Longchamps was a chain of several upscale restaurants centered in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

that consisted of twenty or more locations at its peak, including the Showboat Restaurant located in the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...

. The chain's first location was opened in 1919. Longchamps restaurants were known for their natty art deco furnishings and decorations by

Winold Reiss F. Winold Reiss (September 16, 1886 – August 23, 1953) was a German-born American artist and graphic designer. He was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, the second son of Fritz Reiss (1857–1914) and his wife. He grew up surrounded by art, as his fa ...

, and a number of designs for elements of their physical surroundings were drawn up by New York architect

Ely Jacques Kahn Ely Jacques Kahn (June 1, 1884September 5, 1972) was an American commercial architect who designed numerous skyscrapers in New York City in the twentieth century. In addition to buildings intended for commercial use, Kahn's designs ranged throug ...

,Restaurant-ing Through Histor
''"With Haute Cuisine for All: Longchamps"'' by Jan Whitaker, 2009
/ref> originator of a colorful version of art deco architecture.(20 March 1938)

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', reporting that 11th Longchamps location was set to open on March 22, 1938, at 253 Broadwayl, opposite City Hall Park, with seating for over 1,000, with interior decorations by Reiss In the early 1960s, Longchamps was the first – and perhaps the only – restaurant to introduce complementary

Metrecal Metrecal was a brand of low-calorie, powdered diet foods (to be mixed with water as a beverage) "containing the essential nutrients of protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals" introduced in the early 1960s by the Mead Johnson company, with ...

at luncheon, and was otherwise known for such specialties as Oxtail Ragout, Crabmeat a la Dewey, Nesselrode Pie, and "21-Percent Butterfat Ice Cream".New York Times, Feb. 8, 199
"F.Y.I." by Daniel B. Schneider
/ref> A Longchamps in Washington D.C. was among the first tablecloth restaurants there to allow black customers. In 1959, restaurateur

Jan Mitchell Jan Mitchell (1940 – 17 March 2008) was an Australian artist, born in Melbourne, known for her painted bollards and work as a television graphic artist. She spent her formative childhood years near Healesville, Victoria, before working in I ...

, the owner of Luchow's, became president and majority owner of the chain. In 1967, with a total of eight locations existing in Manhattan at that point, he sold a controlling stake to Murray and Irving Riese.(2 June 1959)
Longchamps Is in New Hands
''

''Vartan, Vartanig G. (3 June 1967)
Control of Longchamps Is Sold To Brothers Who Own Childs
''

'' Grimes, William (1 December 2009)
Jan Mitchell, Who Put the ü Back in Lüchow's, Dies at 96
''

'' Restaurateur

Larry Ellman Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boone ...

, owner of the

Cattleman Restaurant The Cattleman Retrieved on October 6, 2012. was a steakhouse in New York City founded in 1959 by restaurateur Larry Ellman. During its heyday, The Cattleman attracted media attention as an early example of a theme restaurant, and it became the ins ...

, soon became partners with the Rieses and was named president of the chain.(18 October 1967)
Ellman will head Longchamps chain
''

'' In 1971, the chain sold four of its remaining restaurants to the Riese Organization – also controlled by the Riese brothers – mostly removing it from the "white tablecloth" restaurant business, and a number of the old locations had been turned into steakhouse-themed outlets. In June 1975, the former parent company, Longchamps, Inc., filed for bankruptcy.Hammer, Alexander R. (29 September 1971)
Longchamps to Sell Luchow's And 4 Others for $8-Million
''

'', reporting that Longchamps Inc. was selling Luchow's, which it had acquired in 1969, as well as four Longchamps locations, to the Riese OrganizationBarmash, Isadore (3 June 1975)
Longchamps Restaurant Chain Files Voluntary Debt Petition
''

'' Grimes, William
Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York
p.260-61 (2010)

References

Notes {{Authority control Defunct restaurants in New York City Defunct restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1919 Restaurants disestablished in 1975