Tip Top Inn

Culled from: Drury, John. Dining in Chicago. New York: The John Day Company, 1931. pp. 23-26. .

Note: The Newberry Library holds the personal papers of author John Drury.

TIP TOP INN

A. Hieronymus Host

Frankfort-on-the-Main, in southeastern Prussia, goes
down in history as the birthplace of two great men — J.
Von Goethe, the poet, and A. Hieronymus, the host. For
what Goethe is to literature, Hieronymus is to epicurean-
ism in Chicago. We know of no other caterer in Chicago
who more closely approaches the creative artist than this
elderly, distinguished founder and host of the historic
Tip Top Inn. Where else can you find a restaurant offer-
ing 109 specialites de la maison — original viands created
by Mr. Hieronymus and his chefs. Turn to the back page
of his large dinner menu and see them listed! If this isn't
proof that Mr. A. Hieronymus is as great an artist in
cookery as was Mr. J. Goethe in iambs, then we'll make a
meal of our words. But "the proof of the pudding is in
the eating." And so it is. You must eat some of these
highly original dishes for verification of mine host's repu-
tation in cookery.

Let us point out a few of them. Among the oysters (in
season) are Baked Rockaways a la Hieronymus — a dish
nothing short of marvelous. So also is the shore stew, con-
sisting of lobsters, oysters, and shrimps. In the relish col-
umn there are Lobster Filets Cardinal, Crabmeat Grace
Louise, and English celery with anchovies — all delicacies
that live up to the word "relish." Essence of tomato with
fresh crab and whipped cream heads the list of soups en
tasse, with mousse of new peas a la Pullman as our second
choice.

Getting down to fish and shell fish, we know of noth-
ing more succulent than the stuffed whitefish with crab-
meat or the stufifed lobster in shell a la Pullman. As for
entrees, you will not be making a mistake in ordering
Boned Grilled Chicken Strasbourg, as thrilling as an air-
plane ride (but not so uncertain), or in ordering the
doebird en casserole (for two) , which is worth the $4.00
you pay for it.

Not to overlook chafing dishes, mine host offers Mallard
Duck a la Hieronymus (in season) , for which we would
gladly pay twice the $5.50 that he modestly charges for
it; Imperial Sirloin Steak, a sirloin like none other in Chi-
cago; and Chicken Flakes Kingsbury, a dish that is poetry
to the palate. And there are other chafing dishes too.
Among the salads is Stuffed Pear Tip Top; among the des-
serts are Mussolini Slice, Colonial cup and Omelette Glace
Surprise; and in the cheeses we suggest Camembert with
Romaine and Oriental dressing. Special Tip Top drip
coffee is another creation of the house that you shouldn't
miss.

These delightful dishes, which make the Tip Top Inn
an epicure's paradise, were not created overnight. No,
they are the result of more than thirty years experience on
the part of Mr. Hieronymus in watching over the kitch-
ens of the Tip Top Inn. These specialties have made it a
landmark of the town, as much an institution as are those
other familiar landmarks, Marshall Field & Company
and the Stockyards.

Here is what Wallace Rice wrote about the Tip Top
Inn in his chapter on Chicago hotels and restaurants, ap-
pearing in ''Chicago and Its Makers," by Paul Gilbert and
Charles Lee Bryson: ''Especially worthy of note because
it has survived happily and prosperously into the living
present is the Tip Top Inn, conducted for many years by
Adolph Hieronymus on the uppermost floors of the Pull-
man Building. Originally known as the Albion Cafe, it
was taken over in 1893 by its present proprietor, who was
an apprentice under two of the greatest chefs the city has
known, William Thomann, of the Tremont House, and
Joseph Seil, of the Palmer House."

During its career, the Tip Top Inn has been the gath-
ering-place of many of the first families of Chicago as
well as of notables from the stage, opera and music world.
Here came such world-famed actors and actresses of the
past as Lillian Russell, Richard Mansfield, Sir Forbes
Robertson, Anna Held, and Robert Mantell — and among
the living, George M. Cohan, DeWolf Hopper, Blanche
Ring and Richard Carle. The literary critics — Floyd Dell,
Harry Hansen, and the late Keith Preston — came here too.

At the present time, everybody who is anybody in
Chicago has dined at least once in the Tip Top ; but it is
a particular favorite with such diners-out as Ashton
Stevens, the drama critic, and his actress-wife, Katherine
Krug; Arthur Bissel, vice-president of Lyon & Healy
Company; Fanny Butcher, literary editor of the Chicago
Tribune; Frederick Stock and Eric De Lamarter, the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra conductors ; James Keeley,
official of the Pullman Company; Richard ("Riq") At-
water, columnist of The Chicagoan; and Colonel A. A.
Sprague, the civic leader.

One of the reasons why these interesting people come
here is found in the many delightful dining rooms of the
Tip Top Inn — the Dickens Room, like an old English
inn, with a beamed ceiling, fireplace and sporting prints
and portraits of Pickwick, Sam Weller and other familiar
Dickens characters hanging about the walls; the Italian
Room, quiet, elegant and Neapolitan; the Nursery, with
its Mother Goose nursery rhymes; and the Black Cat
Room, with its whimsical feline motifs. And in two of
these rooms there is music from stringed orchestras. Serv-
ice at the hands of polite colored waiters is perfection.

By all means don't miss the Tip Top Inn. And the view
from the windows overlooking Chicago's lake front is
grand.

The Tip Top Inn American

Michigan Boulevard at Adams

Open daily and Sundays, 11:30 AM, to 10:00 P.M.

A la carte and table d^hote luncheons in all rooms. Table
d'hote dinner in Black Cat Room, $1.00. Both a la carte
and table d'hote dinners in other rooms. Prices reasonable.
Maitre d'hotel: Adolph Hierony^nus