priyana patel

The NYPL houses 45,000 menus from the 1840s to the present. The menus include specific information about dishes, prices, the organization of meals, and cultural insights into food history.

The data was exported and cleaned using OpenRefine and Excel Spreadsheets to create three comprehensive datasets: Dishes, Dishes by Decades, and Menus. Visualizations and maps were created using Tableau and Voyant Tools.

The research focuses on the period between the 1880s and 1950s in New York City, the birthplace of the dining experience. This data-driven narrative uses data visualizations and mapping techniques with Tableau to critically analyze menu preservation patterns concerning historical context, socioeconomic conditions, immigration, and industrialization.

Up until the late 1830s, most public dining options were located at hotels or inns and served a set meal at a set hour. Delmonico’s was one of the first restaurants to present a printed dining menu in America in 1837. Such innovation sparked competition amongst the most high-end French restaurants in the city, including Astor house, Waldorf Astoria, and Park Hotel.

In 1855, Park Hotel began serving food items á la carte throughout the day rather than requiring diners to sit in at a specific mealtime. Park Hotel capitalized on the elite American customer’s desire for personalization and began charging guests for the food separately rather than including meal plans into the hotel charges.

The rise and fall of economies can impact the number of menus preserved. 1900 was the peak of the Progressive Era in the United States, with a record number of 3,326 menus preserved in that year alone. Similarly, after the Great Depression, the United States went through an economic boom, which led to a steady increase in the number of menus preserved. 

The top three restaurants with the most menus preserved were Delmonico’s, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and Hotel St. Regis, three of the most high-end dining locations between the 1880s and 1950s in New York City. This could illustrate that more intricate and tailored daily menus were able to be printed more often in higher-end restaurants. Hotels also become popular venues for wealthy social events boasting an increased need for dish variety.

Americans were initially hesitant to adopt the pretentiousness of the European upper class. Over time, however, an increase in economic prosperity and a spread in wealth distribution increased the desire for fine dining experiences. The concept of luxury restaurants and high-end ingredients became intertwined with more ethnic cuisines, specifically French cuisine. Entrees were typically meat or game accompanied by traditional French sauces, such as Espagnole, a basic brown sauce of nearly jellied consistency. While some dishes were presented generally in English with several French flourishes, other dishes were listed entirely in French.

Since menu collection is positively correlated with higher-end establishments, the analysis is skewed towards upper-class dining experiences. The data would benefit from greater detail into the cuisine classification by dish and menu to further understand how the adoption of diverse eateries changed over time. With more adequate and conclusive data on price fluctuations, we can see whether certain historical events impacted prices or demands for specific food types.

An increase in economic prosperity and a spread in wealth distribution ignited the American desire for fine dining experiences. The adoption of French cuisine shifted certain immigration groups' sentiments, paving the way for more ethnic cuisines in the 1960s. The project’s findings show how menus are culinary markers that can provide more insight into the current wealth disparities in New York City and the dominance of Euro-centric food records.