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Meal Prep · Classic restaurant recipes

From the great kitchens

19 dishes from famous restaurant and hotel kitchens of the 1890s to the 1910s, taken from cookbooks that are now in the public domain. Each one is our own home-kitchen version, with modern measurements and safe temperatures, and each page quotes the original so you can see how the chef wrote it.

A word about Michelin stars

The Michelin Guide started in France in 1900 as a free book for motorists. It began giving stars to restaurants in 1926 and settled on its one-to-three-star scale in 1931. The kitchens on this page did their famous work before that, so none of them held stars. They are here because they shaped the cooking that starred restaurants still build on: Escoffier’s sauces and kitchen system above all.

Many of today’s starred chefs have shared recipes online and in books. Those recipes, their wording and photos belong to the chefs, so we don’t copy them here. Everything on this page comes from books whose copyright has run out.

The foundations: Escoffier’s basic sauces

Escoffier built his cooking on five basic sauces, often called the mother sauces today. Learn these and you can make hundreds of others. Most start with a good stock: chicken stock or beef stock from our from-scratch recipes.

Béchamel SauceEscoffier’s white sauce: milk thickened with a butter-and-flour roux and simmered with onion and bay. The base for mac and cheese, lasagna and creamed vegetables.25 min · ¼ cup (makes 2 cups)Chicken VeloutéA silky sauce of good chicken stock thickened with a pale roux and skimmed as it simmers. Spoon it over chicken, fish or vegetables, or use it to start a pot pie.35 min · ¼ cup (makes 2 cups)Espagnole and Demi-Glace (Brown Sauce)Escoffier’s brown sauce: brown stock, a browned roux, vegetables, bacon and tomato, simmered and skimmed. Reduce it with more stock and it becomes demi-glace, the base of steak sauces.2 hr 15 min · ¼ cup (makes 2 cups)Escoffier’s Tomato SauceThe French classic tomato sauce: bacon, carrot and onion, a little flour, tomatoes and stock, cooked slowly in the oven, then passed through a sieve. Smooth, rich and mild.2 hr · ½ cup (makes about 6 cups)Hollandaise SauceEgg yolks whisked over gentle heat until thick, then beaten with warm butter and lemon. Rich and tangy, for eggs Benedict, asparagus and fish.20 min · about 3 tablespoons

The Savoy (1890–1898) and Carlton (1899–1919) hotels, London

Auguste Escoffier (1846–1935). A Guide to Modern Cookery (London: William Heinemann, 1907; the English edition of Le Guide culinaire, Paris, 1903).

Peach MelbaEscoffier’s famous dessert: peaches poached in vanilla syrup, served on vanilla ice cream under a fresh raspberry purée.1 hr 30 min · serves 4Pears Belle-HélènePears poached in vanilla syrup, chilled, and served on vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate sauce poured over at the table.1 hr 40 min · serves 4Crêpes SuzetteThin crêpes warmed in a buttery orange sauce. Escoffier’s 1907 version brushes them with orange butter; ours makes it a glossy pan sauce, with no liqueur and no flames.1 hr 15 min · serves 4Melba ToastToast split into paper-thin slices and baked until crisp and curled. A light partner for soup, pâté or cheese.20 min · serves 4Potato and Leek Soup (Potage Parmentier)Leeks softened in butter, simmered with potatoes and stock, puréed and finished with cream. Escoffier topped it with butter-fried croutons.45 min · serves 6Hunter’s Chicken (Chicken Chasseur)Chicken browned in butter and oil, then finished in a sauce of mushrooms, shallots, tomato and parsley. A classic French bistro dinner.55 min · serves 4Fish Bonne FemmeWhite fish fillets poached on a bed of shallots and mushrooms, then coated with the pan juices made into a creamy sauce. Escoffier’s “good wife’s” sole, for any mild white fish.30 min · serves 4

Delmonico’s, New York (chef 1862–1876 and 1879–1896)

Charles Ranhofer (1836–1899). The Epicurean (New York: Charles Ranhofer, 1894).

Lobster NewbergCooked lobster warmed in butter, simmered in cream, and thickened with egg yolks and a pinch of cayenne. Delmonico’s showpiece, served on toast.25 min · serves 4Eggs BenedictToasted English muffins topped with ham, a poached egg and hollandaise. Delmonico’s chef printed it in 1894 as “Eggs à la Benedick.”35 min · serves 4Baked AlaskaIce cream on sponge cake, sealed in meringue and browned in a very hot oven for just a few minutes. Delmonico’s “Alaska, Florida”: cold inside, warm outside.6 hr 5 min · serves 8Delmonico Steak with Parsley ButterA thick sirloin steak, salted, brushed with butter and broiled, served with lemony parsley butter. Ranhofer’s plain steak, the way Delmonico’s served it.30 min · serves 4

The Waldorf Hotel, New York

Oscar Tschirky (1866–1950), maître d’hôtel. The Cook Book by “Oscar” of the Waldorf (Chicago and New York: The Werner Company, 1896).

The Original Waldorf Salad (1896)The Waldorf’s first version: just apples and celery in mayonnaise. Walnuts and grapes came later.15 min · serves 4

The Hotel St. Francis, San Francisco

Victor Hirtzler (1875–1931), chef. The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book (Chicago: The Hotel Monthly Press, 1919).

Celery VictorCelery hearts simmered in stock, cooled in it, and dressed with oil, vinegar and herbs. A cool, savory salad from San Francisco’s Hotel St. Francis.1 hr 30 min · serves 4Delmonico PotatoesDiced potatoes simmered in cream, topped with Parmesan and baked until golden. The St. Francis version of a Delmonico’s favorite.1 hr 5 min · serves 6

Had a fancy s’more?

Restaurants love to dress up campfire treats. Make every part yourself, marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers, and plate it up: s’mores from scratch, or start with the pieces in From scratch.

The books, and why they’re public domain

  • A Guide to Modern Cookery, Auguste Escoffier (1846–1935); London: William Heinemann, 1907; the English edition of Le Guide culinaire, Paris, 1903. Public domain: published in 1907 (before 1931, so public domain in the United States), and Escoffier died in 1935, so his works are out of copyright in countries that use life plus 70 years. Internet Archive scan (Cornell University Library) · Project Gutenberg text · Le Guide culinaire, 1903 (Internet Archive)
  • The Epicurean, Charles Ranhofer (1836–1899); New York: Charles Ranhofer, 1894. Public domain: published in the United States in 1894, and Ranhofer died in 1899. Internet Archive scan · HathiTrust record
  • The Cook Book by “Oscar” of the Waldorf, Oscar Tschirky (1866–1950), maître d’hôtel; Chicago and New York: The Werner Company, 1896. Public domain: published in the United States in 1896, and Tschirky died in 1950. Internet Archive scan
  • The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book, Victor Hirtzler (1875–1931), chef; Chicago: The Hotel Monthly Press, 1919. Public domain: published in the United States in 1919 (before 1931), and Hirtzler died in 1931. Internet Archive scan · Project Gutenberg text

In the United States, books published in 1930 or earlier are now in the public domain. A list of ingredients can’t be copyrighted, but the way a recipe is written can be, so our steps are in our own words and the quotations come only from these old books.

What isn’t here, and why

  • Escoffier’s Ma Cuisine (1934) and its English translation (1965): still under copyright in the United States until 2030.
  • Louis Diat’s recipes, including his vichyssoise from the Ritz-Carlton in New York: his books date from the 1940s on, so we use Escoffier’s hot potato and leek soup instead.
  • Fernand Point’s Ma Gastronomie (1969) and other books by chefs of the Michelin era: under copyright.
  • Wine and liqueurs. Several originals cook with sherry, Madeira, white wine or orange liqueur. Our versions leave them out, and each page says what the chef used.