An inadvertent scratch on the photo points to the "French Chateau" look of Boston's Parker House Hotel in 1907; the current structure was built in the 1920s.
By Holden DeMayo, PillartoPost.org Epicure
The Parker House roll is more than just a buttery staple of American baking—it’s a whisper from the Gilded Age, born within the dining room of one of Boston’s most storied establishments: the Parker House Hotel, opened in 1855 on School Street and Tremont, a cobblestoned stretch in central Boston.
The hotel quickly became a nexus of American culture. Its guest list reads like a syllabus for a liberal arts degree: Charles Dickens read from A Christmas Carol there in 1867, and the Saturday Club—Ralph Waldo Emerson, Longfellow, Holmes—regularly dined under its gaslit chandeliers. Dickens lived in a third floor suite for several months during his tour of America. Oddly, the far left lobby elevator is known over the decades to stop by itself on floor three. Perhaps, to let Mr. Dickens off to go to his suite.
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| Modern day entrance |
Founded by Harvey D. Parker, the hotel earned a reputation as a beacon of elegance and innovation. It was the first hotel in America to feature running water in every guest room, and it welcomed a who's who of 19th-century dignitaries and writers. Dickens was a repeat guest. Emerson and Holmes were fixtures. The Parker House became not just a hotel but a salon of sorts—where ideas, politics, and plates were exchanged with equal passion.
In its kitchens, two iconic American dishes were born. The first was the Boston Cream Pie—originally called a “cream cake”—a delicate layer cake filled with custard and topped with a sheen of chocolate glaze. Though called a pie, it was always a cake at heart, and its popularity spread quickly, eventually being named the official state dessert of Massachusetts.
Then there were the Parker House rolls. Legend has it they came into being when a hotel baker, in a fit of pique, slammed unfinished dough into the oven, causing it to bake in a folded, crumpled shape. What emerged was a revelation: a roll with a golden crust, a soft, buttery center, and a distinctive crease through the middle. They were brushed with melted butter both before and after baking—a luxurious detail that helped define their rich, pillowy texture.
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| The Goods |
The Parker House roll, like the Boston Cream Pie, became a lasting contribution to American cuisine, spreading from Boston’s genteel dining rooms to holiday tables across the country. But the hotel's story didn’t stop with Victorian literati and kitchen lore—it played a role in modern political history as well.
In 1946, a young John Fitzgerald Kennedy launched his political career at the Parker House, announcing his candidacy for Congress from within its historic walls. The hotel would become a favorite haunt for the Kennedy family, serving as a site for quiet campaign meetings and private dinners across generations. It was the kind of place where politics mingled with pedigree—where power could be plated next to Parker House rolls. At table 40 in the corner of the dining room is where JFK proposed marriage to Jackie Bouvier (spoiler alert: she said yes).
Today, the Omni Parker House still serves both of its famous creations, a delicious continuity of history. When you taste one—or both—you taste Boston itself: refined but indulgent, literary but lived-in—served fresh from the ovens of a city that never forgets a good story or its past. Menu art from 1860.
(Left: John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald in 1946 at a Parker House Hotel luncheon where JFK, his grandson announced his entry into politics. Honey Fitz was the legendary mayor of Boston at the time.).
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