Moon's Lake House was a restaurant on

Saratoga Lake Saratoga Lake is a lake in the eastern part of Saratoga County, New York (state), New York. The lake is approximately long, about wide at its widest point, and about deep. The lake is bordered by the city of Saratoga Springs on the northwest ...

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

. According to local legend, the creation of the

potato chip A potato chip (North American English; often just chip) or crisp (British and Irish English) is a thin slice of potato that has been either deep fried, baked, or air fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or appe ...

was associated with this restaurant. The legend holds that

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

was visiting the restaurant in 1853, he was unsatisfied with the texture of the fried potatoes he had ordered and sent them back to the kitchen multiple times in protest. The chef,

George Crum George Speck (also known as George Crum;Hugh Bradley, ''Such Was Saratoga'', New York: 1940 July 15, 1824 – July 22, 1914) was an American chef. He was known for his role in popularizing potato chips in Upstate New York and was later mythologiz ...

, allegedly became so annoyed with cornelius, so he sliced the potatoes much thinner than he usually would, deep fried, and salted them. This inadvertently led to potato chips, and the customer was finally satisfied. Because of this, many Americans called potato chips Saratoga Chips. The restaurant was built by Cary Moon in 1853 on a bluff overlooking the lake, and soon after it "displace all other destinations as the late-afternoon goal of Saratoga Springs' daily carriage parade." Initially Catherine "Aunt Kate" Weeks and her brother

shared the cooking duties. Crum later left to start his own restaurant in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

at the south end of the lake. The Lake House burned in 1893, but was rebuilt. There are conflicting reports, but apparently Moon continued to operate it until his death in 1895. In 1907, the Lake House was sold to Edward J. Heffernan. In 1908, it burned a second time and was again rebuilt. In 1926, the restaurant burned a third time. In the 1930s, the property was sold to local personality Louis A. "Doc" Farone, the owner of Riley's and Newman's lake houses and an associate of underworld figure

Meyer Lansky Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the ...

. Farone built a smaller restaurant on the property and rented it to a series of managers. In 1981, the restaurant reopened as "Moon's", changed hands, and finally burned a fourth and final time in 1983. A private house was later constructed on the site. In 2006, Tilman Achtnich filmed a special on the potato chip ''Die Kartoffelchips des Mister Crum'' (The Potato Chips of Mister Crum) for the German television network SWR. Scenes included the site of Moon's, now only foundations, and Crum's restaurant in Malta, New York.

References

{{coord, 43.0559121, N, 73.7294648, W, display=inline,title Buildings and structures in Saratoga Springs, New York Defunct restaurants in New York (state)