Halles market, where every conceivable food from all over Europe was brought in by rail and sold.
    Through World War I Paris’s restaurants stayed open and  they thrived through the Jazz Age. Not even the so-called Spanish Flu of 1918-1919, which killed upwards of 250,000 French people, nor the global Depression of the 1930s, much affected them, as chronicled by habitués like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, who made names like La Rotonde, La Coupole and La Cloiserie des Lilas (right) famous. Even during the German occupation of the city early in World War II, restaurants stayed open, working off rationing, while the grandest dining rooms, especially in the hotels, became the exclusive haunts of German officers. (The scene in the movie “Inglorious Basterds,” wherein a Nazi officer dines sumptuously with a woman he is interrogating is both chilling and sickening.)
    In other European countries whose cities were bombed into rubble, as in Italy, Belgium, England and, especially, Germany, the first small businesses to open after the war were eating places. By the mid-1950s Italy was enjoying “Il Boom,” with restaurants central to a new vitality in cities like Rome, Milan, Venice and Naples. One has only to read of the gourmet meals James “007” Bond enjoyed throughout Europe in Ian Fleming’s novels of the 1950s to sense how quickly the continent went from starvation to abundance.
    America had had a lively restaurant industry since the 1840s, largely unaffected by wars, earthquakes and recessions, and it was increased enormously by the arrival of millions of immigrants in the late 19th century who opened trattorias, chop suey shops, chili parlors, diners, rathskellers and delicatessens. The industry did live under rationing during World War II, but the restaurants of major cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with huge influxes of servicemen coming and going, did very well. After the war, with the permanent return of those servicemen and women, America boomed, the Interstate Highway system was built and the industry responded with the creation of fast food eateries, chain restaurants, theme restaurants and high-end ethnic restaurants everywhere.
    After Sept. 11, 2001, the same dire predictions about New York’s restaurant industry never recovering proved to be extremely short-sighted. At the time New York had about 20,000 restaurants; today the city is home to 26,000.
     When Hurricane Katrina in 2005 destroyed New Orleans’s restaurant sector, sending employees flowing out of town, it was predicted they would never return to a city so damaged and without any tourism. Yet the lights were back on within weeks in the city. Indeed, in the aftermath of Katrina New Orleans gained restaurants. Where there had been 984 restaurants in the city before the hurricane, there are now more than 1,300, an increase of about 30%.
    Because of this history of resilience I am convinced that America’s restaurant industry will not just survive but thrive, and, once the All Clear signal is sounded, it will happen rapidly. To be sure, no one knows what seismic changes may occur, how fine dining versus storefront eateries will be affected, how much more take-out and delivery will be available.  But, unlike the devastation of wars and hurricanes, in America food service spaces are still intact, and real estate, like Nature, abhors a vacuum.   Certainly many operators will never re-open their restaurants, but others will take their place, modify their expectations and be more responsive to the public’s wants and needs.  More than with most leisure time endeavors, people want desperately to eat out again, and restaurants will respond to that enormous appetite.
    I am reminded of a scene in The Diary of Anne Frank (left), in which the family members, isolated for months in an attic, but still believing they would soon be out, fantasize about the first thing they’ll do when they return to the world outside.  Anne says she yearns to go to a dance. Her teenage brother wants to go to a movie, a western movie! And the adults all start remembering and dreaming of a wonderful pastry shop, a good stew, a romantic restaurant with thick linen and fine wines.
    So, when we all finally emerge from our homes, we’ll all want to go to a restaurant for a good stew and fine wine, for it is the surest sign that all is well again. And the people who run our restaurants will respond as they always have, because they would love nothing more than to feed us all.

❖❖❖

 BEN BENSON, MASTER STEAKHOUSE OWNER,
PASSES AWAY AT 89

         Ben Benson, one of New York’s exemplars in the highly competitive steakhouse genre, has died at the age of 89. Ever familiar in his brightly colored sweaters, Ben would walk slowly through his two-story restaurant on West 52^nd Street, seemingly aloof. The truth was, Ben had been legally blind since college and once said, “People think I’m a snob. It’s difficult because I can’t make eye contact.”
         But if he could not connect by eye  with his legion of regulars, he kept his professional eye on every aspect of hospitality and quality at his restaurant, which was decked out with folk art, antlers and brass. No one bought better beef or lamb chops. His creamed spinach was nonpareil, and fried items like onion rings were irresistible once tasted. The wine list had depth and breadth and high prices, and his service staff, many long-time veterans from Eastern Europe, could carve open  a roast chicken or shell a lobster with equal parts speed and grace.
         With Alan Stillman, a fellow Bucknell alumnus, Ben founded the TGIFriday restaurants, and opened Smith & Wollensky with him on the East Side, which itself grew into a franchise chain. But Ben refused to open more than one steakhouse with his own name on it, telling the Times,  "There will never, never, never be another Ben Benson's."
         Ben Benson’s Steakhouse opened in 1982 and had a terrific run, but after the downturn in 2008, business slumped and never returned to acceptable heights. In addition, more than a dozen new highly competitive steakhouses had opened on the West Side.  That, plus an enormous rent hike, forced him finally to close the restaurant on Father’s Day in 2012, with vague plans to re-open somewhere else. But Ben was getting older and his sight wasn’t getting any better.
         I have to imagine that Ben was a tough negotiator and taskmaster in his business, but I only knew him as a very sweet, very New York kind of guy, ready to hear or tell a good story, eager to recommend a particular dish of the evening and someone who clearly loved what he did. That’s the way it is with true restaurateurs and why they stay in business for thirty years. Everybody knew Ben and everyone looked up to him.  There will never, never, never be another Ben Benson.

NEW YORK CORNER
By John Mariani

LOVE AND PIZZA

CHAPTER SIX

© John Mariani, 2020

NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR

    It’s well known that in times of crisis people gravitate to that which brings them easy comfort. And in the past few weeks, during this coronavirus pandemic, what I’ve found is that it’s the simple, easy-drinking wines that bring the most comfort and enjoyment.
    In fact, drinking very complex wines that require pondering to enjoy fully, like well-aged vintage Bordeaux and even young premier cru Chablis, are much less comforting than simpler, easy drinking whites, reds, and sparklers,  many of which might cause connoisseurs to turn up their noses. And yes, I realize that with the stay-at-home restrictions in many areas, consumers may be reaching for wine closet or wine cellar stock more often than usual. But even in heavily hit New York City, wine shops are open and offering delivery and curb-side pick-up services.
    So, based on my experience this past month, the following are some of these widely available “comfort wines” that should provide a salve to the wounds of the crisis, so long as they are consumed in moderation. (Of note, studies have shown that too much alcohol can weaken the immune system, something we should be very careful about in general and especially in these times.) And, I’ve provided a bit of background information on each of the wines, not to ponder but to occupy some of your time and allow a brief escape from the current “mind-boggling” events of the world.

 

REDS 

2018 Bodegas Borsao Garnacha ($9)—In the 1950s Spain’s struggling economy forced a number of small wine producers to form cooperatives to survive, of which Bordegas Bosao was one.  Founded in 1958 and starting as a small cooperative winery in northwestern Spain, about three hours north of Madrid, it now includes over 600 growers and offers some of the best wine bargains available. The wine is made from primarily Grenache blended with smaller amounts of Tempranillo and Syrah. It has a bouquet and taste of cherries and raspberries and a smooth, easy drinking taste that mates with most fare, especially beef and lamb and even hamburgers and hot dogs.

 

2017 Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico ($22)—This wine, made from certified organic grapes, hails from a village built in the 10th century in the Radda township in central Italy. It began producing wine in the 19th century but in the late 1950s stopped because all the villagers fled to the big cities during a period of severe economic downturn as a result of the industrial revolution. However, in 1966 a wealthy printer named Raffaelle Stianti purchased the village as a gift for his 15-year-old daughter, who a few years later married Carlo Maccheroni and decided to “refurbish” the winery.  Since the town was a “designated” historic site, they could not alter the walls, but brought in tanks and barrels by removing and replacing the roofs of the buildings as well as connecting the buildings by huge underground pipes that could carry wine. Today, the winery is run by their charming daughter, Federica, and her husband. The wine shows a fruity bouquet and taste of ripe plums and cherries and has a smooth finish with a hint of spice that mates well with chicken, salmon or pasta with red sauce. 

2018 Turley Juvenile Zinfandel ($30)—After a stint as part-owner of Frog’s Leap Winery, Tennessee native and Emergency Room physician Larry Turley founded Turley Wine Cellars in 1993 in Templeton, California, midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Specializing in Zinfandel, the winery now produces 47 separate wines from more than 50 vineyards. And while most are single vineyard bottlings, the Juvenile (as its name suggests) is made from a blend of Zinfandel grapes harvested from younger vines growing on a dozen and a half separate vineyards (most of which are certified organic) and fermented with indigenous yeasts. It shows a fragrant bouquet and jammy taste of raspberries and strawberries with a touch of cranberry and notes of vanilla in its finish. It marries well with grilled lamb, barbecued chicken and ribs or dark veined cheeses.

 

2016 Tenute Luce-Lucente ($27)—This wine hails from a Tuscan winery in Montalcino, 20 miles south of Siena, founded in 1995 as a joint venture between Robert Mondavi and Vittorio Frescobaldi—the first American-Italian wine collaboration in Italy. This is actually the “second” label wine made at the winery The first, Luce della Vita—meaning the “light on the vine” seen on the ride from Florence to Montalcino—is many times more expensive and perennially one of the highest rated wines from Italy. However, the Lucente is no slouch, and much easier drinking in its youth than the Luce. It has a bouquet and taste of ripe plums and cherries with notes of chocolate and hints of sage in its long finish. It’s perfect to accompany pasta or risotto primavera, braised beef, duck breast as well as swordfish or tuna.

 

 

WHITES 

2017 Ravines Dry Riesling ($17)—This wine hails from a winery foundered on the east side of Keuka Lake in New York’s Finger Lake Region in 2001 by winemaker Morten Hallgren, whose prior experience was at Cos d’Estournel and Konstantin Frank Cellars, and his wife, Lisa. The winery takes its name from the ravines in the area that draw water and cool air from the vineyards. While the winery did not have an auspicious beginning as one of the first, if not the first, to make a dry Riesling, which was not popular with locals and visitors, Lisa brought bottles to New York City, where the wine achieved quick popularity and critical acclaim. In fact, the wine has been named to the top 100 wines for the past eight years by Wine Spectator. Because of its success, new vineyards were purchased and the main facility moved to larger space in Geneva, on Seneca Lake. The wine shows a distinct, floral bouquet and taste of green apples and peaches with notes of lime in its dry, vibrant finish. In addition to mating well with grilled or broiled trout or soft-shell crabs, it goes remarkably well with egg dishes, like omelets or huevos rancheros.

2018 Domaine Fevre Chablis ($32)—While this winery, founded in 1959 and headquartered in the town of Chablis, makes spectacular premier cru Chablis, especially from the Vaulorent vineyard, those wines require a few years of bottle aging to reach their full potential. Not so with this wine, also from grapes grown in “Kimmeridgian” soil, which contains fossilized oyster shells as well as clay and limestone. In its youth it shows a bouquet and rich taste of melons and pears with strong notes of citrus in its vibrant finish and mates well with shrimp, scallops, oysters on the half shell or even roast turkey.

 

2018 Terlato Family Friuli Pinot Grigio (2018)—Anthony Terlato, known as “The Father of Pinot Grigio” for introducing Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio into the U.S. market, started his wine career in his father’s retail wine and spirits shop in 1955 and then at his father-in-law’s company that imported the wines of industry legends Alexis Lichine and Frank Schoonmaker. Since that time he has had a storied career involving importation of major European brands as well as owning wineries in California and Italy along with his sons Bill and John. This wine, made from hand-harvested grapes grown in northeastern Italy, was fermented in a combination of stainless-steel and barrels, then underwent a year of barrel aging on its lees and then another year of bottle aging. It has a bouquet and taste of pears and melons with distinct notes of almonds in its refreshing finish. Mate it with cod, sushi or even smoked salmon, as well as aged cheeses.

 

SPARKLING

 

Mionetto Prosecco DOC Treviso Brut ($12)—This bubbly is from a winery located in the Valdobbiadene region, between Verona and Venice, founded in 1887 by Francesco Mionetto. It’s made from 100% Glera grapes fermented to a still wine then allowed to go through a second fermentation by the Charmat Method, which involves placing the wine in large stainless-steel vats with yeast. While not as elegant as Champagne, this wine has an apple and spice bouquet and taste and a vibrant finish not dissimilar to a number of much more pricey prestige bottles from France. It pairs well with appetizers like bruschetta or melon wrapped in prosciutto  as well as with main course items like lobster or Cornish game hens.