Peter Luger Steak House: Difference between revisions
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'''Peter Luger Steak House''' is a [[steakhouse]] located in the [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn|Williamsburg]] section of [[Brooklyn]], [[New York City]], with a second location in [[Great Neck, New York]], on [[Long Island]]. |
'''Peter Luger Steak House''' is a [[steakhouse]] located in the [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn|Williamsburg]] section of [[Brooklyn]], [[New York City]], with a second location in [[Great Neck, New York]], on [[Long Island]]. |
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Peter Luger has been named the best steakhouse in [[New York City]] by [[Zagat Survey]] for |
Peter Luger has been named the best steakhouse in [[New York City]] by [[Zagat Survey]] for 28 years in a row.<ref name="Zagat, Peter Lugers">[http://www.peterluger.com/zagat.cfm Zagat, Peter Lugers]</ref> The Brooklyn location is known for its long wooden bar, and the "dining rooms have a [[Teutons|Teutonic]] air, with exposed wooden beams, burnished [[oak]] wainscoting, [[brass]] [[chandelier]]s and weathered beer-hall tables."<ref name=special/><ref name=rest>{{cite news |author= |coauthors= |title=Restaurants |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D61630F930A15757C0A965958260 |quote=The main dining rooms have a Teutonic air, with exposed wooden beams, burnished oak wainscoting, brass chandeliers and weathered beer-hall tables. ... Choices are limited to broiled porterhouse steaks in portions serving one to four, thick double lamb chops, prime rib (an occasional special) and broiled fish. |work=[[New York Times]] |date= April 23, 1993 |accessdate=2010-10-28 }}</ref> |
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The Brooklyn location boasts one [[Michelin star]].{{fact|date=December 2011}} In 2002, it was named to the [[James Beard Foundation Award|James Beard Foundation]]'s list of "America's Classics." |
The Brooklyn location boasts one [[Michelin star]].{{fact|date=December 2011}} In 2002, it was named to the [[James Beard Foundation Award|James Beard Foundation]]'s list of "America's Classics." |
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Revision as of 20:24, 8 March 2012
| Peter Luger Steak House | |
|---|---|
 | |
 The interior bar section of the Brooklyn establishment | |
 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1887 |
| Food type | Steakhouse |
| City |  Brooklyn, New York Great Neck, New York |
| Other information | Cash, Check, Gift Certfificate, Debit Card, Peter Luger Credit Card only |
| Website | www.peterluger.com |
Peter Luger Steak House is a steakhouse located in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York City, with a second location in Great Neck, New York, on Long Island.
Peter Luger has been named the best steakhouse in New York City by Zagat Survey for 28 years in a row.[1] The Brooklyn location is known for its long wooden bar, and the "dining rooms have a Teutonic air, with exposed wooden beams, burnished oak wainscoting, brass chandeliers and weathered beer-hall tables."[2][3]
The Brooklyn location boasts one Michelin star.[citation needed] In 2002, it was named to the James Beard Foundation's list of "America's Classics."
History
The Brooklyn location was established in 1887 as "Carl Luger's Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley" in the then-predominantly German neighborhood which would shortly thereafter be in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge.[4][5] German-born Peter Luger (1866–1941) was the owner and nephew Carl was the chef;[6] when Peter died the restaurant declined.[7]
In 1950, Peter Luger's son shut the restaurant and put it up for auction; Sol Forman, who owned a metal giftware factory across the street,[8] bought it for "a whimsically low bid." According to one history, "the neighborhood was declining, filling up with Hasidic Jews, whose kosher rules forbade the eating of Luger’s hindquarters (not to mention its über alles German-ness)... Forman had been eating at Luger for twenty-five years, and he needed a place to take his clients. He was the only bidder when the restaurant was auctioned off. A rave from über-critic Craig Claiborne in the New York Times was proof that Forman had kept the Luger faith - and the four-star review generated a new legion of the faithful."[9]
Forman opened a Great Neck, New York location, which was closed in 1984 after a fire severely damaged the restaurant, reopening in a year and a half later in 1986.[10]
Forman died in 2001 at the age of 98.[11][12] His granddaughter, Jody Storch, now has the job of buying the meat for the restaurant.
Among the current owners of the restaurant is Amy Rubenstein, wife of Howard Rubenstein, the legendary PR man whose clients have included George Steinbrenner, Rupert Murdoch, and Donald Trump.[13] Famous guests have included James Cagney, Alfred Hitchcock, Robert De Niro, Henry Kissinger, Chuck Schumer, Johnny Carson, and Jerry Seinfeld.[14] Tennis Champion Pete Sampras also liked to celebrate wins at the U.S. Open by feasting at Peter Luger's.
In July 2009, while having dinner at Peter Luger, New York Governor David Paterson secretly had Richard Ravitch sworn in as Lieutenant Governor to oversee the stalemate-stricken State Senate.[15]
Menu
The menu at Peter Luger is sparse, with the focal point being a porterhouse steak sized for one to four.[16][2]
Additionally, entrees include a rib steak, lamb, fresh seasonal fish and a rotating selection of daily lunch specials.[3] The restaurant's supplementary dishes include a shrimp cocktail, beefsteak tomato and onion salad (served with steak sauce), home fries, french fries, creamed spinach, broccoli, onion rings, extra-thick bacon, and a variety of desserts.[17][18][19][3]
Steaks are served pre-sliced on an inclined plate so that the fat runs down the plate. Further, the edges of the plates are heated to approximately 400 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing diners to cook their steak further if they so choose. Peter Luger also serves hamburgers, which are only available for lunch.[16][20]
The restaurant also features its own custom steak sauce which approximates the taste of cocktail sauce and traditional steak sauce.[21] Peter Luger also sells its steak sauce by mail order and through retailers around the country.
The only payment options at the restaurant are cash, check, a Peter Luger gift certificate or the Peter Luger credit card. In 2009 they added payment by debit card.[citation needed]
Spinoff restaurants
Several waiters have since left Peter Luger's and opened their own steakhouses with menus modeled after Peter Luger fare:
- Wolfgang Zwiener founded Wolfgang's Steakhouse with four locations in Manhattan as well as locations in Beverly Hills, California, and Waikiki, Hawaii, and possible new locations in South Beach, Florida and Mexico City.[22]
- Ben and Jack Sinanaj founded Ben & Jack's Steakhouse, with two locations in Manhattan[23]
- Robert Dickert, great-grandson to Carl Luger, left New York City to establish Great Uncle Peter's steakhouse near Scranton, Pennsylvania[24]
- MarkJoseph Steakhouse founded in 2000 and located in lower Manhattan
- Charlie Blair and Joe Perrone founded the Blair Perrone Steakhouse in Manhattan which has since closed[25]
- Joseph Kustra opened Joseph's Steakhouse in Bridgeport, Connecticut in the year 2000. Kustra had worked at Peter Luger's as executive chef for 15 years.[26]
- Arturo McLeod and Benjamin Prelvukaj established Benjamin Steak House in midtown Manhattan in 2006.[27]
References
- ^ Zagat, Peter Lugers
- ^ a b "The Special Is Steak, and More Steak". New York Times. February 14, 1993. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
The main dining room, with its wood floors, scrubbed-wood tables, dark ceiling beams, large wrought-iron chandelier and stucco walls, says steakhouse. Other rooms are more gentrified, with carpeting, tablecloths, red-leather banquettes and brass Williamsburg-style chandeliers. ... The menu is extremely limited, even for a steakhouse. Steaks are not listed by cut, only as steak for one, two, three or four. It turns out that that steak is a porterhouse cooked precisely to order, flavorful, tender and the pick of the menu.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c "Restaurants". New York Times. April 23, 1993. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
The main dining rooms have a Teutonic air, with exposed wooden beams, burnished oak wainscoting, brass chandeliers and weathered beer-hall tables. ... Choices are limited to broiled porterhouse steaks in portions serving one to four, thick double lamb chops, prime rib (an occasional special) and broiled fish.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Our Story, Peter Lugers
- ^ Bernardo, Leonard and Jennifer Weiss. Brooklyn by Name:How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges and More Got Their Names. New York. NYU Press:2006.
- ^ Brooklyn by Name: How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges and More Got Their Names by Leonard Benardo and Jennifer Weiss. NYU Press: 2006. ISBN 0814799469 pgs 27–28[1]
- ^ William Stadiem and Mara Gibbs Artisan (2007). Everybody Eats There: Inside The World's Legendary Restaurants. p. 28. ISBN 1579653227.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Raising Steaks: the Life and Times of American Beef by Betty Fussell. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 2008. ISBN 0151012024 pg 286[2]
- ^ Everybody Eats There: Inside The World's Legendary Restaurants by William Stadiem & Mara Gibbs Artisan: 2007 ISBN 1579653227 pg 28[3]
- ^ "Where the Steak Reigns Supreme". New York Times. May 11, 1986. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
The restaurant reopened about two months ago after having been shuttered for a year and a half following a fire.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Raising Steaks: the Life and Times of American Beef by Betty Fussell. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 2008. ISBN 0151012024 pg 286[4]
- ^ "Steakhouse Owner Sol Forman Dies At 98". New York Daily News. November 28, 2001. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
Sol Forman, who put the sizzle back in the landmark Peter Luger steakhouse, died last Thursday at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. He was 98.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Annals of Communications : The Fixer: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker
- ^ TONY chews the fat with a 37-year Peter Luger institution: waiter Wolfgang Zwiener
- ^ Parker, Billy (July 9, 2009). "Ravitch Was Secretly Sworn In At Peter Luger's". Gothamist.
- ^ a b Alan Richman (September 27, 2006). "Where's the Welcome? Peter Luger's Hostile Hash". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
The porterhouse steak can be ordered for two, three or four. Also available is a single steak and a small single steak. ... The burger, assembled from steak trimmings and chuck, can indeed be breathtaking, but it's available only at lunch.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ About.com review
- ^ Fodor's review
- ^ http://www.peterluger.com/menu-bklyn.cfm
- ^ Frank Bruni (February 18, 2005). "Peter Luger's Burgers". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
Peter Luger does its burger only at lunch, which is why it's an easy burger to miss. For many of us, the beefy heft of Luger's fare, coupled with its location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, casts this steakhouse as a place for dinner and nothing else. But if you visit Luger before 3 p.m., you can indeed eat a burger here.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Peter Luger Steak House Old Fashioned Sauce (company website)
- ^ Time Out New York review: Wolfgang's Steakhouse
- ^ Time Out New York review: Ben & Jack's Steakhouse
- ^ Great Uncle Peter's
- ^ Time Out New York review: Blair Perrone Steakhouse
- ^ http://www.josephssteakhouse.com/
- ^ http://benjaminsteakhouse.com/iphone/about.html