The Culinary Career of Sam Fraunces Part 3
Courtesy of the New York Public Library
A collaborative series by Dr. Fred Opie and Andrew Clarke
Here is the third part in a series on the 18th century culinary entrepreneur, Sam Fraunces. The information used to develop the series were found from a series of original WPA documents from the Great Depression Era called “The History of Negro Restaurants” written by an unnamed author.
In addition to being a culinary entrepreneur, Sam Fraunces was known for his patriotic contributions. During the American Revolution Fraunces served as a spy for George Washington’s army. During the war patriots used the tavern as a meeting place to plan their military operations. In 1783, Washington retired from his position as commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Army and made his final farewell to his officers in the tavern. Fraunces would go on to serve President George Washington in the White House at Philadelphia as Chief Steward of the household. There he oversaw the operations of the house and its staff as well as the preparation of the food. Washington enjoyed his cooking so much that he paid Fraunces to move permanently to Philadelphia but they disagreed on Fraunces tendencies to prepare extravagant desserts in his attempt to maintain a modest image as the President of the United States. During his tenure working for the president, Fraunces owned and operated multiple taverns, with the help of his wife, Elizabeth Dalley. Fraunces remained in Washington’s service until 1794, a year before he died. The racial identity of Sam Fraunces is an issue that is still being debated today due to conflicting documentation, more information can be found by following the links below.
