January 9, 2018 – Restaurant 1833 has been closed since Thanksgiving. And, though there is no date set yet for its reopening, the anticipation is palpable. As new owner Constance Laub says, “It’s just so hard waiting.”
The Stokes Adobe first opened as a restaurant in 1950, but its history reaches back to its namesake year – 1833 – when Hoge and Benjamin Day developed the property for Ambrose Tomlinson. James Stokes, a British sailor turned pharmacist, purchased the property from Tomlinson and expanded the structure, adding seven more rooms and a second story. Years later Gallatin Powers acquired the property and opened the first restaurant in the adobe, Gallatin’s. In its heyday Gallatin’s attracted politicians of note as well as Frank Sinatra and the glamorous decadence of Hollywood stars and Sinatra’s Rat Pack.
It is that atmosphere that Dexter Salazar, Laub’s collaborator in this project, hopes to bring back to 1833. “I would like the vibe to be more Rat Pack, less haunted house,” he says. “Back in the day, with that Sinatra feel, Gallatin’s was the ‘It Place’ to be.”
But Laub adds that the new restaurant won’t be so formal that you have to dress to the nines; ‘casual elegance’ is more the atmosphere she is hoping to achieve. “I’m looking at making it more approachable, an everyday thing, but not by sacrificing its elegance. I just like people to have a nice time with good food and wine.”
Gallatin’s menu boasted some ambitious, exotic items such as whole roasted wild boar, cream of red abalone soup, and bull’s head minotaur that included “the tongue simmered in spices and the brains and eyes sautéed in butter… crowned with pastry horns and wreaths of gaily colored flowers.”
Laub doesn’t want to disclose too much about the opening menu yet, but shares that one of the things she loves about restaurants is their flexibility. “If we put chicken fried steak on the menu and people don’t like it, let’s say, we change it. Menus are adjustable. It’s that simple.”
Salazar says they will be focusing on sourcing locally and organically, as much as possible, adding more options, and starting lunch service on the hedge-lined patio. When they reopen, the restaurant will serve lunch and dinner every day of the week, though Sunday will be brunch and dinner.
Once paperwork is finalized, there will still be several weeks of regenerating and renewing the space. “I just want to paint and lighten. And I’m looking at hardwood floors upstairs. I’m not planning to change much, but I need to freshen it up,” Laub says.
They promised to keep EMB updated on their progress, but assure us it will be worth the wait, “This is a wonderful opportunity. And it will happen when it happens,” she adds.
About the author
Camilla M. Mann has crammed a lot of different jobs into four decades: florist, waitress, SCUBA divemaster, stock photo agency manager, stroller fitness teacher, writer, editor, and au pair. But, if she had to distill who she is today – tree-hugging, veggie-crunching, jewelry-designing mean mommy who loves to cook but hates to clean. Thankfully her husband and their boys clean like champs. Her current culinary goal: grow conscientious, creative kids with fearless palates! She blogs at culinary-adventures-with-cam.blogspot.com
