Sun sets on Rainbow's Baum

Nation's Restaurant News, Oct 19, 1998 by Milford Prewitt

Fine-dining legend succumbs to cancer at age 78

NEW YORK -- Joe Baum, a master craftsman of foodservice, whose sense of style and exacting eye for detail spawned some of the world's most memorable and emulated restaurants, died of prostate cancer at 78.

He was one of the pioneers of American fine dining in the modern era, and his Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center and Windows On The World at the top of the World Trade Center were the capstones of one of the most celebrated and influential careers in the recorded history of the restaurant business,

He spent practically his entire life in hospitality, having been born into a family of hoteliers in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Only a tour in the Navy, where he saw combat during World War II, separated him from an industry that he loved and that ultimately would anoint him one of its leaders and geniuses.

Baum often worked from 9:30 a.m. until midnight, and close associates claim he never missed a day of work in his life. But the cancer ultimately overwhelmed his fortitude, and he finally ceased working a few months ago.

A 1943 graduate of the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, Baum was an active philanthropist who lent his influence, facilities and staff to a number of charitable and civic causes. City Meals On Wheels was one of his favorites.

"There's little doubt that he was one of the great restaurateurs of this century," proclaimed Tim Zagat, who is editor-publisher of the Zagat Surveys and who, having been inspired by Baum, co-conceived of the annual celebrations called Restaurant Week in New York City.

"This industry will be doing things that Joe Baum brought to the table for a long time to come," agreed Fred Sampson, former president of the New York City chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association.

Baum, while best known for his sky-high restaurants, was also a seminal influence in the development of the land-marked Four Seasons when it was opened in 1959 by Restaurant Associates. He worked there for 15 years between 1955 and 1970, when he left as president.

But he also is considered the grandfather of the theme-restaurant segment. During his Restaurant Associates days he created a number of dining spots that fused menus, uniforms and decor in a common panorama.

To many restaurant historians, Baum's Forum Of The 12 Caesars, opened in the late 1950s, was probably the first theme restaurant, The restaurant was designed to look like the ancient Roman Forum. The servers wore togas, wine was kept chilled in gladiator helmets and menu items were described in tongue-in-cheek fashion, such as the "Sirloin in red wine, marrow and onions -- a Gaelic Recipe Julius Collected While There on Business -- $11.50."

Other restaurants Baum developed during the BA days were the Zum Zum chain; La Fonda del Sol; The Tower Suite, formerly atop the Time-Life Building; and Charley O's.

Gael Greene, restaurant critic for New York magazine, who has been a consultant and confidant of Baum's, said few restaurateurs spent as much attention on the minute details of perfecting a concept as Baum did.

"Joe was probably the first person in American fine dining to make eating out as dramatic as theater," Greene said. "He did things that no one had ever thought of before in this industry. He came along, and nothing was too lavish, too complicated for Joe. He would have all of these consultants like Mimi Sheraton or James Beard just feeding him ideas that they'd tape for months on end.

"It was just amazing the things he'd try to do, " she said.

Pointing to La Fonda del Sol, a South American fusion concept that opened in the early 1960s, Greene said Baum was ahead of his time.

"Just look at all of the various South American restaurant concepts in New York and nationally today," she said.

George Lang, a legendary operator in his own right, who, before opening the widely acclaimed Cafe Des Artistes, worked with Baum for 10 years at RA and remained friends thereafter, said Baum was a pivotal influence in his life.

It was Lang who led an all-star cast of chefs and maitre d's who propelled the Four Seasons to prominence. Included on the team at the Four Seasons were the two men who would later buy the complex and become two of Manhattan's most respected operators: Tom Margittai and the late Paul Kovi.

"One has a complex relationship to people who are important in their lives," Lang said. "During my decades of association with him, Joe was a teacher, a student, a brother, a son, a person to respect and to make fun of.

"The list could go on, but the synthesis is that he filled my life with joy, wonder, excitement and warmth, and no one will ever take his place. As a mutual friend of ours said, 'They broke the mold before they made him."'

In his autobiography, "Nobody Knows The Truffles I've Seen," Lang reports that Baum played a major role in one of the restaurant industry's more important measuring sticks: table turns.

"It was during the time we were there that BA conceived of the idea of more than one table turn a night," Lang said. "Up until then, no one thought about turning tables. We acted like European restaurants."