Thousand Island Dressing (continued)

[Mike Salovesh]

Barry sent long quotes regarding the invention of thousand island
dressing, in
which John Mariani's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN FOOD & DRINK notes a
legend attributing it to the "executive chef at the Drake Hotel in
Chicago".  Mariani reported that "The current management at the Drake
Hotel cannot confirm this."

Barry then convincingly cites a publication from 1925 which cites Theo.
Rooms,
Chef de Cuisine, Drake Hotel, as the inventor.  Rooms claims that he
first made thousand island dressing for the grand opening of the
Blackstone Hotel in 1910, while he was chef de gardemanger at the
Blackstone.

Barry then wrote:

>
>      Chicago, 1910, Blackstone Hotel?  Is the Blackstone the same hotel as
> the Drake, or did Rooms move from the Blackstone to the Drake?

The Blackstone, on South Michigan Avenue, is opposite Grant Park near
the Art Institute.  It opened in 1910.  The Drake's address, on East
Walton Place, slightly disguises the fact that its west wall is found on
North Michigan Avenue, roughly a couple of miles north of the
Blackstone.  The Drake's entrance faces the North Avenue Beach.

When the Drake opened in 1920, no rooms were moved over from the
Blackstone. Both hotels remained open and in competition with each
other.

Chef Rooms, on the other hand, did move from the Blackstone to the
Drake.

-- mike salovesh                    <salovesh at niu.edu>
PEACE !!!