As noted in my previous post, I'm enjoying the new free access to old content of the NY TIMES. Blogger Jason Kottke has come across a real gem: possibly the first restaurant review ever published in the paper.
"I wish you to go and dine," said the Editor-in-Chief to me one day in September, last. "I wish you to go and dine."
What follows is a romp through the emerging restaurant scene in NY. At that point in time, the "restaurant" as we know it was only 30 years old in America, started with the opening of Delmonico's in NY. Prior to that, people ate at the local inn or public house, where there was one dish available and everyone paid the same price. This idea of a "bill of fare" (or a la carte) was a European import that opened up a new world of dining for, um, the new world. This review is a fascinating read, not just for its anachronistic turn of phrase, but also for its glimpse into an era when the old style of public fare from a "second class eating house" was giving way to a new experience... ordering from a menu.
