Changing Flavors Over Time: The History of Brooklyn Foodways with Gage and Tollner

What can we learn from a restaurant that has existed for more than a century?

First opened in 1879, Gage & Tollner was considered the most famous restaurant in Brooklyn for 125 years, serving seafood, chops, and post-prohibition cocktails to a well-heeled crowd until its doors were shuttered in 2004.

That is until 2020 when three Brooklyn restaurateurs successfully completed a capital campaign to restore Gage & Tollner to its former glory. While plans were temporarily derailed by the pandemic, the restaurant is now open and once again diners are clamoring for fine seafood, chops, cocktails, and decadent desserts on Fulton Street.

In a conversation led by Center for Brooklyn History librarian Michelle Montalbano, we’ll learn about Gage & Tollner’s storied history (including the time period when Edna Lewis led the kitchen) and discuss what ephemera such as old menus can tell us about the changing foodways of a location, and how the agriculture and technological innovations over time factor into what and how people eat. Most intriguingly, we will interrogate what has stood the test of time and what has stayed the same.

Your ticket includes one classic cocktail crafted by St. John Frizell and a tasting of Blue Cheese and Olive Gougeres created by pastry chef Caroline Schiff. Dietary restrictions and substitutions cannot be accommodated.

Presented by MOFAD and Demo Kitchen by Ace Hotel Brooklyn