Locke-Ober in Palmier Days
Whenever the U.S. undergoes a deep recession, there have changes in business and consumer patterns. Long-time businesses can be so disrupted that they have to close. For example, the economic meltdown of the late 1970s triggered the closing of steel mills from Pittsburgh to Chicago. The Great Recession of 2008 and beyond has made a significant impact on dining out. Lavish, full-course dinners have given way to gastropubs, tapas, glorified hamburgers, and bar-dining.
Diners love to eat out, but many can no longer afford the three-course meals at gourmet palaces—in Boston, such places as Aujourdoui at the Four Seasons Hotel, the Ritz-Carlton Dining Room (currently Taj Hotel), or Maison Robert. At a restaurant bar at Eastern Standard, The Gallows, or the Franklin Café, one can order a drink and an appetizer or split an entrée and raise no hackles. It’s more about going out than a gourmet experience.
Which leads us to the demise of Locke-Ober, Boston’s historic, museum-quality temple of fine dining. Locke-Ober closed its doors in October, 2012, after being open since 1875.
Locke-Ober maintained its traditional atmosphere and menu in the face of rapidly changing dining tastes right through the 20th century. It was the place to go in Boston for gourmet food right up through the 1970s. But the competition became stiff after that, and the restaurant lost cache and business. Star chef Lydia Shire rode to the rescue in 2001, taking over the kitchen and freshening up the traditional menu favorites with contemporary preparations. In 2010, Shire lost her lease and building owner David Ray took over the restaurant’s management. Locke-Ober closed for awhile to do renovations. Luncheons were ended. As dining became more casual and bar-dining, small plates, and sandwiches took the day, Ray made no attempt to follow these fashions. He simply couldn’t keep the old establishment going. Ray told the Boston Globe’s Brian McGrory: “I had a choice. Make Locke-Ober more casual, lower our standards to conform with the way society is today, or I could close it. I could close it with its history and its dignity intact.” The owner since 1978 just decided to pull the plug and sell the building to other restaurateurs. (Brian McGrory, “Locke-Ober Owner David Ray Explains His Decision to Close,” October 22, 2012. It’s interesting in the cultural life of a city how one man gets to make that call. Ray has sold the space to other restaurateurs.
An auction was held on December 7 to sell off kitchen wares, furnishings, and memorabilia. I dropped by on the lunch hour in search of old menus or other pieces of history. About 100 people were present with others bidding online. A lot of assorted ashtrays sold for $5. Thirty-five assorted fry pans sold for $350. And 499 steelware plate covers sold for $50—I guess they’re out of fashion. There were some lots of menus from the last decade and some framed awards from Holiday Magazine and The Wine Spectator. But the bidding was slow and I couldn’t stay. No true treasures appeared in sight, but the auction provided an opportunity to poke around the empty kitchen and some of the odd side rooms used for bachelor parties, Harvard-Yale reunions, et cetera. Sad, certainly, but the restaurateurs who are taking over the space were promising to reporters to reopen under a new guise, but with much of the same carved woodwork and mirrors. Whatever the restaurant is called, one hopes it might in some way recapture the landmark quality of Locke-Ober.
Yours truly was interviewed on Channel 7 at the Locke-Ober auction — http://wn.whdh.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=8044564&at1=Station 1&h1=Auction at Locke Ober restaurant&flvUri=&partnerclipid=
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