Lüchow's

Lüchow's began in eighteen eighty-two as a small cafe on East Fourteenth Street where a German immigrant named August Lüchow worked as a bartender. With a loan from piano magnate William Steinway, he bought the establishment and transformed it into a sprawling landmark that eventually stretched across the entire block to Thirteenth Street. It earned the nickname the capital of Fourteenth Street and became the primary destination for the city's artistic, musical, and literary elite. Guests could not enter the dining room without a tie, reflecting the formal yet hearty spirit of what the German owners called gemutlichkeit, a term for a warm, cheerful, and comfortable atmosphere.