The Berghoff Memorial Blog

desperately seeking sauerbraten...

Does anyone have their sauerbraten recipe? I understand it was published in the paper at least once. I had it, but my ex-husband took my recipe file when he moved out......His Mother has it, but somehow I doubt she'll ever pass it back to me (yes, I've asked). I would make it about once a month, but not for about 15 years now. I remember the crushed ginger snaps, bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves (but not the amounts) and it taking 3 days to marinate. If anyone has it, please pass it on!

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this is not a bar...

[ flickr photo by zhaonameloc ]

[ post title inspired by Magritte ]

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lowering the bar...

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lifetime supply of Berghoff Bourbon...?

I still have bottles of the 14 year old and 10 year and am slowly consuming them. I have enjoyed bourbon for years and the smoky rich and complex texture of these Stitzel Weller distillates is just unbelievable. I am devastated about the closing of that distillery and I recall the event at the time it was announced. I was living in Salt Lake City and I think I got on a plane and went to Chicago simply to purchase some at the time in the belief that it would go fast. I am so glad that I did that.

You indicated that Wallys in LA was or is selling one of the Berghoff Bourbons for $300.00; I would not sell mine for that amount -- not nearly.

I told my wife that I would consult an actuary about my life expectancy in order to calculate the consumption rate I can enjoy so that I do not outlive my supply!

Thanks for the information on this matter.

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(seventeen west at the) Berghoff...

Their number's up
When The Berghoff announced it was closing in 2006 after a mere 107 years, lines of folks hungry for a final schnitzel snaked around the block. The historic German restaurant's space was reconfigured for private parties, while 17 West at the Berghoff (and Berghoff Café downstairs), as it was re-named, would continue to accommodate diners with some of the traditional dishes of its predecessor, as well as more contemporary fare.

Well, as of March 7, the restaurant is now called simply Berghoff (note the missing "the" in addition to the 17 West). The change is a result of owner Carlyn Berghoff squeezing her catering and restaurant businesses under one umbrella name, Berghoff Catering & Restaurant Group. She says two names were too confusing for customers -- not to mention a real mouthful for staff answering the phone. But the menu and everything else is staying the same.

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city officials to Carlyn: "are you a woman?"

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goodbye, 17/West... hello, Berghoff (again)...?

Redefining Chicago’s Culinary Experience
Famous Chicago restaurant 17/West at the Berghoff, the Berghoff Café and bar and popular Chicago catering company Artistic Events by Carlyn Berghoff have combined to form the Berghoff Catering & Restaurant Group. The business headquarters, located at the historic Berghoff building at 17 West Adams St. will be composed of two divisions; Berghoff Catering and Berghoff Restaurant.

After twenty years in the catering business and the success of 17/West at the Berghoff, Berghoff’s goal is to unite the two businesses, offering guests and clients a unique “tradition with a twist” experience.

“Both 17/West and Artistic Events have become such staples in Chicago that I knew it was time to bring them both under one umbrella,” says Berghoff. “I’m so excited for this next step in both businesses, and I know this change will be for the best.”

Since Carlyn Berghoff opened 17/West at the Berghoff in 2006, in the space formerly occupied by her family’s 107-year-old restaurant, she has defined ‘tradition with a twist,’ enhancing modern dishes while keeping her family’s classic meals. The unification of Artistic Events by Carlyn Berghoff and 17/West at the Berghoff into The Berghoff Catering & Restaurant Group will further her family’s culinary relationship with Chicago while evolving to accommodate modern times.

Joining the Berghoff Catering & Restaurant Group is Jodi Fyfe, a 20-year veteran in the hospitality industry. Fyfe will serve as President and Chief Operating Officer, taking a lead role in the company’s future development and expanding Berghoff Catering to cultivate cutting-edge cuisine, service and trends.

Today, guests can visit the Berghoff restaurant, the Berghoff Café and the Bar at the Berghoff to sample dozens of classic and modern dishes. For meeting and events, the restaurant boasts several spaces available, including the famous Century Room, as well as the West Room and East Room.

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Chicagoist reviews 17/West...

17/West at the Berghoff: A Little Bit of Old, A Little Bit of New
Like many Chicagoans, we cried a little in 2006 when the Berghoff restaurant closed its doors after 108 years in the loop. While the Berghoff was never known for its “gourmet” cuisine, it did serve up hearty portions of German cooking and nostalgia for old Chicago. We were delighted to see that part of the Berghoff legacy would carry on “17/West at the Berghoff.”

The gruff old waiters (and heavy German food) are nowhere to be found. Instead, new dishes like applewood bacon-wrapped shrimp and pumpkin-filled ravioli sit alongside revised German favorites like wiener schnitzel and sauerbraten. The Alsatian onion and apple soup is the best and the cheapest thing on the menu – we would buy it by the quart if we could. The root beer martini is so scrumptious that we forgive them for adding an upscale cocktail menu to the one of the most famous beer halls in Chicago.

The decor hasn’t changed much, but the constant-party feel of the old Berghoff is gone in favor of a laid-back lounge atmosphere. Even when the place is full, it’s strangely quiet. The menu lacked any sense of identity, like those chain restaurants that serve you “Thai-spiced” soup with spaghetti. The sound system, rather than playing German music or even recent pop hits, continually played a loop of Johnny Cash songs. Most off-putting was seeing restaurant staff begin close-down procedures at 8:30 on a Friday night, putting chairs on tables all around the remaining diners. For a restaurant with a listed closing time of 10 p.m., this was the wrong message to send to diners.

17/West seems to be a restaurant that is still searching for a niche to fill. The food is excellent and reasonably priced – but the setting is so surreal that you might spend more time looking around in confusion than eating.

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Eric Bronsky reviews 17/West...

Hello Stephen,

I am a co-author of Downtown Chicago in Transition, and also I have followed your blog almost since Day One. First, I want to thank you for helping to get the word out about our book. Certainly an untold number of books have been written about downtown's architecture, but oddly enough no one until now has focused on the history of downtown. We created our book as a nostalgia piece, to rekindle memories of places and things that people haven't thought about for years, and response has been wonderfully gratifying.

Ironically our original idea for this book was to document the demise of Field's, Carsons and Berghoff, but ultimately we expanded its scope and the latter subjects became a brief epilogue. We contemplate returning to these subjects in the future (for now, we're watching the Macy's debacle closely).

During the final months of the old Berghoff and its subsequent turnover to the current operation, your blog was a firsthand source of news, information and opinion reflecting various viewpoints. But in documenting the changes that occurred since Carlyn and her team swooped in and took over, your blog reflected a more negative tone. I have to ask whether you yourself have dined at 17/West since it opened, or if you have been relying solely on feedback from others.

As a regular customer at the old Berghoff Restaurant for 35 years, perhaps I should put in my two cents' worth. When the closing was first announced, few people were more devastated than I was. Over the next two months right up through the final night, I hung out there as much as possible, intent on capturing images and memories for an eventual project.

I knew that Carlyn was planning to reinstate the bar and lower level Cafe, but I did not anticipate the resumption of full lunch and dinner service on the main floor. Going back in time, after the original Henrici's Restaurant on Randolph was torn down to clear the block for Daley Center, the Henrici's branches that opened at the Mart and other locations were NOTHING like the original and eventually faded into oblivion. I sensed that the original Berghoff would also be a tough legacy to match, and frankly I did not have high expectations. It was not without trepidation that I set foot in the venue known today as 17/West at the Berghoff.

Indeed, Carlyn emphasizes that 17/West is not a reopening of the old Berghoff Restaurant. There are some things about the new venue that I really do like, and other things that I'm less enthusiastic about. The inevitable comparisons with the former restaurant make it a challenge for me to be objective, but for whatever it's worth, here is my assessment, "review," or whatever you want to call it:

Thankfully the decor of the old Berghoff is largely intact, right down to the framed historical artifacts and photos hanging in the main entryway and east dining room. The remodeling done to integrate this room with the bar area gave it an updated flair (think bistro) without significantly compromising the integrity of the original decor. The new chair and booth seating (the original wooden chairs are used downstairs in the Cafe) is fine, but the increased noise level is not. The green velour curtain above the partial wall separating the bar and dining room was removed to make the old murals above the bar visible from the dining room, but at busy times the din from the bar challenges conversation. Piped-in rock music intended to draw a younger crowd to the bar is also a turnoff for serious dining. Too many of today’s restaurateurs think noise creates a vibe that attracts younger customers, but I totally disagree.

It's taking me a while to become familiar with all the new faces. I revered the waiters who had served me well for decades (how I miss Arturo, Jimmy, Dimitrios, and Mike the maitre d'!). Those seasoned, highly professional staffers with their traditional uniforms are truly what gave Berghoff its old-world flavor. But I hasten to add that Carlyn's youthful staff has been on the job here for approaching two years now, and they have become quite adept at these skills. While not always perfect, the service now approaches what I experienced in the old days.

Unlike the renegade company that foolishly trashed Marshall Field's, Carlyn did not want to alienate former Berghoff Restaurant customers. Believing that it was important to maintain some continuity with the past, she retained the executive chef and those hallowed recipes, and she is receptive to customer feedback. The good baked-in-house rye bread is back -- no more of those dainty little rolls with the herbed butter. The wienerschnitzel, sauerbraten, and wursts can be had at lunch or dinner any day, but other Berghoff favorites now appear more regularly as specials on a seasonal basis. You don't care for "tradition with a twist?" No problem. Just ask your server to please substitute creamed spinach and spaetzle for the haricot verts, couscous or whatever.

17/West is definitely not a German restaurant. But do you know what? I have sampled several of those trendy new appetizers, entrees and sides, and found new faves that I will order again on future visits. In the olden days, much of the food was prepared in bulk quantities and kept warm on steam tables in the kitchen (which facilitated the fast service that Berghoff was justly renowned for). Today, though, more items are individually cooked to order, which takes a little longer, but with noticeable improvement in quality. Desserts are more interesting and inventive than in the past, but you can still enjoy apple strudel, occasionally Black Forest cake, and there is usually at least one sugar-free dessert. And don't forget the Berghoff beer served on draught, the reason for this restaurant's existence in the first place!

Nowadays I dine there at least once a month. On my most recent visit, my friends and I occupied a round oak table in the splendor of the Century Room (the west dining room formerly known as the Old Heidelberg Room that is generally reserved for private events but occasionally opens to the public). Virtually unchanged in appearance, this stately room is currently replete with a full complement of festive holiday decorations including the Christmas tree in its usual spot by the mirror. The current menu (which will probably change after January 1) includes venerable Berghoff holiday traditions like hand-carved turkey, venison medallions, roast duck and yule log.

My biggest peeve? Their current reservation policy. I used to drop into the place with 6 or 7 friends on a Friday night without reservations, and Mike never had a problem finding a table for us. But nowadays ... well, I won't bore you with the details because they may have already discovered that this policy (which emulates a trend found at high-end restaurants) would only discourage business.

Sure, all of us would have rather seen the "old" Berghoff preserved as we best remember it. In the good old days, the main draw was substantial portions of well-prepared hearty German food at incredibly low prices. But over time the costs of food, labor, equipment, supplies, taxes, etc. soared; and all the while, German food was becoming less fashionable and the long lines grew shorter and shorter. So change was inevitable, and it's remarkable that Herman and Jan maintained the status quo as long as they did.

As explained in our book, downtown is continuously changing and evolving, and to survive, businesses must adapt. Carlyn is doing what she believes is necessary to keep her family's business viable into the 21st Century -- operating a spectrum of dining and catering venues that provide a modicum of flexibility in a brutally competitive market, and providing a casual "neighborhood place" for residents of Loop dormitories and condos. Despite the rumors or hearsay about scheming developers, I believe that this place is destined to remain an important Loop fixture for many more years to come.

Though 17/West will be observing its second Anniversary in a few more months, this place is still one of the best-kept secrets in Chicago. A surprising number of Chicagoans and visitors who mourned the loss of the old Berghoff are not at all aware that they can still go there and have their sauerbraten, rye bread and a stein of beer dispatched by a server in the historic oak-paneled room. True, not everyone who goes there will be pleased with all of the changes. But judging this place entirely on its own merits, I believe that it competes favorably with other Loop restaurants in its price range.

You and the readers of your blog who haven't yet experienced 17/west owe it to yourselves to try it at least once ... but go there with realistic expectations.

Eric Bronsky

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"the Loop that time forgot..."

The Loop that time forgot
December 5, 2007
By ROBERT LOERZEL Contributor

... The lavishly illustrated Downtown Chicago in Transition features photos from [Eric] Bronsky's private collection as well as images from archives of the Chicago History Museum, the Chicago Transit Authority, the Harold Washington Library and the Chicago Sun-Times. Juxtaposed with the historical pictures of places that have changed or disappeared, Bronsky's own photos show what the Loop looks like today. ...

Bronsky originally talked with Samors about publishing a book on three downtown landmarks that recently changed or closed: Marshall Field's, the Berghoff restaurant and Carson Pirie Scott. Bronsky had taken photos of the buildings to document what they looked like before it was too late.

But as Bronsky and Samors talked, they realized the book should cover much more.

"It's almost as if it wrote itself," Bronsky says. "In a sense, it was in my mind since early childhood."

Bronsky and Samors both have vivid memories of going to downtown when they were young, in the 1950s and 1960s. During that era, downtown was still a hopping place filled with lively restaurants, theaters, stores and nightclubs, but the area began falling into decline in the late '60s.

"It was no longer fun to be down there," Samors said. "It'd be like a ghost town."

Downtown has made a comeback in recent years, but Samors says it's not the same as it was in the old days. "It's a different kind of town," he says.

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goodbye, Mr. Chips...

The big potatoes go one way...
It is too easy, particularly in these days of rapid economic change, for a columnist to become a kind of Officially Designated Mourner, the guy who shows up with his ashes and his sackcloth to sit down in the dust beside the smoldering ruin of Marshall Field's, or the Berghoff, or whatever beloved cultural fixture they've taken from us this week, and beat the ground and wail the loss.

So I will resist the temptation to keen for Jays Potato Chips, which bids adieu to our city today. The evaporation of the livelihood of 220 people at 99th and Cottage Grove is a far greater loss than my future inability to buy locally produced O-Ke-Doke popcorn.

And I am biased -- exactly 10 years ago, I walked through the plant, which closes forever today, and met the company's founder, Leonard Japp Sr. I had an insidery thrill, finding out why it is "Jays" -- with no possessive -- because originally the company was called "Mrs. Japp's Potato chips," named for Leonard's wife. But after Pearl Harbor, well, that didn't seem like the most commercially viable name anymore, so it was changed to "Jays," with no possessive because there is no "Jay."

I thought the place was beautiful, a complex industrial ballet, performed daily, starring 250 tons of potatoes. ...

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"season's eatings" (other than 17/West...)

Seasons Eatings
Chowing off of State Street and Michigan Avenue

... Lest you think I’m being Scroogey, I get it. I really do. I shed tears over what I thought was my last stein of Berghoff dark and pink slices of steamed corn beef a couple years ago. Heck, I got suckered into buying a portrait of Bertha Palmer from the Berghoff auction. I love Chicago tradition. In fact I’m getting goose-bumpy just thinking about the dark wainscoted lobby of the Walnut Room, the gold-trimmed elevators and the magnificent alabaster columns on the perfume and cosmetics level. But I also know I can get my low traffic, line-free fix anytime after December.

Even if you make the Walnut visit, you will inevitably find yourself sweaty, tired and cranky carting armloads of shopping bags down State Street and Michigan Avenue again at some point during the holiday season. Skip the siren call of Jimmy Johns, McDonald’s or Bennigan's. Don’t let "Black Friday" become an apt descriptor for your eating fortunes as well as your failure to snatch that free DVD player or inkjet printer at 5am at Radio Shack. Instead, check out this downtown shoppers holiday guide to good eats.

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thumbs down for 17/West...

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in the (Berghoff) dark...

Crack one open
Pick hit: Berghoff Original Dark Beer.

Pedigree: The famed Berghoff Restaurant, a Chicago landmark for 107 years, closed in 2006. Fortunately, the beer served in its big, great, dark-wood bar - the site of the city's first post-Prohibition liquor license - is still available in bottles. This was rated as one of the world's top100 beers in Wine Enthusiast Magazine. It's brewed by the Joseph Huber Brewing Co. in Wisconsin, the oldest continually operating brewery in the Midwest and the second oldest in the nation

Why hoist one: The atmosphere probably made this taste better, but it's still a flavorful lager with a nice malt-hop balance and a fruity palate. Surprisingly sweet with a bitterness that kicks in at the end. Substantial brew, but not so heavy that you can't have more than one. Given its pedigree, I can't imagine that there's a beverage better suited for German food.

Find it: Beverage stores and some groceries. We found ours at Rego's Supermarket, 13609 Lakewood Heights Blvd., Lakewood.

You'll pay: Around $6 or $7 for a six-pack.

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Sept-Okt-Novemberfest...?

[Friday, September 14]

Novemberfest.

Well, it felt like it tonight.

Cold and windy; they closed early tonight. 8:35pm by my watch. The band stopped, and they started closing up.

And per the National Weather Service it might be 87 by next Tuesday. Summer again.

Well, as for the Oktoberfest; I could not really stay away as it’s right outside my window, I can see it from across the top of the Loop post office from my perch at the Clark Adams Building , formerly known as the Bankers Building . ...

Wednesday, A little chilly, and not quite as busy as I have seen. But Thursday it picked up. Friday doing better; then in the evening imitation Novemberfest.

The prices for beer and brats are higher than in the past. In accordance with the theme of “tradition with a twist” rather than a BMW car as in past years the grand prize of the Horizons for Youth drawing was a Harley Davidson Sportster XL 1200C motorcycle.

I spent more than I wish to think about. But I enjoyed it.

It is planned to be done again next year, the second week of September. September 10, 11, and 12 of 2008.

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