Food: A Goulash in the Making

For the traveling U.S. businessman who looks to Manhattan for culinary cachet, perhaps no group of restaurants has created more interest than Restaurant Associates. Its 19 restaurants—from the tree-decked Four Seasons to the Lucullan Forum of the Twelve Caesars, from the Italianesque Mamma Leone's to the open-all-night Brasserie —are a successful blend of imaginative showmanship, lofty prices and aspiration to high cuisine. Waldorf System, Inc., is a somewhat different chain of restaurants. Its 83 cafeterias, drive-ins and pancake houses in eight states lean heavily on self-service eateries in poor locations, offer such dishes as hash and an egg for...