Ernie Byfield
Encyclopedia
Ernest Lessing "Ernie" Byfield (1890 – 10 February 1950) was a hotelier
and restaurateur
from the 1930s through the 1950s in Chicago, Illinois. Byfield operated the Hotel Sherman Co., including the Ambassador East and West, the Sherman, the Fort Dearborn and the Drake Hotel
s and The Pump Room
and College Inn restaurants.
Byfield is most famous as the owner of The Pump Room, a restaurant and bar frequented by the luminaries of the stage and screen from the 1930s to present. The Pump Room was the preferred stopping off point in Chicago for celebrities changing trains in Chicago while travelling between New York
and Los Angeles
. Stage and screen stars of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s would be invited to join Byfield in Booth 1 at the restaurant and would often boast to their friends that they had "lunched with Ernie" while they were in Chicago. Byfield founded what has been described as the most famous restaurant in Chicago and was known for bringing theatrics to the restaurant business. The number of flambé
dishes served by his restaurant, The Pump Room, was noted and started a trend in the post-war United States.
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
and restaurateur
Restaurateur
A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of the restaurant business.-Etymology:The word...
from the 1930s through the 1950s in Chicago, Illinois. Byfield operated the Hotel Sherman Co., including the Ambassador East and West, the Sherman, the Fort Dearborn and the Drake Hotel
Drake Hotel (Chicago)
The Drake Hotel, 140 East Walton Place, Chicago, Illinois, is a luxury full-service hotel, located downtown on the lake side of Michigan Avenue two blocks north of the John Hancock Center and a block south of Oak Street Beach at the top of the Magnificent Mile.Overlooking Lake Michigan, it was...
s and The Pump Room
The Pump Room, Chicago
The Pump Room, established October 1, 1938, by Ernie Byfield, is a restaurant located in the Public Chicago Hotel in Chicago's Gold Coast area....
and College Inn restaurants.
Byfield is most famous as the owner of The Pump Room, a restaurant and bar frequented by the luminaries of the stage and screen from the 1930s to present. The Pump Room was the preferred stopping off point in Chicago for celebrities changing trains in Chicago while travelling between New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Stage and screen stars of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s would be invited to join Byfield in Booth 1 at the restaurant and would often boast to their friends that they had "lunched with Ernie" while they were in Chicago. Byfield founded what has been described as the most famous restaurant in Chicago and was known for bringing theatrics to the restaurant business. The number of flambé
Flambé
Flambé is a cooking procedure in which alcohol is added to a hot pan to create a burst of flames. The word means flamed in French ....
dishes served by his restaurant, The Pump Room, was noted and started a trend in the post-war United States.