Frances Edelstein
{{Short description|Polish-born American businesswoman (1926–2018)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Frances Edelstein
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| other_names =
| birth_name = Frima Trost
| birth_date = April 18, 1926
| birth_place = Komorów, Poland
| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|09|24|1926|04|18}}
| death_place = Manalapan Township, New Jersey
| nationality =
| occupation =
| years_active =
| known_for = Cook and co-owner at the Cafe Edison in New York City, 1980–2014
| notable_works =
| awards = Special Tony Award (2004), for contributions the Broadway community
}}
Frances Edelstein (April 18, 1926 – September 24, 2018), born Frima Trost, was a Polish-born American businesswoman, owner (with her husband) of the Cafe Edison in New York City's Theater District from 1980 to 2014. She was a survivor of the Holocaust.
Early life
Frima Trost was born in Komorów, Poland in 1926, the daughter of Hersz Trost and Chaja Trost. The Trosts were Jewish; her father was a butcher. Frima Trost learned traditional recipes from her mother. Most of the Trost family, except for Frima and her brother Moishe, were killed in the Holocaust. Frima and Moishe Trost escaped to the forest with their childhood friends, Harry Edelstein and his brother; the four orphaned youths slept in barns and hid from capture for five years. Harry and Frima (who took the name Frances) married in Warsaw in 1945, and moved to the United States in 1947, with their first child.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/obituaries/frances-edelstein-queen-of-the-polish-tea-room-is-dead-at-92.html|title=Frances Edelstein, Queen of the Polish Tea Room, Is Dead at 92|last=Sandomir|first=Richard|date=2018-09-25|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-01-27|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
Career
The Edelsteins settled in the Dorothy section of Weymouth Township, where they ran a chicken farm.[https://sites.rutgers.edu/jewish-agriculture/a-world-of-jewish-farming/united-states/ Jewish Agriculturalism in the United States: A World of Jewish Farming], Rutgers University. Accessed March 7, 2023. "After the Holocaust, the Jewish Agricultural Society resettled 2500 Displaced Persons. Among them were Frances (Frima) and Harry Edelstein. Holocaust survivors from Poland, the Edelsteins emigrated in 1947 and settled on a poultry farm in Dorothy, a Jewish colony in New Jersey. From there they moved to Brooklyn, where they ran coffee and candy shops. Eventually the Edelsteins became owners of Café Edison, an iconic Broadway eatery, otherwise known as 'the Polish Tea Room.'" They later moved to Brooklyn, where they used to run coffee and candy shops. In 1980, Frances and Harry Edelstein founded the Cafe Edison in the old ballroom of the Hotel Edison on West 47th Street. The menu featured matzo ball soup, blintzes, borscht, and latkes, and was popular with theatre professionals working on Broadway, looking for a hearty, inexpensive meal.{{Cite web|url=https://forward.com/food/411070/frances-edelstein-holocaust-survivor-and-polish-tea-room-owner-dies-at-92/|title=Frances Edelstein, Holocaust Survivor And 'Polish Tea Room' Owner, Dies At 92|last=Kaminer|first=Michael|date=September 27, 2018|website=The Forward|access-date=2020-01-27}} It was jokingly called "the Polish Tea Room", in contrast with the more formal (and more expensive) Russian Tea Room restaurant. She was remembered as "a very, very short woman, firmly grounded on the earth," whose food and hospitality created a home away from home for a generation of showfolk and theatregoers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/271580/she-made-beautiful-borscht-out-of-tragedy|title=She Made Beautiful Borscht out of Tragedy|last=Reissa|first=Eleanor|date=2018-09-27|website=Tablet Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-01-27}}{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/new-yorker-cafe-edison|title=The Lessons of Café Edison|last=Morais|first=Betsy|magazine=The New Yorker|date=20 November 2014 |language=en|access-date=2020-01-27}} "The Edison felt like going to grandma's house," recalled actress Linda Lavin, a regular at the cafe.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/iconic-cafe-edison-replaced-friedman-comfort-food-article-1.2361429|title=EXCLUSIVE: Broadway's beloved Cafe Edison to be replaced by comfort food eatery Friedman's|last=Dziemianowicz|first=Katherine Clarke, Joe|date=September 17, 2015|website=New York Daily News|access-date=2020-01-27}} In a 1996 profile, journalist Lenore Skenazy noted that Edelstein "is to Cafe Edison what Carol Channing is to Hello, Dolly!"{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43166782/bway_meets_the_borscht_beltlenore/|title=B'way meets the borscht belt|last=Skenazy|first=Lenore|date=1996-01-24|work=Daily News|access-date=2020-01-28|pages=620|via=Newspapers.com}}
Frances Edelstein was the inspiration for a Neil Simon character, Zelda in 45 Seconds from Broadway (2001), a role created on Broadway by Rebecca Schull.{{Cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/photo-call-from-the-polish-tea-room-frances-and-harry-edelstein-com-99735|title=Photo Call: From the Polish Tea Room: Frances and Harry Edelstein|date=November 14, 2001|website=Playbill|language=en|access-date=2020-01-27}} The Edelsteins were honored by the American Theatre Wing in 2004, with a special Tony Award for their contributions to the Broadway community. The Cafe Edison closed in 2014,{{Cite news|title=Beloved N.Y. Jewish coffee shop to close|last=Wiener|first=Julie|date=November 14, 2014|work=The Jewish Press|page=5|id={{ProQuest|}} }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/07/nyregion/cafe-edison-a-longtime-broadway-hangout-is-closing.html|title=Cafe Edison, a Broadway Haunt, Is Closing|last=Collins|first=Glenn|date=2014-11-06|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-01-27|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} despite a public protest and effort to save the restaurant.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/12/08/369359855/dont-let-the-kasha-vanish-diners-band-together-to-save-caf-edison|title=Don't Let The Kasha Vanish: Diners Band Together To Save Café Edison|last=Lunden|first=Jeff|date=December 8, 2014|website=NPR, All Things Considered|language=en|access-date=2020-01-27}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/187763/polish-tea-room-to-close-this-weekend|title=NYC's Iconic Cafe Edison, Known as the Polish Tea Room, to Close This Weekend|last=Schrieber|first=Zachary|date=2014-12-17|website=Tablet Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-01-27}}
Personal life
Frances and Harry Edelstein had a son Scott, and a daughter, Harriet. She was widowed when Harry died in 2009,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/nyregion/15edelstein.html|title=Harry Edelstein, 91, Host of Popular Polish Tea Room, Dies|last=Hevesi|first=Dennis|date=2009-07-14|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-01-27|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} and she died in 2018, aged 92, at home in Manalapan Township, New Jersey.
References
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External links
- {{IBDB name|id=80738}}
{{Subject bar|portal1=Biography}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Edelstein, Frances}}
Category:American restaurateurs
Category:Businesspeople from Manhattan
Category:Polish Holocaust survivors
Category:Polish emigrants to the United States
Category:20th-century American businesswomen
Category:People from Kolbuszowa County