Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAP. III. DININO-HOUSES, OR RESTAURATEURS. About the year 1770, after the glorious days of the-reign of Louis XIV., the roueries of the Ee- gency and the long tranquillity of the ministry of Cardinal Fleury, travellers arriving at Paris had but few places where they could get a good dinner. They had to put up at hotels, generally bad. A few had table-d'hotes, which however only just offered what was necessary for a meal, and moreover were at fixed hours. There were a few traiteurs, but they had usually nothing but joints; and a man who wished to give a dinner to his friends, was obliged to order it beforehand; so that men who had not the good luck to have an introduction into opulent houses, had to leave the capital without becoming acquainted with the resources and delicacies of a Parisian kitchen. At last a man of intellect was found who tookthe subject into consideration; he argued that, as the same wants occurred at about the same hour every day, men would not fail to come, if they found they were readily and well served; that if one man had a wing of chicken, the next comer would take the leg, and so on; that a slice from a prime joint would not spoil the remainder, and that a man who found he got a good dinner, would not grumble at a little expense, if promptly served, and well waited upon; and that a carte, with fixed prices for every dish, would be suitable to all fortunes. This man did not stop short here, but developed his idea still further. He was the first restaurateur, and created a profession which leads to fortune whenever the professor is honest, and combines order with skill. From France, restaurateurs soon spread to the rest of Europe. The institution is one of extreme advantage to every citizen, and of high importance to science. A man can …