Morning journal and courier., 1881-11-15
CasEy Dinaers-
A Talk With DelmonicO.

s'What was the grand swan dinner hear of sometimes ?"
 s.That was a dinner at which we had a small lake built upon the table, in the centre no, not so very small, either-and at which the dessert was served in swans egg shells, cut out of marble, while in the lake swan five live swans. The table was bed of rosebuds. That was tolerable dinner" /" That reminds one of the dinner told of in Petronius Arbiter." :"
 "Sure enough but those old classic writ CTS tell things that modern gastronomy never reaches. The fine arts,@ in cookery and table service, as in painting, seem to be better-in ! their descriptions than we can rival now" Don't get jealous; if you had lived when no punch was good without pearl dissolved in it and handful of rubies to flavor each | glass, you might have excelled. What was ! the big private dinner?"
 (Mollifed) Well, there was gentleman ! who gave dinner to 10 people that cost him ! s4OO cover. It was luxurious enough to be classical. His bills of fare he provided him. | self, and he insisted on the garcons, five of them being dressed as sailors. He was \ yachtsman, and he bought their clothes and sent for them next day to dress his sailors on \ the vessel with The bills of fare were the \ features of the dinner. Let me see, they \ drank-or rather tasted-every vinted liquor \ that has ever been brought to America l | do not mean they drank every brand of wine, |
 taste. They finished with pousse cafe made \ of eleven liqueurs."
 | ''But the bills of fare ?" ! "rhey were too grand. Before each plate \ sat a cut glass basin about twenty inches in ! diameter and four inches deep. Each was | nearly filled with water perfumed with ottar | of roses, on the surface of which hoated half l open pond lilies In the basin a perfect ! model of the yacht owned by the gentleman | who gave the dinner was placed. It was cut | in red cedar wood, with cabin, rail, wheel for l steering, brass work, such as belaying pins, ! pinnacle, etc., man ropes worked and trim- | med with sailor knots, scraped pine masts | and booms, rigging of silken cords colored
 's # would be in the prototype, and sails of
 satin"
 s.But the bills of fare ?" s'Yes, yes The sails carried the bills of fare On the flying jib were the words | Compliments of the, well, giver of the dinner; on the jib the date and place; on the | foresail was the name of the guest who sat at the place where each little vessel foated, | and on the malnsail was the menu. Then, | as the guest had occasion to consult 1t, he used a little gold oar that rested on the fin l gers of silver naiad who peered over the ! sparkling glass and held out both hands to | grasp the oar After the dinner each guest l either carried away the bill of fare or had it sent to him at his home. The bills of fare must have cost $1oo apiece" ''Got one ?''
 'sNo, have $1OO to keep"
 ''who gave the dinner?'' ''Whisper-I decline to advertise the id iot"
 "But he must have been an idiot of taste | to plan such an arrangement for bill of fare !" nl
 Don't tell the people in Philadelphia that
 they won't believe it besides, he didn't plan 1 it; it was another idiot-I mean myself. Was that the best private dinner you ever gave ?''
 ''Yes; that was the most expensive, and we never serve anything but the very best. :"