This would seem to be the month for old rimes' sake. We have been chophousing again. But let me say right here that the an of the chophouse per se, as it was known in the days of Henry Irving or Olive Fremstad or others who enjoyed the glories of well-cooked, well, aged meal in a pleasantly clubby atmosphere, is all but gone. Nowadays, in this chromium-and-plastic age, the comfortable, massive atmosphere of wood and leather and mellowness seems to have vanished. There are. however, a handful of real holdouts in this greater New York of ours, and I have sought out two of them with the first days of winter, actually upon us at last.
Uptowners are dangerously wont to forget Keen's English Chop House at 72 West 36th Street. Its geography is ideal for the opera or one of the theaters below the mid-forties. Here is the true chophouse, more or lest as it has been since 1878. That's seventy-two years ago! Naturally, there has been expansion over the years, but there still lingers on the aura of smoky wood, the same old theatrical posters and pictures, the same racks upon racks of pipes marked with the names of many past and present great. It is a nostalgic setting.
I have only one thought when I think of Keen's—mutton. I am certain that at this point no other restaurant in New York exists where one may feast on such pedigree mutton chops as Keen's. They are of well-aged Canadian or Northwestern mutton, the chops carefully selected and trimmed to about three-quarters of a pound each. Then they are slowly broiled under a low (lame, placed in a slow oven, and broiled a second time. As a consequence, there is a mutton chop which is well-cooked and appetizingly pink without having its outside charred and its inside raw. It is really neither well done nor rare, but a medium chop of hot, hearty juiciness. Its essential muttony flavor puts everyday chops momentarily in the pale. A giant baked Idaho potato, with literally ounces of butter on it, bursts out from its crisp brown shell, steaming fragrantly alongside its good companion.
As if that were not enough, there is also featured a robust mutton-chop combination, including kidney, sausage, and bacon with the Gargantuan chop. Here is simplicity in food in gourmet terms! No sauce, no other embellishments, just sheer good fond and good cooking. A mug of beer or ale with this, please.
Is it roast beef you crave this brisk winter evening.? Keen's again hits man's vulnerable spot with really superb ribs of beef. For a truly Brobdingnagian appetite. there is an extra cut which is almost enough for a small family.
If you would toy with steak. Keen's serves some of the best aged beef in New York, and that perfectly cooked and served. If you wander in with a small appetite, let me suggest the sirloin steak sandwich, which is in reality a minute steak of excellent flavor. But you need not choose such weighty things at Keen's. There is a huge menu featuring fish and sea food and such homely dishes as old-fashioned chicken fricassee and breast of chicken with ham Virginia style. The desserts are of the more traditional chophouse variety, and very good they are. You'll find apple and Other fruit pies along with such familiar items as rice pudding and ice cream. On Mondays there is a famous beefsteak and kidney pudding which has been ordered and reordered endlessly down the years.
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