The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-14
IN A GUIDE BOOKS Tolls.
AN AMERICANS EXPERIENCE IN \
Paris RESTAURANT. .

"
He wanted Some English Cooking for =
Change, and Went where His Guide
Book Told Him to Go-Took His Family
but Won't Trust Guide Books ARnins
An American who recently returned from
Paris has had the satisfaction Of making his
first trip through Europe with the record Of
only one bad break to his dlscredit. That he
attributes to his guide book. which had proved
such n valuable friend TO him In every instance
that he is not disposed TO blame It harshly now,
But 1t was his only break, and it seems pieir.P
due to the guide books misleading suggestion.
I'VE had got tired OF French cooking In
Paris. he said, and a long course OF table
d'h6tos had made us hungry for something
like plain American cooking. 1t was still two
weeks before we were 10 reach London. One
night Mt tho hotel l tried TO break Off a piece OF
the crust to a pate of sweetbread that one Of
the walters was handing around at dinner. He
told me that It was made out Of pasteboard.
wax and a very little flour. and as 1t was used
regularly every evening for a pate Of some
kind it was not worth while to try to break 1t.
That settled the question. There was to be no
dinner for us Mt the hotel or at any other
French place the next night.
Il wanted n slice OF roast beef that covered
my whole plate. and I was determined to get 70
II had to devote tho whole OF the next day to
finding the place. l turned to the guide book
in this p|rcdicament as l had in many others.
and it seemed as IL 1t had again helped me out.
In a list of restaurants was one with an English
name. Following this was a parenthetical
statement that good English cooking could be
had there. So l went out to Versailles and put
in the day perfectly confident that we would
have q good dinner at night.
II was the only man OF the party excepting
n young cousin Of my wife. and 1 modified
the expedition in the hall Of the hotel. 1 rea-
lized when / saw my two daughters and my
wife. her sister Will her daughter. my wife'a
aunt and her cousin, that the party was Of COM
siderable size for any one man. But l had
piloted half Of them through Europe without
any trouble and could look back to only one
really painful feature OF the trip. That was the
fondness of my wife's aunt for hard-boiled
eggs at breakfast. To disturb the economy OF
any Continental hotel by ordering anything but
rolls and coffee was serious enough. but to get
q hard-boiled egg was n struggle that usually
required me to be downstairs an hour before
breakfast time. But l got accustomed to that.
Il started my party toward the restaurant,
which was in the Boulevard DIES Capucines. not
far from the hotel. We we're an average lot Of
Americans. well dressed and quiet looking and
Pure American domesticity travelling through
Europe, When we reached the place nothing
iuteIy un- English look, It was like ali the rest
Of the cafes in that region, with the mirrors.
T TRe wo maPBlS RS 5oOI sat and az the fss y casS d SSShiG %n:
French to the roots Of her bichloride, blond
tSd ,n,5ltb h1fHifitate g m for gu : second icon l, but
me- me- on So j, arranged the the patty SGtT ABOUT
two tables, with the assistance of a waiter.
and the cashier St i in the room. II Il was as about
half-past Z. l was accustomed to the, small
French restaurants, so the desertion Of, this, one
did not impress me as much as It would other
seen such, complete emptiness: Frenchmen
could not be expected to patronize a restaurant
whispered the evil genius of the guide book
into my ear. OF course there would be few OF
"'The waiter blushed in astonishment when I
said ! wanted to order dinner He He nodded
SSid. to sn the tS snseief 10 Woo box as AZ DUR hi Par TR1 VIII / hs sa
expression OF curiosity that died away in. .
second, She gave som directions to the
sciSnSbly long time, When he Teturned It WAS
s %lsn Gas OH fresh Sf i TAX. Before ef waf It E got to our an
table the cashier GLANCED sdra at t it: Like most
the Bill that was the, least BIT English. was
on the bin anywhere r. else. The outiook was
not lot encouraging me- nsSII1a for 0,c an En nId ! ddin Inn r; d Bgt It
seeing had prepared us for nearly anything.
THE dinner came after some delay. 1t was
e fGfP$ ar fnd 6 5s tF ons ai 81 ANY Eas shb bsd Te F ffa se Ssa
the Wanted 'rosbeef.' 1t was tough and
stringy. BUT the met dc sole an ptn 0tdnc, was
delicious. So were the potdOe a la refine and the
c~oteILettes de uoIaiue. But the, English quality
Of the dinner was dlnicult to detect.
While we sat there not a soul entered the
place, Two walters served us. The second
came in rubbing his eyes and wasn't. awake by
compton even dozed at intervals. only to wake
up suddenly and resume her stare at the pass
high. very high. As l paid the check 1 said to
the waiter:
It's a little early for us, monsieur he anO
swered. Ours usually come later,
ideas had entertained on the subject Of Eng.
lish dining, but ! let it pass. As we came out
S %u 5hS we ao net m aH T Ud tP naa he OF m adns W IiS9IIri lived ff iS
Paris: He bowed. looked from the women TO
me with dth a curious exprefSs f6 and nd then he passed
Twill you tell me- he asked after a few mo:
ments. what in the world you were doing last
Eating your own dinner there is a strange
enough thing he answered. but why In the
name OF, creation did you have to drag your
MY family and 1 have made it a habit to
dine togetherfo for some years l replied. with g
tone Of sarcasm. / cannot see that should
k"F' II I were you | would ADOPT more humble
tone was the crushing answer. Nobody, but
taking dinner in the place that | saw you or
would eyer let any woman OF ms family go
e9fG the II place. hS ene WONDER %%ydiaiG you aS sot any 9n9 d fin9ras'' t
didn't, even know they cooked It there. Ineyer
thought it was opePnted before sb}ne O'clock CLOCK
pmatronized before two or three hours earlier.
that is reached. When the other cafes are
closed. when there Is no other place but home
crowd crawls up there and sits until daylight
shames them into getting under e9yeE; II Il
overs Of the better cafes. That's the place OF
all others IN Paris that you select to take your
II murmured something about the guide
book and its never having, misled me before
and a mildly apologize explanation OF my attl-
description. for there certainly was something
curious about the looks of the place. The
the CONSERVATION with which. our arrival was
greeted by the cashier and him. the freshly
Of what my friend had said about the real char
acter OF the place. But / determined to make Q
final attempt to re-estahlish myself.
What in the world does the place have an