New York City: 21 Club (March 2005)

My spouse and I dined at 21 Club in March 2005. This seemed like our first "fine dining" experience in New York City.  We distinctly remember the beef tartare with green peppercorns - they warned us that it would be spicy!! The 21 Club, often simply 21, is an American traditional cuisine restaurant and former prohibition-era speakeasy. The Bar Room includes a restaurant, a lounge and, as the name implies, a bar. The walls and ceiling of the Bar Room are covered with antique toys and sports memorabilia donated by famous patrons. Perhaps the most famous feature of 21 is the line of painted cast iron lawn jockey statues which adorns the balcony above the entrance. In the 1930s, some of the affluent customers of the bar began to show their appreciation by presenting 21 with jockeys painted to represent the racing colors of the stables they owned. There are 33 jockeys on the exterior of the building, and 2 more inside the doors. The first version of the club opened in Greenwich Village in 1922, run by cousins Jack Kreindler and Charlie Berns. It was originally a small speakeasy known as the Red Head. In 1925 the location was moved to a basement on Washington Place and its name was changed to Fronton. The following year it moved uptown to 42 West 49th Street, changed its name to the Puncheon Club, and became much more exclusive. In 1929, to make way for the construction of Rockefeller Center, the club moved to its current location and changed its name to "Jack and Charlie's 21". On January 24, 2009, it ended its long-standing policy of requiring men to wear ties at dinner. However, all other regulations (including wearing a jacket) still stand.