FOOD NEWS
The History Of The Oldest Operating Department Store Restaurant
BY COURTNEY ISEMAN
Open in 1907 in the Marshall Field's department store on State Street in Chicago, the Walnut Room is a tradition built on the elegant, comforting fare and a trip through history.
The Walnut Room, America's longest continuously operated restaurant within a department store, got its name from its Russian Circassian walnut paneling.
It is a still-surviving member of an important trend that grew from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century: the rise of department store restaurants.
These became early places where it was acceptable for women to socialize outside of the home on their own. They were even societally approved places for women to work.
The patrons in the restaurant's earlier decades dined on delicacies like creamed New England salt codfish casserole and a chicken and apple salad-stuffed cranberry jelly ring.