Sol Forman (July 1, 1903 – November 22, 2001) was an American restaurateur who owned

Peter Luger Steak House Peter Luger Steak House is a steakhouse located in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York City, with a second location in Great Neck, New York, on Long Island. It was named to the James Beard Foundation's list of "America's Classics" ...

Biography

Forman was born on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

around July 1, 1903. He dropped out of high school to support his family and formed a partnership with his brother and sister to start a metalware business called Forman Family, which was located across the street from

. Forman became a frequent customer of the steakhouse and bought the restaurant at auction as the only bidder after it was forced to close in 1950 due to declining sales. Forman helped revive the ailing steakhouse and transformed it into one of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

's most well-known steakhouses. He continue to run the restaurant after he closed his metalware business in the 1980s. He opened a branch of the steakhouse in Long Island 1961.

Personal life

Forman lived in

Flatbush, Brooklyn Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park to the north, East Flatbush to the east, Midwood to the south, ...

until his death. He died on November 22, 2001 at 98 years old. He passed on ownership to his daughters, Marilyn Spiera and Amy Rubenstein, who run the business along with Spiera's daughter Jody Storch. All of his children graduated from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Col ...

. His daughter, Elissa "Ellie" Cullman, is married to Edgar M. Cullman, Jr., son of

Edgar M. Cullman Edgar M. Cullman (January 7, 1918 – August 28, 2011) was an American businessman who served as President and CEO of General Cigar Company and is credited with transforming the image of cigars. Biography Edgar Meyer Cullman was born to a Jewish ...

, who owned the

General Cigar Company General Cigar Company is the largest manufacturer of premium cigars in the world. It is a subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco Group with North American headquarters located in Richmond, Virginia. Company history In 1961 General Cigar, which wa ...

. His other daughter, Amy Rubenstein, was married to public relations expert

Howard J. Rubenstein Howard Joseph Rubenstein (February 3, 1932 – December 29, 2020) was an American lawyer and public relations expert. Rudolph Giuliani called him "the dean of damage control". He began his PR practice from his parents' kitchen and it grew to b ...

until his death in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forman, Sol 1903 births 2001 deaths American restaurateurs Businesspeople from New York City