Café Lafayette (Cars) , New York 1909
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This 1909 menu cover shows people in horse-drawn carriages, bicycles and early American automobiles rushing to the stylish Café Lafayette in New York’s Greenwich Village. At the time, this part of the city was a refuge for undiscovered artists, musicians, writers and actors and the center of the city’s Bohemian lifestyle. New York bohemians, like their counterparts in Paris, Berlin and other cities around the world, were free-thinkers who wanted to escape the dreary, industrial world and live unorthodox and enlightened lifestyles. They formed their own subculture, and their common interests were the arts and opposition to mainstream cultural values.
Café Lafayette was located on University Place and 9th Street and was part of the 65-room Hotel Lafayette, established in 1902. Both places were named after the French aristocrat and military officer General Lafayette who fought in the American Revolutionary War. The hotel was described by the American journalist, poet and communist activist John Reed (1887- 1920) as ‘the cradle of the city’s artistic life.’ With a tiled floor and marble-topped tables, Greenwich Village’s ‘poets and peasants’ would while away their days in the café while French expatriates and wealthy New Yorkers dined in the restaurant at the back of the hotel.
The brasserie-style menu was extensive and offered 16 types of soup, 10 specialties of the house including duck, beef and Souffle Rothschild and 19 choices of dessert.
The wine list was equally impressive, with a bottle of 1887 Chateau Margaux going for $3.50 while an 1893 Chateau Latour was $4. There was also a ‘Lafayette Cup’ which consisted of half champagne and half claret for $2.50.
The hotel and restaurant closed in 1949, much to the dismay of regulars who bought some of the café’s furniture as souvenirs.
The Lafayette building was demolished in the 1950s.
Each order includes a print of the interior menu.
All printed in USA.
