Before Joe Baum (1920–1998) came on the restaurant scene in the mid-1950s, there was a sameness to fine dining in America: food and service tended to be French. Chefs were rarely encouraged to put their own imprints on the menu. Ethnic food—unless you count regional dishes like Boston clam chowder or Louisiana jambalaya—was not what high society demanded. And high-profile restaurant design as a profession hadn’t yet been invented. Joe Baum changed all that, and the restaurant industry of today is his beneficiary.
