If you stopped for a bite to eat at the Brown Derby in the 20th century you might just have run into Lucille Ball, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Carole Lombard or Clarke Gable just to name a few movie stars who frequented the restaurant on a regular basis...

{HISTORY}

In the early-to-mid 20th century a trip to Los Angeles was not complete until a meal at the Brown Derby was had. A California landmark for over 60 years, The Brown Derby restaurants were famous celebrity hotspots from the 1920s-1980s. The first one opened in 1926 on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles and it was shaped like a brown Derby hat. In close proximity to hotels and a radio station where frequent interviews were conducted, the restaurant became a convenient spot for celebrities, Hollywood clientele, and film industry professionals to meet. Of course open to the general public too, it became a fun place to celebrity watch as well as enjoy a good meal all the same time. 

The birthplace of the Cobb Salad (named after Brown Derby president Bob Cobb), the restaurant was also lauded for their steaks, cakes and soups - recipes they had perfected by the time The Brown Derby Cookbook was published in 1949. Containing all of the favorites served to restaurant patrons over the past 20 years including the famous Cobb Salad, the recipes were scaled down to family size making them appropriate for cooking in home kitchens. Needless to say, the cookbook was a hit with both tourists and restaurant patrons.

What is especially fun about this cookbook, in particular, is that its previous owner made many notes in the margins about a variety of the recipes she had tested and tried. Noting ones that she liked and ones she didn't, what particular tweaks she made to certain recipes and what brand products she liked to use, this cookbook takes on the voice of two experts - the kitchen staff at the Brown Derby and the intrepid home cook who tried her hand at so many of the recipes. Please see photos for examples of her notes.

It's always fun to collect vintage restaurant cookbooks because they really tell stories about vintage food trends and tastes at the time of their publication. Restaurants had to make food that people wanted to eat, so they are a good judge of what was both popular and tantalizing at the time. 

Interesting recipes in The Brown Derby Cookbook include Fresh Mushrooms Bercy and Hollandaise on Ham, Barbecued Beef Mexican Style, Brown Derby $10,000 Apple Pie, French Pancakes, Lemon Souffle Pie, Barbecued Corn and Avocado Salad, Fresno Omelet, Fine Cut Chicken Hash a la Ritz, Braised Ox Joints a la Bourgeoise, Baked Halibut Princess, Avocado Neptune Derby, Cream of Avodello Soup, Crab Lorenzo Paste, Blue Cheese with Brandy and Derby Meat Sauce for Spaghetti plus many more.

Brown Derby restaurant and menu photos courtesy of Chalmers Butterfield, United Air Lines and Valeria Santini, Loyola University.

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- 1952 edition published by Doubleday

- 272 pages including index

- Decorated endpapers feature photographs and whimsical illustrations of the restaurant

- Additional chapters beyond the recipes include the colorful history of The Brown Derby and definitions of common menu item terms

- Edited by American home economist Marjorie Child Husted of Betty Crocker fame (read more about Marjorie over on the blog here)

{CONDITION}

In lovely vintage condition. The spine and back overboard bear some light cooking stains but the front overboard is clean and bright. There are a few random cooking spots on just a couple of the interior pages and many notes handwritten in pencil by a previous owner. None of these interfere with reading the recipes in any way. The spine is tight and all pages are intact. 

{SIZE}

Measures 8.5" inches (length) x 5.75" inches (width) x 1.25" inches (thickness) and weighs 1.2lbs.

{FOR THE LOVE OF RESTAURANTS}

Find more vintage restaurant cookbooks and restaurant ware dishes here