With travel and even dining options limited during the COVID-19 pandemic. those in the vicinity of downtown Manhattan might want to pay a visit to historic Fraunces Tavern, which is both a tavern and a museum. Famous as the place where General George Washington said goodbye to his officers following the Revolutionary War, the tavern, which pre-exists the United States, has managed to survive, in varying iterations for the last few centuries. Always curious about the place and hoping, in some small way, to help historic restaurants outlast the coronavirus pandemic, I head to the Financial District in downtown Manhattan with a youthful adventurer on a fair-weathered fall day.
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Why Visit Historic Fraunces Tavern Now?
This seems as good a moment as any to try and return to a time when and a place where people did not know how everything would turn out, yet still they pressed on an life moved forward. Fraunces Tavern, over the centuries, managed to survive the U.S. Revolution, fires, changes in ownership and use, and even a terrorist bombing (in the 1970s, an annex to the tavern was bombed by someone allegedly supporting Puerto Rican independence). In sum, Fraunces Tavern has seen plenty of trouble, yet still it stands in somewhat different form.
“The American of the present day has often been accused and, perhaps, not altogether unjustly, with having no regard for the household gods [sic?] of his fathers and of being so intensely practical that in his rush for wealth he sweeps away the very monuments of history.”
Some Historic Old Houses, New-York Times, Aug. 5, 1894, p. 24
The tavern is believed to have built in 1730. That year, Stephanus Van Cortlandt conveyed the plot to Etienne De Lancey, who married Van Cortlandt’s daughter. Samuel Fraunces bought it in 1762 and named it Queen Charlotte’s Inn. It was also called Queen’s Head Tavern before becoming known as Fraunces Tavern. Over the centuries, the place has seen plenty of trouble: fires, hard times, and even a terrorist bombing in the 1970s. Yet still it stands, albeit in somewhat different form.
Now is actually a great time to visit. The tavern offers outside seating as well as socially distanced seating indoors where, of course, servers wear masks (as do diners when they are not seated at their tables). You’ll want to make a reservation both for the restaurant and for the museum.
What’s on the Fraunces Tavern Menu?
Today, patrons can order craft beer, choose from many whiskeys, or go for a cocktail. For brunch, we opted for oysters and an eggs-with-lobster concoction. I like that my dish was served not on a plate but on a cutting board. Is that how it would have been back in 1783 or earlier? I wonder.
It is perhaps more amusing to consider earlier menus and the items on them. Back in 1907, a patron might have opted to start with an order of sardines before moving on to broiled squab on toast with a side of lima beans. Afterward, one might enjoy a Turkish coffee and brandied peaches.
Reporting on the centennial celebration of Washington’s address at the tavern, the New York Times (then a hyphenated publication known as the New-York Times) mentioned an old advertisement from Sept. 10, 1770 for Queen’s Head Tavern, which apparently offered delivery: “Dinners and suppers dressed to send out for lodgers and others who live at a convenient distance,” the ad promised. Also available were “cakes, tarts, jellies, whip syllybubs, blau [sic] mange, sweet meats, &c., in any quantity, cold meat in small quantities, beef steaks &c. at any hour. Pickled oysters from the West Indies or elsewhere.” Turtle Soup and Punch: Two Commemorative Events in Fraunces’s Tavern, New-York Times, Dec. 3, 1883, p. 1.
Pickled oysters make me curious, as does the mention of syllybubs. Those taking up cooking as their pandemic hobby might be interested to learn that syllabub is a dessert made by curdling cream with wine. The dessert’s name comes from the region in France where the wine used in it in colonial America comes from—Sillery—plus the word bub, an old word from England that refers to a bubbly drink, explained Patricia Mitchell in Revolutionary Recipes: Colonial Food, Lore, & More.
Need a recipe for syllabub? Here are a few: Syllabub by Southern Kitchen, the James Beard Foundation’s take on syllabub, and Saveur’s interpretation. Looking at these recipes, I’m thinking syllabub needs to make a comeback, both at Fraunces Tavern and elsewhere. From what I can tell, it’s whipped cream with alcohol. I haven’t been able to find pickled oysters, but then again, I haven’t really tried too hard. If you manage to score a pickled oyster or an order of syllabub, let me know!
As of this writing, Fraunces Tavern offers takeout and delivery as well as outside and in-house dining.
The GW Connection to Fraunces Tavern
A visit to Fraunces Tavern brings George Washington, an increasingly remote figure, to life in some measure. There always seems to be an effort to deify founding fathers (see, e.g., the Washington Monument). Being in a place where George Washington ate, drank, and spoke reminds one of his humanity.
On Dec. 4, 1783, following the first Evacuation Day (the day British troops left New York), then-General George Washington said goodbye to his officers in the dining room on the second floor of the tavern.
Of course, his time in New York was not quite finished. George Washington became the first president of the United States in 1789 and was inaugurated at nearby Federal Hall. New York City, at that time, was the nation’s capital. He hired Samuel Fraunces, the owner of Fraunces Tavern, to be his steward.
Who Was Samuel Fraunces?
Samuel Fraunces, who was born in the West Indies (AKA the Caribbean), was known as “Black Sam” and may have been a person of color. During the Revolutionary War, he helped ease the way of American prisoners of war and also helped put an end to a plan to assassinate George Washington, according to a biography of Washington by Ron Chernow. After Washington became president in 1789, Fraunces served as his steward.
Tips for Bashful Adventurers
Be certain to check current requirements for visiting before heading to New York City.
You will need to make a reservation at the tavern restaurant and also buy a ticket (and schedule a visiting time) for the museum.
The museum is on the second floor of the tavern.
Fraunces Tavern and Museum, 54 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10004
—Lori Tripoli
Lori Tripoli is the editor and publisher of Bashful Adventurer. Based in the New York City vicinity, she writes about travel for a variety of publications.
Contact Lori at loritripoli @ bashfuladventurer.com.
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