Now Long Gone

This one is a teaser brought over from France.

By Megan McKinney

The first of these Chicago knockouts was founded by a chef/owner who left his native Hungary for the United States with a dollar, a dime, five words of English, and a load of personality.

credit:victorskebneski

Chef Louis Szathmáry

His name was Louis Szathmáry and after a few years in New York, where he increased the size of both his usable vocabulary and his bank account, Chef Louis traveled out to Chicago with his wife, Sada, and here they opened The Bakery in Lincoln Park. This would be their base from 1962 to 1989 .

Chef Louis also began writing cookbooks.

A second knockout coming up

And diners were given cheeky matchbooks in the days when people carried matches with them to light the cigarettes they continued to smoke.

Another of Chef Louis’ money machines, The Chef’s Secret Cookbook, was a New York Times bestseller—so successful, it was followed by The Chef’s New Secret Cookbook.

And, what could be more knockout than Nancy Florsheim’s restaurant Maxim’s?

credit:victorskebneski

Nancy Florsheim Goldberg’s stunning appearance was captured in a portrait by the great photographer of the period Victor Skrebneski.

Ms. Florsheim founded Maxim’s in 1963, and it thrived into 1982. During those years, her great creation ranked as a Chicago tourist attraction, adding to the glamour of Astor Tower. The stunning Midcentury Modern condominium at the corner of Astor and Goethe Streets was developed by Nancy’s husband, architect Bertrand Goldberg, known to their many friends as “Bud”.