Bringing the Lahieres to Princeton

Fans of Lahiere’s restaurant may be interested to know that my grand­father, the late Gerard B. Lambert 1908, liked Princeton Township so much that he acquired 400 acres on either side of Province Line Road and built a mansion called Albemarle around 1920 (in the ’50s, he donated the house to the American Boychoir School, and it is still there on Lambert Drive).

It was my grandfather who brought the Lahieres from southwestern France to farm the Albemarle land. He installed the Lahiere family in a white frame house. If I recall correctly, a Lahiere daughter founded the restaurant, and either she or a daughter of hers married a Christen who subsequently operated the restaurant.

In 1968, my grandmother took my half-brother, Peter Fleming, and a French friend to visit the Lahieres at the white frame house. According to Peter, “Monsieur Lahiere was very old and was delighted to speak French with our friend, who also comes from France’s southwest region. The Lahieres’ daughter was present. They were so happy to see our grandmother and reminisce about her family.”

As a child, whenever we would visit my grandparents in Princeton, a lunch or dinner at Lahiere’s was a “must,” and we Lamberts always got special attention. My last meal at Lahiere’s was a nice lunch during my 30th reunion.