''Sherry's'' was a restaurant in New York City. It was established by

Louis Sherry Louis Sherry (1855 in St. Albans, Vermont – 1926) was an American restaurateur, caterer, confectioner and hotelier during the Gilded Age and early 20th century. His name is typically associated with an upscale brand of candy and ice cream, and ...

in 1880 at 38th Street and

Sixth Avenue Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...

. In the 1890s, it moved to West 37th Street, near

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

. By 1898 it had moved to the corner of 44th Street and Fifth Avenue, before moving to the

Hotel New Netherland Hotel New Netherland (later Hotel Netherland) was located at the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, in Manhattan, New York City, New York, in what is now the Upper East Side Historic District. It contained the ''Sherry's'' restau ...

on the corner of 59th Street in 1919.

History

Around 1880, with $1,300 saved from his time at the Hotel Elberon, Sherry launched his first restaurant in New York City at 38th Street and Sixth Avenue. The new establishment struggled a bit at first, but Sherry's knack for "dainty decorations" and the "novelties of service" won a following from "The Four Hundred" (late 19th century term for New York City's

social elite Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, power, notability, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be constructiv ...

, coined by Ward McAllister). In a short time, Sherry upgraded to a larger (and more prestigious) location at 37th Street and Fifth Avenue in 1890. But even that location proved too small, and again the business upgraded to a building owned by

Isaac Vail Brokaw Isaac Vail Brokaw (November 27, 1835 – September 29, 1913) was a pioneer New York City clothing merchant who headed Brokaw Brothers. Early life He was born in November 27, 1835 in Plainfield, New Jersey to Simeon Brokaw (1792–1854) and Prud ...

at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue in 1898."Louis Sherry Dies; Famous Caterer..."
''The New York Times'', June 10, 1926, Page 25 The restaurant was the site for a dinner on horseback held by wealthy industrialist Cornelius Kingsley Garrison Billings, who had recently opened a private trotting stable at what is Fort Tryon Park today. Billings intended to have the dinner at the stables, but changed his mind and rented the main ballroom at Louis Sherry's instead. On March 28, 1903, the horses were brought to the fourth floor of the Sherry building by freight elevator into a room fitted with a canvas backdrop to simulate an English country scene. Billings invited 36 guests to dine with him on horseback. Trays for the food were attached to the riding saddles and champagne was able to be sipped from a bottle in one's saddlebag via rubber tubing. The horses were not Billings' own, but had been rented from local riding academies for the dinner; they were fed with troughs. In 1919 it moved to

, on the corner of 59th Street.

References

Sources

* * {{commonscat, Sherry's restaurant Defunct restaurants in New York City