and was owned by a M. Chevereuil. The Peace of Amiens first brought it into favour with the English, and at that period the charge for a dinner there was three louis. The ownerships of MM. Chellet and de L’Homme marked successive steps in its upward career, and when the restaurant came into the market in ’79 or ’80 it was bought by a syndicate of bankers and other rich business men who placed it in the hands of its present lessee. The Comte de Grammont Caderousse and his companions in what used to be known as the “ Loge Infernale ” at the old Opera, were the best-known patrons of the Anglais ; and until the Opera House, replaced by the present building, was burnt down, the Anglais was a great supping-place, the little rabbit-hutches of the entresol being the scene of some of the wildest and most interesting parties given by the great men of the Second Empire. It was to the Anglais that Rigol- boche raced in the costume of Eve from the Maison Doree. The history of the Anglais has never been cPartt 7 written because, as M. Burdel, the lessee, will tell you, it never could be written without telling tales anent great men which should not be put into print ; but if you ask to see the book of menus, chiefly of dinners given in the “ Grand Seize,” the room on the first floor, the curve of the windows of which look up the long line of the boulevards, if you are shown that treasure you will find in it records of dinners given by the late King Edward when he was Prince of Wales, by the Due de Morny and by D’Orsay, by all the Grand Dukes who ever came out of Russia, by “ Citron,” and Li Hung Chang, and Le Roi Milan, by the lights of the French Jockey Club, and many other celebrities. There is one especially interesting menu of a dinner at which Bismarck was a guest — before the terrible year of course. While I am gossiping as to the curiosities of the Anglais I must not forget a little collection of glass, mostly with gold initials, and silver in a cabinet in the passage of the entresol. Every piece has a history, and most of them have had royal owners. The great sight of the restaurant, however, is its cellars. Electric lamps are used to light them, luminous grapes hang from the arches, and an orange tree at the end of a vista glows with transparent fruit. In these cellars, beside the wine on the wine-list of the restaurant, are to be found some bottles of all the great vintage years of claret, dating back almost as far as Noah’s vineyard, an object-lesson in Bordeaux ; and there are little stores of brandies of wondrous age, most of which were already in the cellars when the battle of Waterloo was fought. A dreadful shock was given in the early days of June 1910 to the habitues of the Anglais when they found on the white front of the restaurant a great placard announcing that the building was for sale. The sale was necessary owing to some difficulty in division of the property, and was the result of the com- 8 T*he Gourmets Guide to Europe plicated French law of succession. Francs 1,300,050 were bid for the building, which passed into the possession of a Belgian syndicate. Till the ter- mination of the present lease the restaurant will be carried on as before. What will happen when the lease falls in, only the members of the Belgian syndicate know.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

and was owned by a M. Chevereuil. The Peace of Amiens first brought it into favour with the English, and at that period the charge for a dinner there was three louis. The ownerships of MM. Chellet and de L’Homme marked successive steps in its upward career, and when the restaurant came into the market in ’79 or ’80 it was bought by a syndicate of bankers and other rich business men who placed it in the hands of its present lessee. The Comte de Grammont Caderousse and his companions in what used to be known as the “ Loge Infernale ” at the old Opera, were the best-known patrons of the Anglais ; and until the Opera House, replaced by the present building, was burnt down, the Anglais was a great supping-place, the little rabbit-hutches of the entresol being the scene of some of the wildest and most interesting parties given by the great men of the Second Empire. It was to the Anglais that Rigolboche raced in the costume of Eve from the Maison Doree. The history of the Anglais has never been [illustration: Part 7] written because, as M. Burdel, the lessee, will tell you, it never could be written without telling tales anent great men which should not be put into print ; but if you ask to see the book of menus, chiefly of dinners given in the “ Grand Seize,” the room on the first floor, the curve of the windows of which look up the long line of the boulevards, if you are shown that treasure you will find in it records of dinners given by the late King Edward when he was Prince of Wales, by the Due de Morny and by D’Orsay, by all the Grand Dukes who ever came out of Russia, by “ Citron,” and Li Hung Chang, and Le Roi Milan, by the lights of the French Jockey Club, and many other celebrities. There is one especially interesting menu of a dinner at which Bismarck was a guest — before the terrible year of course. While I am gossiping as to the curiosities of the Anglais I must not forget a little collection of glass, mostly with gold initials, and silver in a cabinet in the passage of the entresol. Every piece has a history, and most of them have had royal owners. The great sight of the restaurant, however, is its cellars. Electric lamps are used to light them, luminous grapes hang from the arches, and an orange tree at the end of a vista glows with transparent fruit. In these cellars, beside the wine on the wine-list of the restaurant, are to be found some bottles of all the great vintage years of claret, dating back almost as far as Noah’s vineyard, an object-lesson in Bordeaux ; and there are little stores of brandies of wondrous age, most of which were already in the cellars when the battle of Waterloo was fought. A dreadful shock was given in the early days of June 1910 to the habitues of the Anglais when they found on the white front of the restaurant a great placard announcing that the building was for sale. The sale was necessary owing to some difficulty in division of the property, and was the result of the com- 8 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe plicated French law of succession. Francs 1,300,050 were bid for the building, which passed into the possession of a Belgian syndicate. Till the termination of the present lease the restaurant will be carried on as before. What will happen when the lease falls in, only the members of the Belgian syndicate know.

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