The following is a guest post by Lena Maman, a Research Librarian at the Library of Congress’ Congressional Research Service with personal interests in culinary history and cooking in general.
The Senate dining room in the U.S. Capitol exclusively serves Members of Congress and their guests. It is most known for its famed bean soup, which has been a daily menu item for more than a century. Over the course of its history, the dining room has had its fair share of international chefs at its helm. Gottlieb Baumgartner was one such chef. Born in Switzerland in 1888, Baumgartner worked as the head chef of the Senate restaurant from 1919 until his sudden death in 1937.
Very little has been written about the Swiss chef’s formal training in his native country and his brief stints in New York and Philadelphia. Still, one can surmise that he came to Washington, D.C. with a wide range of experience whipping up continental fare and classic American favorites of the time.
Baumgartner gained popularity on Capitol Hill with a handful of specialties. For instance, it was widely known that he added his own flair to the dining room’s famous bean soup. He learned how to make “pot likker” to the taste of Louisiana Senator Huey Long. Under his stewardship, the Swiss chef also invented the Penrose sandwich, consisting of lettuce, tomato, beef tongue, and mayonnaise – a favorite among many congressmen.
Baumgartner created the Roosevelt Salad too, named after then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and served during one of his visits to the Hill. The original recipe included cabbage, celery, green peppers, cooked carrots, and cooked peas, tossed in a mayonnaise sauce and garnished with stuffed olives. This salad was featured as a side dish at the White House for FDR’s Inauguration Day.
Baumgartner passed away at the age of 49 at the peak of his congressional career. He was survived by his American wife and two children. In addition to offering his widow six months of compensation, several Congressmen shared statements about the Swiss chef to the press:
Discover more:
- Search Chronicling America* to find additional references to the Senate Dining Room in historical newspapers!
- View images of the Senate Dining Room at different periods of time in the Library of Congress’ Prints & Photographs Catalog.
- Architect of the Capitol’s Senate Restaurants webpage includes a brief history of the Senate Bean Soup.
*The Chronicling America historic newspapers online collection is a product of the National Digital Newspaper Program and jointly sponsored by the Library and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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