The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-08-08
ALL ABOUT FRICASSEFD CHICKEN
OVER A PURELY CULINARY
QUESTION
Chef Lindsay and Head Waiter Mo-
line Mix Up, Owing to the Pecu-
liar Order Given by One of the
Guests.


liar Order Given by One of the
Guests.
The Epfcurean taste of guest at the
Albion apartments, SeIby and Western
avenues resulted in a sanguinary duel
between the chef and the head waiter
during the 6 o'clock dinner last evening
and precipitated a panic among the
diners. When quiet was restored Head
waiter Moline had several bad cuts about
the head that necessitated his removal
to the city hospital, while Chef John
Lindsay was taken to the Rondo station
on the charge of assault
The trouble all arose over the question
as to whether or not fricasseed chicken
can be served without gravy. The head
waiter thought it could and the chef de-
clared it could not. The headwaiter said
a guest had ordered it without gravy any
| now and he had to have it. The chef de-
clared that if this was the case the guest
| had ordered something new to him in the
culinary line as all of the fricasseed
chicken he had ever put up before had
| gravy with 1t, in fact that gravy was
the essential part of the fricassee and
part Of the dish without the other The
head waiter disliked to take this kind
or reply back to the waiting guest and
tried to convince the chef that piece of
chicken out of a fr1cassee was fricasseed
chicken without gravy but the chef
wouldn't see 1t this way. He knew what
frtcasseed chicken was. he said without
any headwaiter with a spike-tailed coat
debating to him. The bill of fare set
forth that one Of the articles for dinner
was frtcasseed chicken and he was
ready to serve any one with this tooth
some dish. but when some idiosyncrasy
led guest to order an unheard of dish
he had to pass. There wasn't any way
to separate the chicken from the gravy,
the chef maintained, and still have fri
casseed chicken so he. opined the wait
ing guest would have to scan the bill
of fare again.
The chefs obstinacy angered the head
waiter. Guests were supposed to have
what they wanted and he told the chef
so. In fact he declared that he must
have the fr1casseed chicken without the
gravy If he had to get 1t himself This
was too much No self respecting chef
at swell hotel could tolerate a head
waiter meddling about the pots and
pans, rescuing a chicken wing from a
boiling kettle. The chef said there. WASH t
any fricassee without the gravy and re-
marked that no head waiter better go
about trying to find any. The head
| waiter held q consultation with the sec
ond cook. The second cook could not
help him. 1t was pre-eminently the
| prerogative Of the chef to serve the din
could not cut in. The head waiter was
desperate. He eyed the. receptacle filed
| with steaming fricassee and espted a
tempting morsel which he thought would
just suit the eXpectant guest. 1t was
like crossing the dead line, however,
when he started toward the pot. The
chef seized a cleaver and stood ready
to defend the fricassee. In some way the
head waiter got hold Of d big carving
knife. Then the trouble began.
| Just how the men got together or who
| struck the first blow is matter Of con-
lecture, but in a moment both were jab-
bIng and hacking away at each other
with vengeance. The housekeeper hap
pened at this juncture to come into the
kitchen. With a frightened scream that
rang through the lower floor of the
building she turned and fed through the
dining room. calling for help. This
stampeded the people at the tables and
the women fled precipitately from the
room, followed by some of the more ap-
prehensive men. Meantime the fight In
the kitchen was going merr1ly on, The
| cledVer gave the cneI a Sndue the pest
Of the encounter, however, and he landed
Moline three or four vicious blows with
the sharp weapon. Moline did the best
| he could to get in the game with the
| carving knife but only succeeded in
| punching the chef with the handle.
| Finally some thought there might be a
| policeman near by and ran outside look
| ing for an officer to stop the fight A
blue coat was not far off and, rushing
! into the kitchen, managed to. separate the
belligerents before the proper method Of
serving fricasseed chicken had been
fully determined. If evidence OF might
was evidence of right. however, Chef
Lindsay seemed to have all but estab-
| ished that there Is no such dish as fri
| casseed chicken without gravy.
After the colored man had been taken
away the guests returned and finished
| their interrupted meal in peace. Moline
| was taken to the city hospital, where it
was said that his injuries are not dan
gerous. Lindsay was locked up on the
| charge of assault.
l