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Menu from the famed Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City from April 9, 1899, 4.25 x 6.25, signed on the reverse in fountain pen by Nikola Tesla. The front and back of the menu are signed by 15 other diners. In fine condition, with four small pieces of cloth tape along the edge. Tesla moved into the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in late 1899, using it as both his residence and base for experiments while networking with wealthy financiers in New York City. He stayed for several years, maintaining large suites and often falling behind on his bills, accumulating substantial debt to the hotel. Some of these debts were later partially repaid with scrap metal from his abandoned Wardenclyffe Tower project.
Among the menu’s list of French cuisine is a section for ‘Roast,’ which includes “Mignons de Filet à la Tesla,” or ‘Tesla Filet Tenderloin,’ a specially prepared steak meal in honor of the hotel’s esteemed resident.
As quoted in Richard Munson’s 2018 biographical work, Tesla: Inventor of the Modern: ‘Contemporaries often commented on Tesla's strict and obsessive routines. His dinners – first at the ritzy Delmonico's restaurant and later at the lavish Waldorf Astoria Hotel – began promptly at 8:10 p.m. He or an assistant would have called in his order ahead of time – often thick steaks, preferably filet mignon – and only the head waiter would be allowed to serve the meals. He usually read the afternoon paper at his regular table by the window. Tesla dined alone, except when he entertained a group of reporters or investors, and he often returned after dinner to his lab for several hours of additional work. He visited barbers three times a week for half-hour scalp massages. He never ate lunch. He took warm baths, followed by lengthy cold showers. To stimulate his brain cells, he walked regularly, often up to ten miles a day, and he would flex his toes one hundred times before going to bed in order to relieve stress. Concerned about neatness, he dressed meticulously, regularly in a black derby, silk shirt, cane, green suede high-tops, and gray suede gloves – but absolutely no jewelry.’
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