What's on the Menu in 1906? (Best of Proof Travel Edition)

Proof

America's Test Kitchen

Cooking, Culinary, Food, Arts, Society & Culture, History

4.4 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 20 February 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this week's episode of Best of Proof: Travel Edition, we visit the New York public library and search through their expansive database of restaurant menus from through the decades. Flaming omlettes, Calf Brains on Toast, vichy buttermilk, reporter Doug Mack digs into the archives to see what New Yorkers were eating in 1906.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everyone, it's Jack Bishop.
0:04.0	This week on our best of proof, travel edition, we're doing a different kind of travel, time travel.
0:12.0	We asked reporter Doug Mack to dive into the New York Public Library's restaurant menu archives to find out what people were eating, what was popular, and how Americans
0:23.5	dined back at the turn of the 20th century. What he found may surprise you. Here's our episode
0:31.4	from 2023, hosted by Kevin Pang.
0:40.3	Allow me to set the scene.
0:46.1	We're in downtown Brooklyn, New York.
0:48.7	It's the year 1906.
0:52.0	The borough has been part of New York City for less than 10 years. It's a growing,
0:57.0	thriving place with the downtown area, just out the waterfront, as its bustling core. Now, I want
1:04.6	you to imagine a fictional couple from this era. Let's call them Anna and George. They're about to embark on one of their first dates.
1:13.8	This couple is based on historical accounts from the time, but they're a work of fiction.
1:19.5	We're going to be following Anna and George throughout this episode, as reporter Doug Mack brings them to life.
1:27.1	All right, everyone ready? Roll tape.
1:37.3	Look at this beautiful city around us.
1:40.9	Where are you taking me for dinner tonight?
1:43.3	Perhaps the fountain house.
1:45.4	Aren't you in the mood to take your girl out for a nice dinner?
1:48.7	But I don't know.
1:50.9	Perhaps something a bit lighter?
1:53.7	How about Bristol's dining rooms on Willoughby Street?
1:57.1	Ah, yes, of course.
	...

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