On Thu 18 Sep 2008 05:24:21a, Jean B. told us...

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>> On Wed 17 Sep 2008 06:27:40a, Jean B. told us...
>>
>>> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>>> No, I haven't, and I have tried many times. I do know it was made
>>>> with a very sharp cheddar, and I believe it has a small amount of
>>>> sherry in it. Additionally, it was served over a wonderful melba
>>>> toast that they made there in the restaurant. It wasn't as hard as
>>>> commercial melba toast, and was just a bit thicker. It was toasted
>>>> 'til dry with just a bit of buter on it.
>>>>
>>> So, you have two problems--the Welsh rarebit and the toast. :-(
>>> What restaurant was this? I wonder whether the recipes ever made
>>> their way into print?
>>>
>>
>> The Welsh Rarebit is the only thing I never was able to duplicate. The
>> restaurant was actually the very lovely dining room of our most
>> elegrant department stores, The Halle Bros. Co., in Cleveland. They
>> had wonderful menus for both lunch and dinner.
>>
>> I can only give them partial credit for the toast. We had a local
>> bakery, Hough Bakery, which is no longer in business where you could
>> buy really top quality loaves of many kinds of breads. One was a white
>> bread, square like sandwich bread, with a firm texture and sliced about
>> 1/4" thick. I'm sure this is what Halle's used, as I bought it
>> numerous times, lightly butter first one side and then the other,
>> sometimes sprinkling a bit of garlic powder on it, then toasted it in
>> the oven until completely dried.
>>
>> I can buy or bake good bread now, but the precise thin slicing would be
>> the issue.
>>
> I see that this chain has been defunct since the 1980s. :-(

The Halle Bros. Co. was the pre-eminent department store in Cleveland
throughout its entire life. I worked in their interior design studio for
several years before going with a private firm. It was very sad to see its
demise.

> I guess the recipe has been lost forever. But have you ever posted
> queries in local groups about it?

Actually, I have. We lived in the Cleveland area until 2000, and I made a
concerted effort to find several recipes from both the dining room at
Halle's (It was called the Minotaur Room) as well as Hough Bakery. Hough
Bakery used to make a Brown Sugar Brownie with Penuche Frosting that was to
die for. Over the years, I was finally able to master that one through
experimientation.

--
Wayne Boatwright

*******************************************
Date: Thursday, 09(IX)/18(XVIII)/08(MMVIII)
*******************************************
Countdown till Veteran's Day
7wks 4dys 18hrs 23mins
*******************************************
Show me a man with both feet firmly on
the ground, and I'll show you a man
who can't get his pants off!