In former years the proprietor of Van der Pijl’s was possessed of a puritanical conscience, and would not allow any two people to dine alone in his private salons. So strictly did he adhere to his rule on this subject, that when a well-known man about town insisted on his right to dine in the petit salon alone with his 1 68 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe wife, the inexorable proprietor turned him out of the restaurant. There was, however, another well-known member of Hague society who succeeded where the gentleman who thought that matrimony overrode all rules had failed. The hero of the little story had made a bet that, in spite of the puritanical proprietor, he would dine a deux with a lady in the petit salon . He won his bet by subtlety. He ordered a dinner for three, and when he and the lady arrived they waited a quarter of an hour for the other imaginary guest. Then, remarking that he was sure Mr. X. would not mind the dinner being begun without him, the host ordered the soup to be brought up ; and so, with constant allusions to the man that never came, the dinner was served, course by course, and the bet won before the proprietor had the least idea that a trick had been played upon him. A somewhat similar story, it will be remembered, is told of Delmonico’s and its proprietor in the early history of that great New York restaurant. In the American story, the youth who had dined in a cabinet particulier with a lady, in contravention of the rules of the house, had not the sense to hold his tongue until after he had paid his bill. When that document •did make its appearance, some of the items were astonishing. “You don’t expect me to pay this bill ? ” said the staggered diner to the proprietor, who had made his appearance. “ No, I do not,” said Mr. Delmonico ; “ but until you do you will not come into my restaurant again.” The following are some of the dishes of which Van der Pijl’s makes a specialty — Poule au pot Henri /T., Sole Normande , Cote de Bceuf a la Russey Homards a tAmfricaine, Poularde a la Parisienne, Perdreaux au choux , Omelette Siberienne , Souffle Palmyre , Poires Alaska , most of them standard dishes of the usual cuisine Franfaise, though the Omelette Siberienne was invented Holland 169 to please a British diplomat who preferred a soup^on of absinthe to either rum or Kiimmel with his omelette. And this is a typical menu which reads as though it were for a French banquet : — Huitres de Zelande. Caviar. Consomme Diplomate. Truite Saumonee a la Nantua. Poularde a Plmperiale. Noisettes de Chevreuil a la St. Hubert. Delice de foie gras au Champagne. Becassines roties. Salade St. Clair. Tartelettes aux Haricots Verts. Mousse Antoinette. Sandwiches au Parmesan. Dessert.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

In former years the proprietor of Van der Pijl’s was possessed of a puritanical conscience, and would not allow any two people to dine alone in his private salons. So strictly did he adhere to his rule on this subject, that when a well-known man about town insisted on his right to dine in the petit salon alone with his 1 68 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe wife, the inexorable proprietor turned him out of the restaurant. There was, however, another well-known member of Hague society who succeeded where the gentleman who thought that matrimony overrode all rules had failed. The hero of the little story had made a bet that, in spite of the puritanical proprietor, he would dine a deux with a lady in the petit salon . He won his bet by subtlety. He ordered a dinner for three, and when he and the lady arrived they waited a quarter of an hour for the other imaginary guest. Then, remarking that he was sure Mr. X. would not mind the dinner being begun without him, the host ordered the soup to be brought up ; and so, with constant allusions to the man that never came, the dinner was served, course by course, and the bet won before the proprietor had the least idea that a trick had been played upon him. A somewhat similar story, it will be remembered, is told of Delmonico’s and its proprietor in the early history of that great New York restaurant. In the American story, the youth who had dined in a cabinet particulier with a lady, in contravention of the rules of the house, had not the sense to hold his tongue until after he had paid his bill. When that document •did make its appearance, some of the items were astonishing. “You don’t expect me to pay this bill ? ” said the staggered diner to the proprietor, who had made his appearance. “ No, I do not,” said Mr. Delmonico ; “ but until you do you will not come into my restaurant again.” The following are some of the dishes of which Van der Pijl’s makes a specialty — Poule au pot Henri IV., Sole Normande , Côte de Boeuf à la Russe Homards à l'Américaine, Poularde à la Parisienne, Perdreaux aux choux , Omelette Siberienne , Souffle Palmyre , Poires Alaska , most of them standard dishes of the usual cuisine Française, though the Omelette Siberienne was invented Holland 169 to please a British diplomat who preferred a soupçon of absinthe to either rum or Kiimmel with his omelette. And this is a typical menu which reads as though it were for a French banquet : — Huitres de Zelande. Caviar. Consomme Diplomate. Truite Saumonnée à la Nantua. Poularde à l'Impériale. Noisettes de Chevreuil à la St. Hubert. Delice de foie gras au Champagne. Becassines roties. Salade St. Clair. Tartelettes aux Haricots Verts. Mousse Antoinette. Sandwiches au Parmesan. Dessert.

The gourmet's guide to Europe