OP: Luchow's German Cookbook

Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, NY, 1955. Hardcover. Very Good/Good.

There are few dining establishments whose very existence says “New York,” and for 104 years this remarkable restaurant called it out loud and clear. Bon vivant and restaurateur Jan Mitchell devotes an entire chapter to telling us what Luchow’s was like and how it got that way. 

From 1882 to 1986, Luchow’s was a center of the city’s cultural and business life, an old-style home away from home for German immigrants, a magnet for visitors, authentic to its core, offering food and good company to local shopkeepers at lunch and high visibility for the celebrity set at late-night festive dinners. Located for most of its life on 14th street, just east of Union Square it offered hospitality and great German food that is still talked about 40 years after it finally succumbed to changing ways. 

We are pleased to offer this combination cookbook and record of a remarkable institution. First published in 1952 it has a loving introduction by the great Ludwig Bemelmans, who also contributed a number of his witty drawings to the volume. 

Ours is a 1955 printing, the interior fresh-looking, the binding strong. The price-clipped jacket shows heavier wear, much of which was previously repaired with scotch tape. We’ve placed it in a mylar sleeve to protect from further damage. Previous owner’s name to the front free endpaper.