A HIGH STEAKS GAME

Gallaghers restaurant, New York's oasis for carnivores, has thrived for 96 years, playing host to a colorful crowd of sports heroes, show people and classic characters

- KENNETH SHOULER

A bartender shakes a Brandy Alexander to foamy completion. The voice of Frank Sinatra, clear as gin, fills the background with "Moonlight Serenade." At Gallaghers Steakhouse, photos spanning the restaurant's 96 years fill the walls: that's New York governor Franklin Roosevelt, smiling from a convertible in 1930; there's Joe DiMaggio's fluid swing; the writer Damon Runyon wears his trademark carnation.

Among some 350 framed images, racehorses alone comprise a veritable equine hall of fame. The historic surroundings elicit questions: "Is that one Man O' War or Citation?" a diner wonders. "Who's that jockey who rode two Triple Crown winners?" another asks. "Eddie Arcaro, riding Whirlaway and Citation," his pal answers.

Dean Poll, the owner of Gallaghers Steakhouse on Manhattan's West 52nd Street, has to think both like a restaurateur and the curator of a museum with an entire wing of art. Only, instead of tending to European oil paintings, Poll oversees images of Old New York. "I work here every day. I am thinking about the food and staff," Poll says, sitting in a corner that could be called baseball cove. Over his right shoulder are stills of Lou Gehrig and the Yankees' "Murderers' Row" manager Miller Huggins. Jack Dempsey is clowning, grappling with a bat also held by Babe Ruth. "To Helen Gallagher, sincerely Babe Ruth," the inscription reads. Poll gestures toward signed caricatures of Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. "So I lose, to a certain extent, the importance of what's on the walls. But the photos are the decor. They lend some hominess to the place. It's the heart and soul of this restaurant. It's not cheap decoration. The only thing missing is the cigar smoke," adds Poll, who fancies a Partagás 8-9-8 "It's what this restaurant is for 96 years."