The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out
- ISBN-10
- 147117963X
- ISBN-13
- 9781471179631
- Series
- The Restaurant
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 400
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2020-04-09
- Publisher
- Simon and Schuster
- Author
- William Sitwell
Description
AS READ ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK. The fascinating story of how we have gone out to eat, from the ancient Romans in Pompeii to the luxurious Michelin-starred restaurants of today. Tracing its earliest incarnations in the city of Pompeii, where Sitwell is stunned by the sophistication of the dining scene, this is a romp through history as we meet the characters and discover the events that shape the way we eat today. Sitwell, restaurant critic for the Daily Telegraph and famous for his acerbic criticisms on the hit BBC show MasterChef, tackles this enormous subject with his typical wit and precision. He spies influences from an ancient traveller of the Muslim world, revels in the unintended consequences for nascent fine dining of the French Revolution, reveals in full hideous glory the post-Second World War dining scene in the UK and fathoms the birth of sensitive gastronomy in the US counterculture of the 1960s. This is a story of the ingenuity of the human race as individuals endeavour to do that most fundamental of things: to feed people. It is a story of art, politics, revolution, desperate need and decadent pleasure. Sitwell, a familiar face in the UK and a figure known for the controversy he attracts, provides anyone who loves to dine out, or who loves history, or who simply loves a good read with an accessible and humorous history. The Restaurant is jam-packed with extraordinary facts; a book to read eagerly from start to finish or to spend glorious moments dipping in to. It may be William Sitwell’s History of Eating Out, but it’s also the definitive story of one of the cornerstones of our culture.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
The Restaurant
By Pamela M. KelleyThree sisters inherit a Nantucket restaurant and must work together for a year--or lose their shares to the chef. Paul was Emma's first love, and now he's their business partner.
-
In the Restaurant: Society in Four Courses
By Christoph RibbatWhat does eating out tell us about who we are? The restaurant is where we go to celebrate, to experience pleasure, to show off - or, sometimes, just because we're...
-
The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture
By Rebecca L. SpangAs Spang explains, during the 1760s and 1770s, sensitive, self-described sufferers made public show of their delicacy by going to the new establishments known as “restaurateurs’ rooms” to sip bouillons.
-
Restaurant Man
By Joe BastianichSo how did a nice Italian boy from Queens turn his passion for food and wine into an empire? In Restaurant Man, Joe charts a remarkable journey that first began in his parents’ neighborhood eatery.
-
In the Restaurant: From Michelin stars to fast food; what eating out tells us about who we are
By Christoph RibbatThis is the tale of the restaurant in all its guises, from the first formal establishments in eighteenth-century Paris serving 'restorative' bouillon, to today's new Nordic cuisine, via grand Viennese cafés and humble fast food joints.
-
All the Restaurants in New York
By John DonohueAll the Restaurants in New York is a collection of these drawings, characterized by their appealingly loose and gently distorted lines.
-
The Restaurant Critic's Wife
By Elizabeth LaBanPeople magazine included The Restaurant Critic's Wife on their Great New Fiction list and hailed it as "thoroughly entertaining.
-
Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts: More than 250 Great New Recipes: A Cookbook
By Moosewood CollectiveHere are desserts for every occasion, from the awesome, multi-tiered Festive Celebrations Cake to quick little cookies and muffins to slip into a lunch box or onto a tea tray.
-
The Little Brown Book of Restaurant Success
By Bob BrownThe best selling definitive book or restaurant server sales and service techniques with easy to read style.
-
The Restaurants Book: Ethnographies of Where We Eat
By David Sutton, David BerissRestaurants are key sites for practices of social distinction, where chefs struggle for recognition as stars and patrons insist on seeing and being seen. This text brings together anthropological insights into these postmodern places.