In the 1800s, New York's Jewish elite dined at 'The Kosher Delmonico'

• Published date: 17 April 2024
• Author: SCOTT D. SELIGMAN/JTA
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Among them, however, were few Jews. Though New York was home to some 40,000 Jews by the eve of the Civil War, most of them were Spanish, Portuguese or German-speaking immigrants — or their descendants — who strictly adhered to Jewish law. These Jewish New Yorkers kept kosher and therefore primarily ate at home, or at the homes of fellow Jews. Even those who had prospered by the mid-1800s and established themselves in American society couldn't, in good conscience, enjoy high-end restaurant fare

That is, until an enterprising Jewish Frenchman named Felix Marx arrived on these shores. Born in Alsace, France, in 1825, Marx landed in New York in 1858. Having worked as a kosher butcher before immigrating, Marx set out to create a Delmonico's-style offering for well-to-do, observant Jews. Within two years, he opened his first establishment opposite City Hall Park. The restaurant was called Felix's Dining Saloon — though, colloquially, it was often referred to as "The Kosher Delmonico," serving kosher haute cuisine to an elite clientele.

Today's kosher diners have all manner of choices about where to eat in New York City, from hole-in-the-wall pizza shops to upscale vegan Mexican restaurants. But it wasn't always that way — when Felix's Dining Saloon opened, it was the first kosher restaurant in New York. There, Marx served as chef and his French-born wife, Julia Lisette, worked as cashier. By the mid-1860s, the restaurant moved nearby to a large, well-appointed space at 256 Broadway, between Warren and Murray Streets.

'The Felix style'

In addition to serving kosher food on the premises — in what he pretentiously deemed "the Felix style" — Marx announced in a June 1865 advertisement in The Jewish Messenger that his establishment was prepared to cater weddings and other parties at private residences, noting that he was also happy to furnish suppers "for the approaching ball season."

During the Civil War, the restaurant did its patriotic part: When government-issued coins became scarce due to hoarding, Marx, like many thousands of business proprietors, stepped up to fill the void. In 1863, he arranged with a private mint to produce one-cent coins — widely accepted as substitutes for pennies — that advertised his restaurant. Unusually, however, Marx's tokens bore a Hebrew word, "kosher," as professor and historian Jonathan D. Sarna notes in "Jews and the Civil War."

Two years later, in 1864, Marx added a second branch of Felix's Dining Saloon up the street, at...