Manufacturer: Wm. Guerin & Co.
Name of user: Bustanoby's Restaurants, New York City
Distributor: Gimbel Brothers
Date of example: circa 1913-20

Bustanoby's 1913 menu

{"arrow":"false","pagination":"true","speed":"1000","autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"2000","loop":"true","slide_to_show_3d":"2","slide_show_ipad_3d":"2","slide_show_tablet_3d":"1","slide_show_mobile_3d":"1","slide_to_scroll_3d":"1","auto_stop":"false","centermode_3d":"true","space_between_3d":"0","depth":20,"modifier":20,"img_rotate":0,"img_stretch":0}

{"animation_fancy":"zoom-in-out","transition_fancy":"fade","fancy_box_loop":"true"}

Notes: The Basque-born Bustanoby brothers, Andre, Jacques and Louis, opened the Cafe des Beaux-Arts, on 40th Street and 6th Avenue in 1902. It offered something besides food, which was unheard of until they introduced it: dancing between courses. Their business prospered, and they opened the Chateau des Beaux-Arts at Huntington, Long Island.

By August of 1910, the three brothers were in a disagreement stemming from their financial problems. In October 1910, Louis sold his interest in the two restaurants to his brothers and used the proceeds to start his own restaurant, Taverne Louis, in the basement of the Flatiron Building. On January 31, 1912, Andre and Jacques filed for bankruptcy.

By April 1913, Louis Bustanoby had regained exclusive control of the Cafe des Beaux-Arts, renovated and reopened it. Jacques and Andre opened a new Bustanoby's on 39th Street, between Broadway and Sixth Avenue.

On Aug. 4, 1917, Louis Bustanoby died at age 44.

By January 1920, Andre Bustanoby was the owner of the Cafe des Beaux-Arts, but the Volstead Act ended the sale of alcohol, and led to the closing of the restaurant.

Jacques Bustanoby died March 23, 1942, at age 62.

William Guerin & Co., Limoges, France, made a crested china service for the Bustanoby's restaurant at 110 W 39^th Street that Jacques and Andre opened around 1913. The decal crest contains a shield with three fleur de lis above a rampant lion, with a crown atop the shield. There are two versions of "Bustanoby" in the banner below the shield. One has the lettering in blue, and the other is in coin gold. There are cobalt blue and coin gold lines at the rim, with a red pin line below. Gimbel Brothers, a New York department store, was the distributor. This china can be seen on the tables in a circa 1915 photograph.

Sources:
Restaurant-ing through history: Cabarets and lobster palaces
CardCow
Brooklyn Eagle – Louis Bustanoby obit

For more info:
Bustanoby's, by Maddock Pottery
Bustanoby's 3, by Shenango China

Contributor:
Larry Paul: author