Voisin

Restaurant Voisin
1912–ca. 1969
French

Ownership:

Maurice Uchitel (1960s)

Jules Muller (1922–1944) and August Jandorek (ca. 1919–1941)

Max A. Haering (1914–1921)

Alfons and Otto J. Baumgarten (1912–1919)

Executive Chef:

Hippolyte “Chef Philip” Haultcoer (?–1967)

Richard Clark (1923–?)

Alfons and Otto Baumgarten (1913–1919)

Location:

Colony House, 30 East 65th Street (1962–ca. 1969)

575 Park Avenue (November 1952–1962) [Now known as The Beekman.]

The Montana, 375 Park Avenue (1913–1952) [Demolished ca. 1953 to make way for the Seagram Building.]

Literature:

Ian Fleming, Diamonds Are Forever (1956):

“Bond sent the cable ‘Collect’ via Western Union, had his fourth shower of the day and went to Voisin’s where he had two Vodka Martinis, Oeufs Benedict and strawberries. Over dinner he read the racing forecasts for the Saratoga meeting, from which he noted that the joint favourites for The Perpetuities Stakes were Mr C. V. Whitney’s Come Again and Mr William Woodward Jnr’s Pray Action. Shy Smile was not mentioned.”

Sylvia Regan, The Fifth Season: A Comedy in Three Acts (1953): Johnny Goodwin (“the debonair, spendthrift character” (1)) offers to take his wife to lunch on her birthday, and she suggests Voisin.

Ludwig Bemelmans, I Love You I Love You I Love You (1943):

“Time and again, he had a feeling that Georges might be somewhere in the room, but he did not see him. A few nights later he thought he saw Georges jump out of a cab as he crossed Madison Avenue after dining at Voisin’s” (Hamish Hamilton, 1943: 70).

F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Lost Decade,” Esquire (December 1939):

“‘Mr Trimble – Mr Brown,’ said the source of all luncheon money. ‘Orrison – Mr Trimble’s been away a long time. Or he feels it’s a long time – almost twelve years. Some people would consider themselves lucky to’ve missed the last decade.’

‘That’s so,’ said Orrison.

‘I can’t lunch today,’ continued his chief. ‘Take him to Voisin or 21 or anywhere he’d like. Mr Trimble feels there’re lots of things he hasn’t seen.'”

Publications:

Grimes, William. “The Power Lunch Moves On.” New York Times, July 10, 2016: 23. Published online as “Four Seasons, Lunch Spot for Manhattan’s Prime Movers, Moves On,” July 8, 2016.

Freedman, Paul. ‘Restaurants.’ In Freedman, Paul., et al., eds. Food in Time and Place: The American Historical Association Companion to Food History. Oakland: University of California Press, 2014: 267.

Morabito, Greg. “Remembering Voisin: The Always-Moving French Restaurant.” Eater New York, January 18, 2011.

Grimes, William. Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York. New York: North Point Press, 2009: 226.

Cannon, Poppy. “Always on Sunday.” Town & Country 116, 4470 (January 1962): 74-75. [Cannon discusses the best NYC restaurants for a Sunday meal, including Forum of the Twelve Caesars and Lüchow’s.]

“Voisin Restaurant Rents New Space on Park Avenue.” New York Herald Tribune, October 3, 1952.

“The Voisin Restaurant Moving to New Quarters.” New York Times, October 2, 1952.

“Jules Muller, 57, Owner of the Voisin Restaurant.” New York Herald Tribune, May 18, 1944: 16B.

“August Jandorek Dies; Restaurateur Was 59.” New York Herald Tribune, September 12, 1941: 16.

James, Rian. Dining in New York. New York: John Day Company, 1930: 187, 215.

Notable Guests:

Morris Ernst (Lawyer)

Henry Fonda (Actor)

Henry Ford II (Businessman)

Drue Heinz (Actress & Socialite) & Henry John “Jack” Heinz II (Business Executive & Former CEO of Heinz)

Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (Businessman & Politician)

Notes:

Voisin is considered the first fine dining establishment to be established in a modern apartment building.

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In the 1960s, Voisin had a deal with Eastern Air Lines and prepared food for their Eastern First Class Restaurant Dinner flights. (2)

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When Voisin’s first home, The Montana, was demolished in the early 1950s, it was replaced by the Seagram Building, where the Four Seasons Restaurant presided for almost 60 years. Voisin’s site at 575 Park Avenue later became home to the seasonal restaurant known alternately as Park Avenue Autumn, Winter, Spring, or Summer for 22 years, before it moved downtown in 2014 and ultimately closed in 2020. Meanwhile Voisin’s final space in the Colony House at 65th Street was redesigned as a Valentino boutique in 1996 and has been occupied by a rotating selection of high-end fashion companies since (the most recent occupant appears to be Versace). (3)

Related Restaurants:

Crillon (Owners Otto Baumgarten and Max Haering)

Menu:

Lunch, Tuesday, January 21, 1958 (New York Public Library)

Dinner, Tuesday, January 21, 1958 (New York Public Library)

(1) “Real Products Get Big Play in ‘The Fifth Season.'” New York Herald Tribune, June 28, 1953: D2.
(2) Morabito, 2011.
(3) Stern, Robert A. M., David Fishman, and Jacob Tilove. New York 2000: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Bicentennial and the Millennium. New York: Monacelli Press, 2006.

Cover photo: Dexter Press. [c.1930-1945]. “Restaurant Voisin, 375 Park Avenue at 53rd, New York City.” Postcard. Tichnor Brothers Collection, Boston Public Library. Digital Commonwealth. Accessed May 4, 2017.