NYC Department of Health Strategies of the Past

A reader saw my January 2012 post about Foffe's, the bygone Brooklyn Heights eatery that was heavily into wild game dinners. Pictures of the place show slain animals hanging outside the restaurant whenever it was "game time." Such flourishes would never fly today, what with the overzealous and injurious activities of the Department of Health. But back then, restaurateurs could afford to thumb their nose at City Hall a bit. As the reader tells:

I am so happy to find your post and copies of the menu. My family was close friends with Alfred. He and my dad often went hunting together and would then prepare Game Dinners for their friends. These dinners were held upstairs and went late into the night. I have fond memories of being in the restaurant with his cats walking around and visiting the tables. Alfred told the Board of Health "Either I have cats or rats."

A Glimpse of Foffe, a "Game" Restaurant

A couple years ago, I posted an item about the history of Cafiero's, an Italian restaurant and political gathering place that used to exist for many decades on President Street near Columbia in Brooklyn. A reader wrote in and said:

Your comment about the waiter telling you what was available that night reminded me of Foffe, the Italian Restaurant that used to be on Montague St. (I think it closed 10 years or more ago.) Anyway, the first time I went in there (about 1986), it looked like a set from The Godfather with plush red banquettes, and only men as waiters in starched white aprons. Really old waiters. I looked at the menu and ordered a steak. He came back from the kitchen a minute later and said, "The steak doesn't look so good tonight. I wouldn't feed it to my wife and I hate her."

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