Henri Mouquin (October 11, 1837 – December 24, 1933) was a New York restaurateur. He was born in

Aubonne Aubonne () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Morges District, Morges in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. In 2011 the former municipality of Pizy merged into Aubonne and on 1 January 202 ...

, near

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

, in Switzerland. His father and grandfather were both hoteliers, and as a boy he became acquainted with

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

, who visited his father's hotel. At age 17 he went to Paris, and then left Europe for the United States. His first job was as a waiter at Delmonico's in New York, and over the next twenty years he worked in various jobs as far west as St. Louis. In 1857 he started his first restaurant, and in 1859 he married Marie Grandjean, who also came from

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

, the canton in Switzerland where Mouquin was born.Grimes (2009), pp. 93-95. His first restaurant was at the corner of Fulton St and Nassau St in Manhattan; his wife did the cooking. He also opened a wine importing business and was at one time the largest wine importer in the U.S. The restaurant became popular and because of its relatively low prices brought many staples of French cuisine to New Yorkers previously unfamiliar with them. Mouquin died at his home in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula ...

, on December 24, 1933.

References

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mouquin, Henri 1837 births 1933 deaths People from Aubonne Restaurateurs