Restaurant - History

The term restaurant (from the French restaurer, to restore) first appeared in the 16th century, meaning "a food which restores", and referred specifically to a rich, highly flavoured soup.

According to The Guinness Book of Records, the Sobrino de Botin in Madrid, Spain is the oldest restaurant in existence today. It opened in 1725.

The modern sense of the word was born around 1765 when a Parisian soup-seller named Boulanger opened his establishment. The first restaurant in the form that became standard (customers sitting down with individual portions at individual tables, selecting food from menus, during fixed opening hours) was the Grand Taverne de Londres, founded in 1782 by a man named Beauvilliers.

Whilst inns and taverns were known from antiquity, these were establishments aimed at travellers, and in general locals would rarely eat there. The restaurant became established in France after the French Revolution broke up catering guilds and forced the aristocracy to flee, leaving a retinue of servants with the skills to cook excellent food; whilst at the same time numerous provincials arrived in Paris with no family to cook for them. Restaurants were the means by which these two could be brought together — and the French tradition of dining out was born. In this period the star chef Antonin Carême, often credited with founding classic French cuisine, flourished, becoming known as the "Cook of Kings and the King of Cooks."

Restaurants spread rapidly to the United States, with the first (Jullien''s Restarator) opening in Boston in 1794, and they spread rapidly thereafter. Most however continued on the standard approach (Service à la française) of providing a shared meal on the table to which customers would then help themselves, something which encouraged them to eat rather quickly. The modern formal style of dining, where customers are given a plate with the food already arranged on it, is known as Service à la russe, as it is said to have been introduced to France by the Russian Prince Kurakin in the 1810s, from where it spread rapidly to England and beyond.

What is restaurant?

It prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearance and offerings, including a wide variety of the main chef's cuisines and service models.

Choosing a restaurant when travelling........................

For me one of the joys of travelling is tasting the local food. Unfortunately this is not always as straight forward as it might seem. If it is your first time in a place where you do not know anyone and even worse, if you speak a different language then finding a good well priced restaurant can be more difficult than finding a three leaf clover. And you surely know how frustrating it is paying good money for bad food.

Managing a Restaurant

Managing a small independent restaurant requires dedication, patience, and hours of labor. In particular, it is important to recognize that the decision to hire a manager to carry out daily responsibilities has great impact on the success of a business.

There are immediate benefits to appointing a manager, but it can also lead to disaster. For one, a manager might feel that because he has a fixed salary, he has no reason to work harder than the minimum expected of him. Thus, his quality of management may not meet the expectations of customers, which might result in a sharp decline in sales. If the ownership intervenes and decides to take on these important managerial positions, there is less risk.