Gage and Tollner

Gage and Tollner
Gage and Tollner in 1987
Restaurant information
Established	1879 (original) April 15, 2021 (2021-04-15) (current)
Closed	February 14, 2004 (2004-02-14) (original)
Owner(s)	St. John Frizell, Sohui Kim, Ben Schneider
Head chef	Sohui Kim
Food type	American cuisine
Street address	372 Fulton Street
City	New York
County	Kings
State	New York
Country	United States
Coordinates	40°41′29″N 73°59′16″W / 40.69139°N 73.98778°W / 40.69139; -73.98778
Seating capacity	70 (dining room) 40 (bar)
Website	www.gageandtollner.com
Gage and Tollner Restaurant
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New York City Landmark No. 0836, 0885
Area	less than one acre
Built	1875
Architectural style	Italianate
NRHP reference No.	82003362[1]
NYCL No.	0836, 0885
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 3, 1982
Designated NYCL	November 12, 1974

Gage and Tollner is an American cuisine restaurant on 372–374 Fulton Street in the Downtown Brooklyn neighborhood of New York City. Named for its initial proprietors, Charles Gage and Eugene Tollner, the restaurant occupies the lowest two stories of a converted four-story brownstone residence. The restaurant building, dating from the mid-1870s, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its facade and interior are New York City designated landmarks. As of 2021^[update], St. John Frizell, Sohui Kim, and Ben Schneider operate the restaurant, with Kim as the head chef.

The restaurant opened in 1879, when Charles Gage opened a restaurant at 302 Fulton Street, and was named Gage & Tollner's in 1882. Gage & Tollner's moved to 372–374 Fulton Street around 1889 and soon became a popular restaurant for judges, politicians, and businessmen. A.H. Cunningham and Alexander Ingalls took over the restaurant's operation in 1911, and the Dewey family operated the restaurant for nearly seven decades starting in 1919. A partnership led by Peter Aschkenasy bought Gage and Tollner in 1988. Joseph Chirico operated the restaurant from 1995 until 2004, when the restaurant closed. The Gage and Tollner space was then occupied by various other stores during the 2000s and 2010s. Following a crowdfunding campaign in 2018, the restaurant reopened in April 2021.

Although the restaurant building's exterior was designed in an Italianate style, the interior retains its original Victorian design, with a main dining room, a waiting room, and a second-floor cocktail lounge. The main dining room measures 90 by 25 feet (27.4 by 7.6 m) across and contains woodwork, arched mirrors, two bars, and a group of chandeliers with gas-powered and electric lights. The restaurant initially specialized in seafood, meat chops, and steaks, and it served a large variety of oyster dishes during the 20th century, pivoting to Southern fare in the 1980s. Gage & Tollner was also known for its waitstaff, who wore insignia on their uniforms to denote the length of their employment, and its clientele, which included Diamond Jim Brady, Truman Capote, Fanny Brice, Jimmy Durante, and Mae West. Over the years, the restaurant has been the subject of much commentary, both for its architecture and for its cuisine and service.