Manufacturer: Shenango China
Name of user: Bustanoby's Restaurants, New York City
Distributor: L. Barth & Son
Date of mug: circa 1913-17
Date of creamer: circa 1913-17

Bustanoby's 1913 menu

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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. His obituary, above, shows his address as 80 W. 40th Street, and a creamer, also above, has the same address, indicating that his apartment must have been above the restaurant.

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.

Shenango made a china service crested with an illustration of a chef standing beside an artist's palette containing "CAFÉ DES BEAUX ARTS" with a banner containing "LOUIS BUSTANOBY" below. This logo appears on a 1915 menu for the restaurant, so the china is probably from around 1913 when Louis regained control of the Café. L. Barth & Son was the distributor.

This crest, on china by an unknown manufacturer, was supplied by L. Straus & Sons.

Sources:
Restaurant-ing through history: Cabarets and lobster palaces
digitalcollections.nyhistory.org – New York Historical Society interior photographs from the George P. Hall & Son photograph collections
Brooklyn Eagle – Louis Bustanoby obit

For more info:
Bustanoby's, by Maddock Pottery
Bustanoby's 2, by William Guerin & Co.

Contributor:
Larry Paul: author
Kathleen Lathom, creamer photos