Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1899-08-19
ODD FADs AT MEALS.
SOME QUEER THINGS THAT ARE NOT
60 in RESTAURANTS.

The Man Who Ate Cream ON His
Beefsteak and Seemed to Like II.
Butter ON Ice Cream and Pie and
the Lobster and Milk Combination.
A tall, thin man came into the restau-
rant, and new waiter showed him to
table and handed him bill of fare. The
man didn't even glance at the bill.
Bring a small steak, very rare, and
couple pitchers OF cream on the SIDE" he
said.
The waiter disappeared and in few
minutes came back with the steak, cup
of coffee and two pitchers Of alleged
cream. He ranged them in front of the
customer, and the latter glanced them
over. When his eye struck the cup Of
coffee, he scowled.
II didn't order no cotfee.'' he half yell
ed at the waiter.
We'll, sposed when you said two
pitchers of cr'-
Take it away"
The waiter put the cup Of coffee on his
tray and gathered up the two pitchers Of
cream and turned to retrace his steps to
the kitchen.
Bring them creams back here"
The waiter nearly tripped himself 40
he spun around. He meekly placed the
pitchers by the side of the steak without
a word and stood rooted to the spot. The
tall, thin customer picked up the two
pitchers and emptied the cream on his
steak. The walters eyes bulged out and
his chin dropped as the man began eat
ing his strangely seasoned steak. Just
then an old waiter nudged the new one
and called him to one side, warning him
with: Say. you better watch out, er the
old gent'll hop on you fer watchin him.
That must be new one on you-cream
on steak-huh? It's an old one around
here. His nobs there comes in here an
orders that same layout about every
other night.
We'll, l have seen more ridiculous COM
binations served to freak feeders in my
time than l could remember in a week.
lDftentimes the dishes served are eata-
bles that fairly fight with each other.
iOne day man came in and gave me an
order for broiled lobster and milk. Now,
that is combination that is simply aw-
I f,ll. l told the customer didn't want to
seem so impudent as to offer him advice
as to what he should eat, but l thought I
ought to tell him that lobster and milk
made bad team. He laughed, thanked
/ me, and told me to bring on my fractions
/ team and he would try to break 'em to
drive double. That was enough for me,
and brought them on. That man was
sick for three days. he came in after
! ward and told Inc all about it; said the
/ next time he'd take my advice.
II once saw an apparent granger
spread granulated sugar half an inch
hoo = -;$b
ident relish. l have seen that feat per-
formed only once. and will likely never
! see it again. Several times have had to
4 have strawberries warmed for a well
4 known Chicago business man. Yes, 1
know that is hard one to believe, but it
is a fact. Took the berries ont and put
them in the oven for few minutes-just
left them there until they We're soft and
utterly ruined for anybody except this
man. He said they were fine.
Yes, I've seen a few old eaters in my
time said the waiter. Nearly every
day man comes in here who eats moth.
ing but a whole mince pie for his lunch
con. Some people think it would require
man with a copper lined stomach to
digest that kind of luncheon every day,
but SO far my mince pie man is holding
up beautifully. Another regular custom
err takes honey and rolls and nothing else
! for breakfast every morning. He says it
is the hest and most wholesome break
fast he has ever tried, and that he is go-
ing to keep it up as long as it agrees with
him. One of the queerest things to me is
the way people take acidulous things
with dishes largely or almost wholly
milk. 1 have seen people eat pickles with
ice cream time and again. Frequently
people put vinegar in their oyster stews
and then complain that the milk is sour.
1 have often seen customers make use
of butter in a way that would seem very
strange to most people. This is putting
butter in coffee. That has probabin been
done in every restaurant and hotel dining
room in New York. 1t is a custom which
is quite common in Switzerland There
sweet butter. unsalted, is used But even
il there is little salt in the butter il
Z vastly improves the coffee for many peo.
pie. Then, once in awhile, we see diners
put butter in hot milk. suppose that is
to make the milk richer. l once saw q
man put butter on his ice cream, but !
Fl suppose he was just doing it for an ex-
pertinent. OF course buttering pie is not
rare by any means.
We see absurd things at the table ev-
cry day, but they come so thick and fast
and we have SO many other things to
think about that we don't remember
them" said the restaurant proprietor.
II recall few incidents that struck me
rather forcibly. Some months ago a
rather old lady used to come in here very
often in the evening and order Welsh
rarebit. She always brought in with her
! a little bag of peppermint lozenges, and
she ate the peppermint with her rarebit.
We used to have another regular GUS
toner who came in every day and order
ed oatmeal and hot buttermilk. He ate
the combination as If it were the best
thing in the world. Then there was IA
other customer who was fond of oatmeal
whom / saw on several occasions pour
catsup into the dish. | thing | should be
afraid of the effects of oatmeal and cat
sup. l saw one performance that fairly
made me gasp. A man came in and took
seat ut far off table, and, before a
waiter could get to him. he poured on,
half a glass of Worcestershire sauce and
drank it off at one gulp. On another oc
casion n fellow came in under the in1u
ence of liquor. He ordered only cup OF
coffee. When he got it. he poured out
half of the coffee and filed the cup or
with olive oil and drank the mixture. Ii
he was taking the oil to prevent liquor
inf uopco ha tool. lifflo too lot