The Shrimp Cocktail Edition

Colin here. I was flicking through photos on my iPhone when a summer memory caught my eye: a pitch perfect shrimp cocktail at RL restaurant in Chicago. It was a brief moment in time, but it’s worthy of a closer look:

First off, they used seaweed to wrap the beautifully selected shrimp. Second, the horseradish? A healthy, head clearing dollop. And, they served it in the perfect silver vessel, packed with crushed ice to keep everything crisp and fresh. This version was a common dish, elevated to new heights.

Why is this interesting? 

After years of writing WITI, my brain is now programmed to double click a bit. And this photo memory jolted me. So where does the shrimp cocktail saga begin? Its predecessor, the oyster cocktail, was birthed in San Francisco. Here’s a bit from the Chicago Tribune:

“July 4, 1889: The Chicago Daily Tribune reprints a piece from the New York Sun—‘Gastronomical Tips from California.’ It’s mostly the ramblings of a San Franciscan at Delmonico’s, a legendary spot near Wall Street. What’s bizarre is the guy talks about the oyster cocktail like it’s a drink: ‘Sure, a splash of absinthe is great in a cocktail, but we’ve got an oyster cocktail in San Francisco that’ll knock your socks off.’”

The cocktail? A half a dozen to a dozen small oysters put into a beer glass, filled to the brim with liquor. Then add salt, pepper, ketchup, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire, vinegar, and horseradish.

Fast forward to 1950. Drinksfeed tells us the shrimp cocktail hits the Vegas scene. The Golden Gate Hotel is the first to roll the dice, slinging 50-cent shrimp cocktails to attract crowds in 1959. Served in a tulip sundae glass, it was just shrimp and cocktail sauce—simple, straightforward, brilliant. It was a gambler’s delight and a smashing success. Nowadays, shrimp cocktails are everywhere in Vegas, but many obviously fail to measure up to RL’s standard. 

And it doesn’t stop there: The shrimp cocktail has since claimed its spot on the menus of old-school steak and martini joints, a decadent symbol of high-flying business travel and old world indulgence. But I don’t see the oyster cocktail having a resurgence anytime soon. (CJN)

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Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN)

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