Food and drink books This article is more than 5 years oldReviewIn the Restaurant by Christoph Ribbat review – dining out on legends
This article is more than 5 years oldA delightful celebration of the restaurant comprising anecdotes from figures including George Orwell and Simon WiesenthalRibbat’s brilliantly impressionistic history begins in 1760s Paris. The word restaurant derives from the Latin restaurans, referring to the restorative bouillons made from meat stock served in these first establishments. The restaurant was more private than the cafe and most importantly it was acceptable for men and women to be seen together there, “a very unusual occurrence” for the period.
Ribbat traces the evolution of the restaurant using a montage of bite-sized anecdotes, building an evocative panorama of culinary experiences and ideas. They include sociologist Frances Donovan working as a waitress in the US in 1917, as research for a pioneering study (she concluded that cooks are “the lowest type of men”); George Orwell betraying “all of the hospitality industry’s dirty secrets” (including waiters spitting in the soup); and Simon Wiesenthal, saved from starvation in a concentration camp by a food porter who asked him to use his architect’s skills to design a restaurant he planned to open after the war. This is a delightful celebration of the restaurant as “a place which produces legends as well as sustenance and truths”.
In the Restaurant: From Michelin Stars to Fast Food; What Eating Out Tells Us about Who We Are by Christoph Ribbat, translated by Jamie Searle Romanelli is published by Pushkin. To order a copy for £8.59 (RRP £9.99) go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
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