“They are saying there’s a new way to tell whether you matter in Manhattan: How well are you known at La Caravelle?”
La Caravelle
September 21, 1960–May 22, 2004
French
Ownership:
André Jammet (1984–2004) & Rita Jammet (1988–2004)
Roger Fessaguet (1980–1988) & André Jammet (1984–2004)
Robert Meyzen (1960–1984) & Roger Fessaguet (1980–1988)
Fred Decré (1960–1980) & Robert Meyzen (1960–1984)
Executive Chef:
Troy Dupuy (2001–2004)
Eric Di Domenico (2000–2001)
Cyril Renaud (1996–2000)
Eric Maillard (1995–1996)
Tadashi Ono (1990–1995)
David Ruggerio (1988–1990)
Michael Romano (1984–1988)
André Mǫisan (1980–1984)
Roger Fessaguet (1960–1980)
Location:
Shoreham Hotel, 33 West 55th Street
Film:
French Lunch. Documentary. Directed by Nell Cox. New York Film Festival, 1968. [Behind the scenes in the La Caravelle kitchen with chef Roger Fessaguet at lunch time. Features Anne and Kirk Douglas entering the restaurant at 6:07. Available on YouTube.]
Publications:
Sheraton, Mimi. “The Ghosts of New York’s Fine Dining Scene: La Caravelle, Le Pavillon and La Côte Basque.” Daily Beast, April 27, 2018.
Griffin, James. “Memories of Chef Roger Fessaguet.” Sated Epicure. Blog, April 4, 2017.
Matthews, Thomas. “La Caravelle, Back from the Past.” Wine Spectator, May 25, 2016.
Passy, Charles. “A Favorite French Restaurant is Recreated.” Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2016. [Regarding Chefs Club’s ‘La Caravelle Takeover,’ featuring maître d’ Andre Ihuellou, who worked at La Caravelle from 1975 to its closing in 2004.]
Martin, Douglas. “Roger Fessaguet Dies at 82; A Wizard of Haute Cuisine.” New York Times, April 4, 2014: B19 (illustrated).
Colacello, Bob. “Here’s to the Ladies Who Lunched!” Vanity Fair, January 30, 2012. [Featured in the February 2012 issue.]
Grimes, William. Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York. New York: North Point Press, 2009: 258-259.
Koh, Aun. “Pre-Prandials.” Chubby Hubby. Blog, October 9, 2006. [Includes a recipe for bartender Alberto Alonso’s Alberto #1 cocktail.]
Platt, Adam. “A Nice Plate of Pike Quenelles Got a Little Harder to Find.” New York, December 9, 2004.
Fabricant, Florence. “La Caravelle, a French Legend, Is Closing after 43 Years.” New York Times, May 12, 2004.
Cheshes, Jay. “As Time Goes By.” Gourmet 63, 7 (July 2003): 52, 54. [Restaurant review.]
Michener, Charles. “Tables for Two: La Caravelle.” New Yorker, December 16, 2002: 19.
Lee, Matt, and Ted Lee. “Temptation: A Canvas of Contrasts in One Little Bite.” New York Times, May 15, 2002: 5 (illustrated). [Regarding an amuse-bouche created by executive chef Troy Dupuy.]
DiGiacamo, Frank. “La Renaissance de La Caravelle.” Observer, January 15, 2001.
Gaffney, Jacob. “Eric Di Domenico Becomes Executive Chef at La Caravelle.” Wine Spectator, April 26, 2000.
Thorn, Bret. “La Caravelle.” Nation’s Restaurant News 33, 21 (May 24, 1999): 133-134 (illustrated).
Miller, Bryan. “Diner’s Journal: La Caravelle’s New Chef.” New York Times, August 9, 1991: C20. [Review of new chef, Tadashi Ono.]
Olson, Bruce. “La Caravelle’s Michael Romano.” United Press International, February 14, 1988.
Greene, Gael. “Gael Greene Ranks the Great French Restaurants of New York.” New York Magazine, February 7, 1983: 39-40.
Hodgson, Moira. “Under a New Chef, La Caravelle Turns 20.” New York Times, September 24, 1980: C6 (illustrated). [Features photograph of chef André Mǫisan and owners Robert Meyzen and Roger Fessaguet.]
Brass, Dick. “Critics’ Choice: The 25 Greatest Restaurants in America.” Playboy Magazine 27, 6 (June 1980). [La Caravelle is listed at number 5, preceded by Lutèce and The Four Seasons; The Coach House also makes the list.]
Sheraton, Mimi. “Restaurants: Very Good, But (Alas) No Longer Great.” New York Times, April 21, 1978: C12.
Canaday, John. “The Last Word in Restaurants from Canaday.” New York Times, August 6, 1976: C1, C13. [Canaday signs off from his brief stint as the New York Times restaurant critic with a list of his favorite restaurants, including La Caravelle (“Because the restaurant you keep on reserve for the rare occasion when only the highest of haute cuisine will do and the sky’s the limit on the check, ought to be the best of the bunch”), as well as Chalet Suisse, Gino’s, and Maxwell’s Plum.]
Women’s Wear Daily, 1971.
“I am an astronaut!” [Fessaguet] said, then added, “Other cooks are, how you say?, garage mechanics!”
Greene, Gael. Bite: A New York Restaurant Strategy for Hedonists, Masochists, Selective Penny Pinchers and the Upwardly Mobile. New York: W. W. Norton, 1971.
Massee, William E. “Cognac and Companions at La Caravelle.” Town & Country 124, 4575 (October 1970): 114-115, 118 (illustrated). [Highlights La Caravelle bartender Alberto Alonso, whose signature drink is a cognac sour, as Bartender of the Month.]
Greene, Gael. “La Caravelle: Insult à la Carte.” New York 2, 20 (May 19, 1969): 58-59. [Republished on Greene’s Insatiable Critic blog.]
Cannon, Poppy. “Restaurants.” Town & Country 118, 4505 (December 1964): 50-51. [Cannon pays homage to New York restaurants that observe the changing seasons, including The Colony and Lüchow’s.]
“They are saying there’s a new way to tell whether you matter in Manhattan: How well are you known at La Caravelle?”
Claiborne, Craig. “Food: On the Rocks at Cocktail Time.” New York Times, October 27, 1964: 32. [Outlines the most popular drinks at various New York restaurants including Forum of the Twelve Caesars.]
Smith, Liz. “Les Hangouts: An Insider’s Tour of the Nouveau Celebrity Haunts.” Esquire, November 1963: 140-141.
Claiborne, Craig. New York Times, November 26, 1960.
Cassini, Igor, with Liz Smith (as Cholly Knickerbocker). New York Journal-American, September 23, 1960.
Notable Guests:
Louis Arpels (Jeweler & Co-Founder of Van Cleef & Arpels)
Brooke Astor (Socialite & Writer)
Bernard Baruch (Financier): Present on opening day (1)
Deeda Blair (Writer)
Truman Capote (Writer)
Oleg Cassini (Fashion Designer)
Noël Coward (Playwright)
Walter Cronkite (Broadcast Journalist): On La Caravelle’s final night, “Walter Cronkite, the kindly grandfather for a certain segment of Old New York, told a reporter from the Times that he’d been coming to La Caravelle for 43 years. For his last supper he ordered what he always ordered at La Caravelle: a plate of pike quenelles in lobster cream sauce.” (2)
Tony Curtis (Actor)
Natalie Fell Cushing (Socialite)
Salvador Dalí (Artist): Famously scratched a mural with his cane (by accident, of course). (3) Pictured at La Caravelle in the 1960s in “48 Scenes from a Century of New York Dining” on New York Magazine‘s Grub Street.
Oscar de la Renta (Fashion Designer)
Marlene Dietrich (Actress & Singer)
Kirk Douglas (Actor & Filmmaker) & Anne Buydens (Philanthropist & Film Producer): Pictured entering the restaurant together in the behind-the-scenes La Caravelle documentary French Lunch (1968). [See Film section above.]
Dominick Dunne (Writer): In attendance at La Caravelle’s 40th anniversary party in 2000 (Getty Images).
John B. Fairchild (Publisher & Editor): Pictured leaving La Caravelle with Eugenia Sheppard on May 13, 1975 (Getty Images).
Christina Ford (Socialite)
Georgia Frontiere (Businesswoman & Former Owner of the St. Louis Rams NFL Team)
C. Z. Guest (Actress)
Gloria Guinness (Socialite)
Pamela Harriman (Former United States Ambassador to France)
Leland Hayward (Talent Agent & Theatrical Producer)
J. Edgar Hoover (Former Director of the FBI)
Helen Huntington Hull (Socialite)
Nan Kempner (Socialite)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Former First Lady of the United States)
John F. Kennedy (35th President of the United States)
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (Businessman & Politician): Present on opening day (4)
Robert F. Kennedy (Former United States Attorney General): “Mr. [Adalberto] Alonso [bartender] remembers the time Robert Kennedy settled a bet by doing push-ups next to the bar.” (5)
Dorothy Kilgallen (Journalist): Present on opening day (6)
Arie Kopelman (Businessman & Philanthropist)
Eleanor Lambert (Fashion Publicist)
Mary Lasker (Activist & Philanthropist)
Janet Leigh (Actress)
John Lindsay (Former Mayor of New York City & United States Representative)
Stanley G. Mortimer, Jr. (Advertising Executive): Pictured leaving La Caravelle with daughter Amanda Burden in 1978 (Getty Images).
Babe Paley (Magazine Editor)
Dolly Parton (Singer-Songwriter & Actress)
Pablo Picasso (Artist)
Dan Quayle (Former United States Vice President)
Happy Rockefeller (Former Second Lady of the United States)
Louise Rouet (Socialite & Wife of Dior Chairman):
“[She] told of the time she invited friends to lunch at La Caravelle in New York, then wasn’t permitted to enter because she was wearing pants.
‘I simply took them off and went in my tunic,’ she recalled. ‘But that was in the 1960’s and my tunic was much shorter than yours,’ she said, drawing an imaginary line with her finger at the top of her thighs.” (7)
Porfirio Rubirosa (Diplomat & Racing Driver)
Eugenia Sheppard (Writer): Pictured leaving La Caravelle with John B. Fairchild on May 13, 1975 (Getty Images).
Frank Sinatra (Singer)
Doris Stein (Philanthropist): Present on opening day (8)
Martha Stewart (Businesswoman & Writer): Completed her Time Warner deal at the restaurant in the early 1990s (9)
Harry S. Truman (33rd President of the United States)
Ivana Trump (Businesswoman & Model): In attendance at La Caravelle’s 40th anniversary party in 2000 (Getty Images).
Diana Vreeland (Fashion Editor & Columnist)
Raquel Welch (Actress): Pictured leaving La Caravelle on May 13, 1975 (Getty Images).
Summer Welles (United States Government Official & Diplomat)
Edward VIII & Wallis Simpson, Duke & Duchess of Windsor
Notes:
The story goes that the restaurant was named after the type of three-masted sailing ship used by Christopher Columbus, as the owners felt the name “conveyed a spirit of new possibilities” (10); a three-masted ship was also featured on the restaurant’s menu and matchbooks. However, Johnson & Wales University Food & Beverage Management professor James Griffin, who interviewed Roger Fessaguet towards the end of his life, contends that most sources, including the New York Times, got the story wrong: “Fessaguet found this funny. The restaurant was actually named after the Caravelle jetliner built by French firm Sud Aviation in the 1950s. It was on one of these aircraft that Chef Fessaguet flew for the first time – that the aircraft was French built made it all the sweeter.” (11)
La Caravelle opened in the space formerly occupied by the restaurant Robert’s, which had “gained renown for its lush, shoe-swallowing rose carpet, its Art Moderne interior with Peter Arno murals, and dishes like pheasant choucroute and sweetbreads à la Eugénie.” (12)
A year after opening La Caravelle, in 1961 owners Robert Meyzen and Fred Decré opened sister restaurant La Crémaillèire forty miles outside the city in Banksville, New York. Town & Country described the country restaurant as having “the same philosophy, the same style, and much the same type of knowledgeable, internationally minded clientele” as La Caravelle. (13)
The restaurant featured murals of Paris painted by Vogue illustrator Jean Pagès. (14) Two of the mural panels, painted in oil on canvas, went up for auction at Pennsylvania-based The Illustrated Gallery (kitchen scene, lot #4433, and market scene, lot #4434).
In 1972, W Magazine presented “Les Six,” “the last bastions of grand luxe dining in New York”: Lutèce, La Grenouille, La Caravelle, La Côte Basque, Lafayette, and Quo Vadis. (15)
Rita Jammet continues to sell La Caravelle champagne and Bordeaux wine (La Caravelle Listrac-Médoc) to restaurants around the country and in select shops in New York, New Jersey, and California (restaurants and shops listed on her website).
The Jammets’ son, Nicolas Jammet, is the co-founder of fast casual restaurant chain Sweetgreen. (16)
Because John F. Kennedy was so fond of the restaurant’s chicken with champagne sauce, his father Joseph Kennedy, a devoted La Caravelle regular since opening day, asked head chef Roger Fessaguet to select and train a chef for his son’s tenure in the White House. Chef René Verdon was plucked from La Caravelle and sent to the White House kitchen; his ‘Poularde au Champagne’ remained on the White House menu for decades, while at La Caravelle the dish was renamed ‘Poularde Maison Blanche.’ (17)
In 2016, New York’s Chefs Club by Food & Wine hosted a two-night La Caravelle recreation, bringing back favorite dishes created by former head chefs Tadashi Ono and Cyril Reynaud and pastry chef Laurent Richard. Owners André and Rita Jammet were also in attendance. (18)
Related Restaurants:
Le Pavillon (Decré and Meyzen former maîtres d’hôtel; Fessaguet former saucier and sous chef (19))
Lutèce; Quo Vadis (inclusion in W Magazine’s 1972 list of “Les Six”)
Menu:
Dinner menu, undated (Culinary Institute of America)
Birthday menu, June 10, 1997 (New York Public Library)
(1) Colacello, 2012.
(2) Platt, 2004.
(3) Martin, 2014.
(4) Colacello, 2012.
(5) DiGiacamo, 2001.
(6) Colacello, 2012.
(7) Morris, Bernadine. “How the Fashionable Set Faced a Week of Fashion.” New York Times, August 2, 1980: 13.
(8) Colacello, 2012.
(9) DiGiacamo, 2001.
(10) Martin, 2014: B19.
(11) Griffin 2017.
(12) Grimes, 2009: 226.
(13) Cannon, Poppy. “Crémaillère and Caravelle, Twin Inns.” Town & Country 117, 4489 (August 1963): 91.
(14) DiGiacamo, 2001.
(15) Colacello, 2012.
(16) Sheraton, 2018.
(17) DiGiacamo, 2001; Fabricant, 2004.
(18) Matthews, 2016.
(19) Grimes, 2009.
Cover photo: Jammet, Rita. Detail of La Caravelle murals, by Jean Pagès. La Caravelle. Accessed February 8, 2024.
The New York City Restaurant Archive 