The Waldorf ‘s first General Manager, George Boldt, asked Oscar Tschirky to introduce this dressing at the hotel, where it quickly became a hit. Boldt had learned of the newly created recipe while visiting one of the St. Lawrence River’s 1000 Islands. Legend says that a fishing guide’s wife, Sophia LaLonde, made the condiment as part of her husband George’s shore dinner. Actress May Irwin requested the recipe and shared it with her friend and Thousand Islands summer resident, Waldorf proprietor George Boldt.
This elegantly unpretentious recipe is a creamy marriage of mayonnaise and ketchup, tinged with a hint of chile sauce, which leaves a tantalizing spicy note in the mouth. In the dressing, tasty bits of pickle relish and chopped egg float, creating the illusion of the islands that inspired its name.
GEORGE C. BOLDT – PROPRIETOR OF THE WALDORF ASTORIA
George C. Boldt was assigned, by William Waldorf Astor, proprietor of the Waldorf Astoria from 1893 until the time of his death in 1916. He influenced the development of the urban hotel as a civic social center and luxury
destination.
