6. Oldest Original Restaurant Dish: Eggs Benedict at Delmonico’s

Again, New York City has been home to the inventions of some of the world’s most classic cuisines– the Waldorf Salad at the Waldorf Astoria, Chicken and Waffles in Harlem’s Well’s Restaurant, and the Pastrami and Corned Beef Sandwich combination from Katz Deli just to name a few. However, one signature dish whose history is a little murkier is also the one that’s considered to be one of New York’s oldest food creations: Eggs Benedict. While New York City’s oldest restaurant, Delmonico’s, is widely credited with the brunch-staple’s invention, it appears that the Waldorf Salad wasn’t the only dish thought to be created at the hotel.

As legend has it, in 1894, Wall Street broker Lemuel Benedict was looking for a hangover cure at the Waldorf Astoria when he asked for the combination as we know it today. However, it was eventually established by the New York Times in 1942 after intense research that toast, and not English Muffins, had been asked for by Benedict. Therefore, the crown and claim goes to Delmonico’s for the recipe as originally published in the cookbook of Delmonico’s chef Charles Ranhofer, “The Epicurean,” which came out the same year as Benedict asked for his version of a hangover cure at the Waldorf. This would eventually inspire the nephew of Benedict, Jack Benedict, to start an actual campaign in the late 1970s to reclaim the fame, which promptly received 15 rejection letters from the various magazines he tried to court.