Dining Out

June 1, 2019
As the world economy grew more complex and specialized, workers' enhanced mobility gave them time, money, and need to dine out. What sets Rawson and Shore's contribution apart from other histories of restaurant culture is their insight into not simply European restaurants, but their even more ancient Asian counterparts. Appearing in China in the twelfth century, restaurants developed at a time when Chinese cities held three times the population of European capitals. Expansion of trade routes meant that businesspeople ended workdays far from home, and travelers from Sichuan yearned for familiar food even in northern provinces. Japan inaugurated ritualized, sophisticated food service, and women waited tables long before Harvey Girls appeared on the American frontier. Today's foodies may be surprised to discover that farm-to-table cuisine appeared as early as nineteenth-century Manhattan, when Delmonico's started its own Brooklyn farm to supply fresh produce. America's burgeoning cities introduced an astonishing culinary range of ethnic foods, experimental chefs, and today's ubiquity of fast food. Ancient and modern illustrations and bibliographic notes supplement the text.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)