least expensive way of getting a good
dinner. It also saves an exhibition of ignorance regard-
ing the dishes, for if you are in doubt all you have to do
is to leave it to the waiter, and he will bring the best
there is on the day's menu and will serve it properly.
It is really something to elicit wonder when one con-
siders the possibilities of a table d'hote dinner in some
of the less expensive restaurants. Take, for instance,
the Buon Gusto, in Broadway. This restaurant boasts
a good chef, and the food is the finest the market af-
fords. Here is served a six course dinner for fifty cents,
and the menu card is typical of this class of restaurants.
What is provided is shown by the following taken from
the bill of fare as it was served us :
Hor d'ouvres — four kinds; five kinds of salad; two kinds
of soup; seven kinds of fish; four kinds of paste; broiled spring
chicken; green salad with French dressing; ice cream or rum
omelet; mixed fruits; demi tasse.
With this is served a pint of good table wine.
As one goes up with the scale of prices in the res-
taurants that charge J?l, $1.25, -$1.50, $2, $2.50, and $3 for
their dinners it will be found that the difference lies
chiefly in the variety from which to choose and from
the surroundings and service.
Take, for example, the following typical menu for
a dollar dinner, served at the Fior d'ltalia, and compare
it with the fifty-cent dinner just mentioned:
Salami and anchovies; salad; chicken broth with Italian
paste; fillet of English sole, sauce tartare; spaghetti or ravioli;
escallop of veal, caper sauce; French peas with butter; roast
chicken with chifi^on salad; ice cream or fried cream; assorted
fruits and cakes; demi tasse. Wine with this dinner is extra.
100
SAN FRANCISCO
Now going a step up in the scale we come to the
$1.50 dinner as follows:
Anchovies, salami (note that it is the ARnTTT*
same as above); combination salad; tortel- ArJUUl
lini di Bologna soup; striped bass a la DINING
Livornaise; ravioli a la Genoese and spa-
ghetti with mushrooms; chicken saute,
Italian style, with green peas; squab with lettuce; zabaione;
fruit; cheese; coffee. Wine is extra.
Let us now look at the menu of the $3.50 dinner,
without wine:
Pate de foie gras — truffles on toast; salad; olives; Alice
Fallstaff; Italian ham "Prosciutto;" soup — semino Italiani with
Brodo de Cappone; pompano a la papillote; tortellini with
fungi a funghetto; fritto misto; spring chicken saute; Carcioffi
airinferno; Capretto al Forno con Insallata; omelet Celestine;
fruit; cheese, and black coffee.
This dinner must be ordered three days in advance.
These menus will give a good idea of the different
classes of dinners that can be obtained. Between are
dinners to suit all tastes and pocketbooks. If you wish
to go beyond these there is no limit except the amount
of money you have. If but the food value be taken into
consideration then one will be as well pleased with the
fifty-cent dinner as he will be at the higher priced meals,
but if light and music and brilliant surroundings are
desired, then one must pay for them as well as for the
meal he eats.
Page 54
Presented as published in 1914. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
least expensive way of getting a good dinner. It also saves an exhibition of ignorance regarding the dishes, for if you are in doubt all you have to do is to leave it to the waiter, and he will bring the best there is on the day's menu and will serve it properly.
It is really something to elicit wonder when one considers the possibilities of a table d'hote dinner in some of the less expensive restaurants. Take, for instance, the Buon Gusto, in Broadway. This restaurant boasts a good chef, and the food is the finest the market affords. Here is served a six course dinner for fifty cents, and the menu card is typical of this class of restaurants. What is provided is shown by the following taken from the bill of fare as it was served us :
Hor d'ouvres — four kinds; five kinds of salad; two kinds of soup; seven kinds of fish; four kinds of paste; broiled spring chicken; green salad with French dressing; ice cream or rum omelet; mixed fruits; demi tasse.
With this is served a pint of good table wine.
As one goes up with the scale of prices in the restaurants that charge J?l, $1.25, -$1.50, $2, $2.50, and $3 for their dinners it will be found that the difference lies chiefly in the variety from which to choose and from the surroundings and service.
Take, for example, the following typical menu for a dollar dinner, served at the Fior d'ltalia, and compare it with the fifty-cent dinner just mentioned:
Salami and anchovies; salad; chicken broth with Italian paste; fillet of English sole, sauce tartare; spaghetti or ravioli; escallop of veal, caper sauce; French peas with butter; roast chicken with chiffon salad; ice cream or fried cream; assorted fruits and cakes; demi tasse. Wine with this dinner is extra.
Now going a step up in the scale we come to the $1.50 dinner as follows:
Anchovies, salami (note that it is the same as above); combination salad; tortellini di Bologna soup; striped bass a la
Livornaise; ravioli a la Genoese and spaghetti with mushrooms; chicken saute,
Italian style, with green peas; squab with lettuce; zabaione; fruit; cheese; coffee. Wine is extra.
Let us now look at the menu of the $3.50 dinner, without wine:
Pate de foie gras — truffles on toast; salad; olives; Alice Fallstaff; Italian ham "Prosciutto;" soup — semino Italiani with Brodo de Cappone; pompano a la papillote; tortellini with fungi a funghetto; fritto misto; spring chicken saute; Carcioffi airinferno; Capretto al Forno con Insallata; omelet Celestine; fruit; cheese, and black coffee.
This dinner must be ordered three days in advance.
These menus will give a good idea of the different classes of dinners that can be obtained. Between are dinners to suit all tastes and pocketbooks. If you wish to go beyond these there is no limit except the amount of money you have. If but the food value be taken into consideration then one will be as well pleased with the fifty-cent dinner as he will be at the higher priced meals, but if light and music and brilliant surroundings are desired, then one must pay for them as well as for the meal he eats.