When you think "Delmonico’s” chances are the first thing you think is “steak," as in, New York Steak. Makes sense right? After all, the venerated eatery made their bones (pun intended) on their steaks.

It was primarily Delmonico’s that made New York Steak a thing on menus all over the world, after all, but this is just scratching the surface of how Delmonico’s invented how restaurants do things.

As we’ve talked about before, they invented several world famous dishes as well. Because of this, chances are very good that one of your very favorite meals not only originated from New York City, but from this restaurant.

Examples? Sure.

Besides the iconic New York steak, Delmonico’s originated Chicken a la King (aka Chicken a la Keene), Lobster Newberg, Oysters Rockefeller, Baked Alaska, and it has a legitimate claim on inventing Eggs Benedict too.

To start at the beginning, Delmonico’s has been around since 1827, when it sold simple fare such as pastries and cigars.

It became a full-fledged restaurant ten years later, making a name for itself with steaks and its vast wine cellar.

The restaurant would go on to world renown, hitting a level of fame that would nearly ensure years of prosperity.

That turned out to be just over one hundred years, as The Great Depression slammed America in 1929, throwing millions of people into poverty and shuttering countless businesses for good.

Delmonico’s at 56 Beaver Street  (vacant since 1923) would be saved, however, as a man named Oscar Tucci purchased it that same year.

Tucci would, for all intents and purposes, save the restaurant, and by doing so, he set standards that modern day eateries still follow to this day.

Under Oscar Tucci, Delmonico’s would become one of the first establishments to allow women to eat there. It’s hard to over-emphasize how monumental this was.

In comparison, McSorley’s Old Ale House, another of New York’s oldest eateries, didn’t allow women inside until the 1970s.

He would follow this then unheard of policy by becoming one of the first to allow women to work in a restaurant as well, and would go on to host women’s luncheons and charity work (The Salvation Army and Casa Italiana Colombia University were a few).

While seemingly a small thing these days, Oscar Tucci really did help blaze a trail for women’s rights.

Delmonico’s was already a New York institution, but it was Tucci who brought a new prominence to it.

Originally from Florence, Italy, Tucci brought a  sensibility to the eatery, and his influences along with his son's Mario Tucci can still be felt today.

We spoke to Oscar "Max" Tucci, Oscar’s grandson, who is releasing a book on the beloved Oscar’s Delmonico’s, as the restaurant became colloquially known:

"For me it’s about re-lighting the flame, bringing back the legacy. Epicurean history, epicurean treasure. Delmonico’s is a pioneer of the restaurant industry, but what Oscar Tucci originated is immeasurable!”

,

Under Tucci, Delmonico’s began pulling New Yorkers downtown for dinners and evenings.

That was thought impossible at that time. The Wall Street area was strictly daytime, lunch or early dinner service only, as it would be deserted at night.

Bringing people (and celebrities like Lana Turner, Gypsy Rose Lee, Virgina Graham, Eva Gabor, Red Buttons and Orson Bean, to name a few) back into a “work only” area of NYC, especially when Harlem was considered Gotham's hot spot, is an astounding testament to the influence of Oscar Tucci.

To put this phenomenon in modern terms, imagine Manhattan-ites flocking en masse to the southern tip of Staten Island for dinner and an evening out.

(Nothing against Staten Island, someday you’ll be a social magnet we’re sure, but it is certainly not this day.)

Besides originating many dishes still popular today, including the Wedge Salad, which Oscar Tucci himself created, Oscar and Mario also continued adding to the famously vast wine collection, making it the largest restaurant wine cellar in the world.

Oscar Tucci established traditions that spread throughout the restaurant industry as a whole and indeed, even in popular culture.

Just as a for instance, it was Oscar’s Delmonico that came up with the term “86,” as in, "to drop something." If a restaurant runs out of a menu item, it is “86'ed.” As the story goes, menu item 86 was very popular and would sell out quickly. The term “86” became slang for, “We’re out of that.”

Within a short period of time, all restaurants in NYC had adopted the term, and it spread out to the rest of the world from there. The term even took on other linguistic uses, such as “86 that” as a command to stop doing or saying a certain thing.

“There’s a beautiful history,” says Max Tucci heir to Oscar's Delmonico's. “Do you want that, the voice of our ancestors, or the same old cheap flash and bang.” He has a valid point.

It is easy to forget about the people who gave us what we have. Those who came before us aren’t often given the credit for establishing the traditions we currently enjoy.

Oscar Tucci shouldn’t be one of those people, and Delmonico’s shouldn’t be one of those places.

This sums up an issue New Yorkers constantly have: we forget what an amazing city we live in; how much has come from here; how much will continue to come from here; how badly we take it for granted.

New Yorkers need to stop and appreciate the history of our city more often, and how much it has contributed to the culture of the entire world.

Oscar Tucci is a good place to start. (P.S., be on the look out for Max Tucci’s book on him and the famous Oscar's Delmonico later this year.)

And hell, if you've ever in the neighborhood, stop on by Delmonico's. You know, they're still serving up some of the best dishes that this historic city has to offer.

Check out #SaveNYC: Here’s Why You’re Going to Miss FAO Schwarz on 5th Avenue. 

[Feature Image Courtesy: Trip Advisor]