May 25th, 2012
I had no idea that Morton’s was being morphed into something grotesque and awful. Thanks to Galley Friend Vic Matus, now I do:
There is no prime rib special on Thursdays. The cheesecake no longer comes from the S&S Bakery in the Bronx. The key lime pie is gone from the Prime Lunch Specials. They’ve ceased offering complimentary cordials after a big dinner. The butter is no longer a thick square but rather a wavy garnish. The plates are now square. In a few months, the downtown D.C. location will shut down for renovations, in which the dark-wood paneling will be replaced with black and silver. Multiple Morton’s locations considered redundant have been closed.
The fall of an American institution hasn’t been this macabre since Brooks Bros. went down market in the late 1990s.
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I have never understood the love for Morton’s that is universal among DC residents of a certain age. The steaks in particular just aren’t as good as other places in the area. I just don’t get the appeal?
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For those of you who are just pretending you get your suits from Savile Row. (Look it up.) Morton’s represents(ed) a “chain” of restaurants where ostensibly wealthy clients can expect a certain modicum of service and culinary delights in New York, DC, Fort Lauderdale, Nashville, etc. The consistency of the service and edibles would make it so that if one were on a business trip (this happens for folks that actually do something besides sit behind a computer all day criticizing things beyond their intellect) one could say “I’m not in the mood for A. the local fare or B. the curry in Hartford. Let’s go to Morton’s…(we know what to expect.)”
Only those with some sense of history and culinary delights in multiple cities would appreciate Morton’s hence, your indescribable ignorance, Ben and W.Pig.
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The service at the Midtown Sofitel has absolutely gone to the dogs, I tell ya
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Landry’s follows a cyncial strategy of buying existing chains with established brands. Next they seem to gut them and replace everything on the menu with stock items from what I assume is Sysco/Aramark.
WershovenistPig May 25, 2012 at 6:54 pm
Back when I was billing crazy hours working on Enron litigation, a few co-workers and I would enjoy a steakhouse dinner in NYC every few months. Morton’s was clearly the weakest of the bunch, and this was in 2004-5. I remember being presented a depressing tray of items covered in plastic wrap, and the steak and sides were second-rate, compared to Old Homestead, Wolf’s, Peter Luger, Strip House…even Ruth’s Chris.