Peter Luger Steak House
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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.
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[edit] History
The Brooklyn location was established in 1887 as "Carl Luger's Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley" in the predominantly German neighborhood under the Williamsburg Bridge. [1][2] In 1950, the original owners put the restaurant up for auction and Sol Forman bought it for "a whimsically low bid." 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.[3] Famous guests have included James Cagney, Alfred Hitchcock, Robert De Niro, and Henry Kissinger .[4]
[edit] Description
Peter Luger has been named the best steakhouse in New York City by Zagat Survey for 24 years in a row.[5] The only payment options at the restaurant are cash or the Peter Luger credit card.[6] 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." [7] The Brooklyn location now boasts a coveted Michelin star rating. In 2002, it was named to the James Beard Foundation's list of "America's Classics".
The menu is surprisingly sparse to first time diners (who may be even more surprised when the waiters recommend the meal order for the party without even offering menus, which is often the same as what the party eventually decides to order if they do ask for menus), with the only entrees being porterhouse steak for 1 to 4, Lamb, and Salmon. Their most famous supplementary dishes are shrimp cocktail, beefsteak tomato and onion salad (served with their famous steak sauce), German fries, creamed spinach, and pecan pie. [8][9] Steaks are served pre-sliced on an inclined plate so that the juices run down. 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.[10]
Several waiters have since left Peter Luger's and have opened their own steakhouses in Manhattan--Wolfgang's Steakhouse [11], Blair Perrone Steakhouse [12], and Ben & Jack's Steakhouse [13]--while Robert Dickert, great-grandson to Carl Luger, left New York City to establish Great Uncle Peter's steakhouse near Scranton[14].
[edit] References
- ^ Our Story, Peter Lugers
- ^ Bernardo, Leonard and Jennifer Weiss. Brooklyn by Name:How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges and More Got There Names. New York. NYU Press:2006.
- ^ Annals of Communications : The Fixer: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker
- ^ TONY chews the fat with a 37-year Peter Luger institution: waiter Wolfgang Zwiener
- ^ Zagat, Peter Lugers
- ^ Zagat, Peter Lugers
- ^ New York Times review
- ^ About.com review
- ^ Fodor's review
- ^ Peter Luger's Burgers in The New York Times
- ^ Time Out New York review: Wolfgang's Steakhouse
- ^ Time Out New York review: Blair Perrone Steakhouse
- ^ Time Out New York review: Ben & Jack's Steakhouse
- ^ Great Uncle Peter's
