ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 22, 1996 TAG: 9609240006
SECTION: TRAVEL PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA
SOURCE: DIANE STONEBACK THE ALLENTOWN MORNING CALL
Walter Staib was flying at 30,000 feet when his thoughts landed him squarely in the 18th century.
That's when he decided to reopen City Tavern, home to Independence Day celebrations since George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams drank their first toasts to the new nation's birth.
Once called the ``Most Genteel Tavern in America'' by Adams, the City Tavern was the 18th century's Le Bec Fin, which is one of this city's premiere restaurants. Styled after a fine London tavern, the handsome three-story structure at 138 S. Second St. served the finest food and drink available in Philadelphia, the largest city in North America at the time.
The City Tavern was the hub of business before office buildings were established. It was the center of trade before exchanges were set up. And, its food and drink made it a place for everyday meals and special occasions in the time before restaurants were established.
The City Tavern was a daily stop for America's founding fathers, whenever they were in town. Naturally, it also was the place to celebrate independence, starting with the Continental Congress's first Fourth of July celebration in 1777.
``It was a year after the Declaration of Independence had been signed. With the nation at war, celebrations were intensely patriotic,'' said Karie Diethorn, chief curator of Independence Historical Park.
On that Independence Day, the Continental Congress and its guests dined in grand style at City Tavern. There were prayers and speeches. There were special illuminations (painted full-length portraits on tavern windows of the Colonies' heroes including Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. These portraits were back-lit by candles in the evening and attracted throngs of people).
There were moving, 13-cannon salutes fired by each of the warships in Philadelphia's harbor. And, according to written accounts, patriots in the tavern drank 13 patriotic toasts after each of 13 platoons of the Carolina Brigade fired Independence Day salutes.
``I'm not saying George Washington and his counterparts went to the tavern and drank so much that they passed out, but the socially acceptable level of drinking was much higher,'' Diethorn said. ``During a celebration like the Fourth of July, drinking would have been intense.''
The Colonists' celebration dinner would have included foods that were in season like peas and corn and squash, cooked plainly. There would have been several kinds of meat, including roast beef, ham and stews. Cakes and exotic and sugared fruits served may have included mangoes, pineapples and citrus from the West Indies.
``The cooking at the time was more German than English, although the English influence could be seen in baking because of pies and breads like the slightly sweet and cakelike Sally Lunn,'' Staib said.
Because the Tavern was the hub of politics (apart from Independence Hall) and business, it figured in practically every early important event in the city.
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When Paul Revere reported the closing of Boston harbor in May 1774, Philadelphia's prominent citizens met at City Tavern to draft a letter of sympathy to be taken back to Boston.
Also in 1774, members of the First Continental Congress began using the tavern as a daily gathering place.
Thirteen years later, the Constitutional Convention held its closing banquet at City Tavern.
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The 19th century brought an end to the Tavern's early days of glory. As the city grew and other taverns and restaurants began competing for business, the City Tavern eventually became a mere neighborhood bar.
Following a fire in the 1830s and its leveling in the 1850s, the Tavern became a distant memory until the National Park Service decided to reconstruct it in time for the nation's Bicentennial.
But the building's beauty and historical accuracy, right down to the handmade bricks and hand-blown glass in the windows, were not enough to make it succeed as a restaurant. It was closed in 1992 and stood vacant until Staib, a restaurateur, culinary consultant and chef, obtained the restaurant lease and reopened it in time for July 4, 1994.
``It hasn't been easy to overcome the bad reputation the City Tavern garnered in the days before it closed in 1992,'' said Staib, who has worked closely with the National Park Service to maintain the accuracy and detail of this historical restaurant.
``We don't use freezers, except for storing ice cream,'' said Staib, who emphasized that everything on the tavern's menu is made fresh. ``We're baking our breads, including Jefferson's favorite rolls, all day long. Save for the butter, ice cream, ketchup and coffee and Colonial ales and beers specially made for us by Stoudt's Brewery in Adamstown which are bought in, everything is made from scratch,'' Staib said.
``I don't serve hamburgers and hot dogs and French fries, although I could make a lot of money doing it. This is not about money. It is about preserving culinary history,'' Staib said.
City Tavern guests eat with reproduction pewter-style flatware and goblets that are lead-free and receive their food on plates reproduced in the Tavern's original blue and white pattern.
There are no flowers on the tables because that custom didn't begin until the 1800s. There are fireplaces in every room and low-wattage bulbs flickering in chandeliers to imitate candlelight. Major contemporary concessions include indoor bathrooms and air-conditioning.
There are dining rooms on all three floors, including the long room (where the Continental Congress would have dined together and celebrated independence), as well as on a second-floor porch overlooking the grass and trees of Independence Mall.
There's also room for dining on the back lawn, because the National Park Service chose not to reconstruct outbuildings, including privies and stables, that would have occupied the remaining ground.
City Tavern guests don't nibble on fresh strawberries in mid-December or receive salads garnished with cherry tomatoes. Foods that are out of season (berries) or foods that were unknown in Colonial times (tomatoes) are not served.
Chicken is used sparingly because Colonists treasured their chickens first for eggs. Veal is not used because Colonists needed the calves to grow into cows.
``The biggest challenge is taking the old recipes and making them appealing in 1996. We interpret and deviate from them within reason,'' Staib said.
Some guests staying at hotels in the Independence Mall area arrive in the horsedrawn carriages that ply the streets in the historic area, according to Staib. But no matter whether guests arrive via carriage or on foot, the surroundings, the food and guests' imaginations can make the evening worthy of fireworks.
It's all part of the way in which Staib helps turn dining at the City Tavern into an unforgettable experience.
LENGTH: Long : 130 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Doug Benedict/Allentown Morning Call. 1. Walter Staibby CNB(right) 2. reopened City Tavern (above), once called the ``Most
Genteel Tavern in America'' on July 4, 1992. Staib worked with the
National Park Service in an effort to maintain the accuracy and
detail of this historical restaurant. 3. (no caption) sign. Graphic:
Map. color.