Travel: Delmonico’s Reborn, and a Town Rediscovered
In the mid-nineteenth century Delmonico’s, in New York City, was the most famous and probably best restaurant in America. It was the birthplace of chicken marengo, eggs benedict, lobster newberg, and, of course, Delmonico steak. In 1852, near the peak of its fame, it acquired a Swiss-born chef, Louis Fauchère. Around the same time, Louis Fauchère’s family built a small summer hotel in Milford Pennsylvania, near where that state meets New Jersey and New York, and he became its chef. Sarah Bernhardt and Andrew Carnegie and August Belmont and Theodore Roosevelt dined at the place. It stayed in the family for generations and hung on until the 1970s. Now it has reopened, meticulously restored and brought up to date, and with a superb dining room that pays sophisticated homage to the kind of food Fauchère cooked.
Back in the 1820s, when fine dining existed only in the homes of the rich and a meal out meant a bowl of soup in a roadhouse, Delmonico’s, America’s first bona fide restaurant, opened in New York, dazzling its patrons with such delicacies as lobster Newburg and chicken la king. In 1852 Delmonico’s master chef, Louis Fauchre, bought a hotel in Milford, Pennsylvania, a summer resort enclave 75 miles from New York, which became increasingly fashionable as stately buildings by Charles McKim, Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted began to spring up in town. By 1880 the chef replaced the old hotel with the three-story Italianate Hotel Fauchère that stands today.
2007 HOT LIST
Hotel Fauchère is a tasteful addition to a growing category of hostelry: the destination inn. Its impeccable decor (chic and eclectic), food (a New American menu that includes frog’s legs in garlic and caramel-glazed rockfish fillet), art collection (Hudson River School oils), and history (past guests include Franz Liszt and Henry Ford) underscore its appeal.
U.K. – THE 2007 HOT LIST
The beauty of the Delaware River Valley, only 90 minutes’ drive from Manhattan, will astonish first-time visitors. The lovely valley’s quaintest town is Milford, and Milford’s quaintest building is Fauchère, which opened as a hotel in 1852, became a hangout for early movie-industry titans, and closed in the 1970s. Now a New York entrepreneur has reinvented the hotel, creating lovely, traditionally styled suites, as well as starkly modern public spaces and somehow making the two work together.
Milford on the Map
By Nick Burns — When the helicopter touched down in a field at a llama farm in Milford, Pennsylvania, it was hard to believe that just 25 minutes ago, I was taking off from the helipad on West 30th Street and the West Side Highway in New York City during the roar of rush hour traffic. I’ve had a few stamps in my passport, so I’m not a completely inexperienced traveler, but the helicopter was definitely my favorite new kind of air travel. And the llamas (raised by a quirky local farmer) just happen to make for a lovely-if shaggy-welcome party.
The Best Places You’ve Never Heard Of
A little bit hip and a little bit homey, these up-and-coming towns guarantee a fun detour on your next road trip. You’ll be browsing the local real estate pages before you know it.
The cheese doesn’t stand alone in the Poconos. It’s there in abundance — the motels with the heart-shaped tubs, flashy billboards for the area’s “attractions” and the ski areas overflowing with hot-dogging teens — all threatening to override any appreciation of the remaining unspoiled landscape. At the same time, there is another side emerging in Milford, a small town on the Delaware River in northeastern Pennsylvania that offers a more civilized Poconos experience.
ESCAPE: A historic Pennsylvania inn revitalizes a Gilded Age resort town
By Brad Gooch — If you’re looking for a haute hideaway, program your GPS, drive straight into the über-romantic, 19th-century American landscape painting of the Delaware Water Gap — with its misty, tumbling cascades and craggy cliffs — and make a sharp right just after crossing the New Jersey state line into northeastern Pennsylvania. You won’t be in the look-alike Hudson River Valley, but rather in the oft-painted, though less publicized, Delaware River Highlands. There you’ll find the comfortably lived-in resort town of Milford (population 1,100) and, boldly set on one of Broad Street’s more picturesque corners, the three-story Italianate Hotel Fauchère, proud in pristine white with black shutters…
Driving north on leafy Route 209 along a section of the Delaware River that dips into the 70,000-acre Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, it’s easy to see why Gifford Pinchot was passionate about conservation
The cheese doesn’t stand alone in the Poconos. It’s there in abundance — the motels with the heart-shaped tubs, flashy billboards for the area’s “attractions” and the ski areas overflowing with hot-dogging teens — all threatening to override any appreciation of the remaining unspoiled landscape. At the same time, there is another side emerging in Milford, a small town on the Delaware River in northeastern Pennsylvania that offers a more civilized Poconos experience.
T+L American Scene: Wonderful Town
A stream of new visitors, renewed civic pride, and a legendary hotel have made Victorian-era Milford the latest East Coast idyll. T+L charts the resurgence of a great American village.
Take a trip to Milford for the ultimate PA staycation.
Sometimes you just need a vacation, but packing up for a week, spending a ton of money on a resort or taking days off of work just isn’t an option. That’s where a weekend getaway comes in handy, especially when it’s just a couple of hours away from the city. Milford is an amazing spot to take the family, go on a romantic getaway or even just have some quality “me time”. This quaint and scenic destination has a rich history that fueled what the town is today and a stay there is just what the doctor ordered.
If small-town charm is your thing, you’ve got to check out Milford. This quaint town is the ideal destination for shopaholics, with a wide variety of shops, including the BetterWorld store & cafe, where you’ll find plenty of creative kitchen supplies and books to take back home. Or stop by Changes by Robin for one-of-a-kind clothing and accessories. Similarly, the Grey Towers Heritage Foundation is a great place to check out live music and indulge in your artistic side. Speaking of art, events like the Milford Music Festival and the Milford Readers and Writers Festival bring plenty of folks to the area each year. If you’re looking for somewhere to stay, boutique hotels like Hotel Fauchere and familiar names like the Hampton Inn Matamoros/Milford will keep you close and comfortable.
Milford’s Hotel Fauchere started out as a summer project for Swiss-born chef Louis Fauchère, who worked his magic at New York City’s Delmonico Steakhouse for the rest of the year. Fauchère’s Pike County venture was so successful, Fauchère razed the original premises and erected a larger, Italianate building in its place. Fauchère’s descendants managed the intimate 18-room hotel until it was sold in 1974 and subsequently became a law office. In 2001, after a multi-million dollar restoration, the Fauchere awoke from a 30-year slumber and welcomed guests to the renowned Delmonico Room once again.