"A beefsteak"

[Gregory {Greg} Downing]

I figured Barry might mention this, so I didn't bother, but I haven't
noticed it yet and want to toss the clipping.

Someone gave me an article from the NY Post that seemed amusing. It's from
p. 22 of the Monday 5 Feb 2001 issue, in the column "Metro Gnome," bylined
Gersh Kuntzman. The article claims that there was a NYC phenomenon or
tradition back in the first 1/2 of the 20th cent. called "a beefsteak,"
supposedly a huge meal where meats were served in huge quantities for a
fixed price, often by a social or political club. I'd not heard of this (and
I've lived in NYC from the early 1980s to the present), and I don't see it
under "beefsteak" in DARE or RHHDAS. The article cites Jospeh Mitchell's
1939 story "All You Can Hold for Five Bucks." It also gives other details
which interested parties can look up -- I'm sure the article is in the
Post's online archive.

What I wonder is: Was this really such a well-known tradition? Or is it
something that is being hyped by the NYC restaurant that apparently held a
revival version of a "beefsteak" on Tuesday evening, according to the
article? Just curious. If no one knows -- carry on, as you were.



Greg Downing, at greg.downing at nyu.edu or gd2 at nyu.edu