Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-12
CHRlSTIANIA'S BIG KITCHEN
1T IS THE MODEL CHEAP RESTAU-
RANT OF THE WORLD.
Claims to Have Driven Bad Food Out
OF the Market, and Aids WITH
out PauperizinG.
CHRIsTIANIA, October, Il

ir 1857 by stock company of publlc-splrlt-
Cd men and women, who desired to provide
good dinner at a price which would come
within the reach of almost all And Tor
those who could not pay even this low price
the stock holders have an open heart and
many a meal is given for nothing in de-
serving cases Virtue has been its own
reward. for after five or six years of expe-
rience the kitchen not only able to sup
port itself. but pays now per cent dlVl-
denGs on the original capital, and has a
large and ever increasing reserve fund,
used for charity, and for the maintenance
of pension fund for its employees
The long, low. two-story house of dull
gray stone. the corner of the Tory
Gade. is well worth visit during the DIM
ner hours, which are from III 80 until
o'clock every day. A large billboard just
outside the entrance to the dining hails
shows the menus at different prices for the
day. There are two grades of dinner, one
at so ore or 13 cents, for those who eat
in the hail. at As ore, IL cents. for those
who carry 1t away to consume at nome,
while the cheaper menu costs 30 ore in the
hall go, or cents, when called for The
following is specimen weekday menu:
At so ore, or IL cents, in the hall; 49, or
IL cents, if called for
Barley Soup.
Meat balls or smoked salmon.
At 80 ore in the hall % cents; 30, or
cents, if called for:
Soup
Meat Stew or Hash Of Lungs.
A Sunday menu reads as follows:
At 30 ore and 40:
Bouillon With Meat Balls.
Boiled Beef With Radish Sauce or Brown
Sauce.
Meat Broth
Boiled Beef.
The Useful Extras.
Bread and potatoes are served with each
meal without extra charge.
The portions are most generous and the
food excellent in quality and well cooked
The dining halls two large rooms on
first and second floors with windows on two
Sides bright, airy and spotlessly clean,
with well rubbed floors and shining tables,
while whte-aproned mattresses hurry to
and fro with the smoking platters.
Where the dinners are given to those
who take them away to consume at home
the patrons wait in long lines by a broad
counter opening out of the great kitchen.
while two women supply their wants as
quickly as long practice and dexterity can
accomplish the task. The customers pro-
vide their own baskets and dishes and re-
ceive a check for the amount which they
pay at a desk by the door. In neither de-
partment is there any appearance Of char
ity' in any way. 1t Is all purely business
like; you pay your money and receive your
goods, as in any other restaurant And
the system of checks enables those who are
the paving customers without detection
something which cannot be overrated in
it's encouraging effects upon those whom
fortune has used hardly, and who are
obliged thus to ask for help.
Everyday Patrons.
Customers in the dining halls range from
working people of all descriptions up
through employees of shops and offices.
students artists. struggling professional
men. every one in fact. who appreciates
what il means to get good food cheapy
with nothing in the manner Of getting it
that would suggest discOmforJing depen-
tIence The kitchen has in this way not
only been of inestiInable beneht to count
less numbers, but it has succeeded In
crowding out the poorer class of cheap res
taurants where wretched food was offered
at what seemed low price, but when was
in reality far too high for the quality OF the
stuff. There are no houses OF TINS klhd IN
Christiania now, and those restaurants
which offer dinner at a little advance on
the Steam Kitchens prices are OF Soou
class and can be trusted.
The kitchen Is an immense square room
as unlike the ordinary kitchen OF large
eating establishment as can be- In place
OF the ordinary endless rows OF ranges,
there is but one stove of moderate size, and
occupying the place of honor in the room
are seven or eight immense caStiron caul-
drons holding each 100 gallons, nesting
amid network OF steam pipes. Inc bulK
Of the food is cooked i'll these cauldrons,
which are heated either directly or indi-
rectly by steam. as the case may require
Al the height of the days toll, when all
the cauldrons are in kissing, bubblng,
seething activity, and clouds of steam es
cape from the pipes, the most appetizng
odors arise from the giant cook-pots. Long
white scrubbed tables. rows of shining
saucepans for the baking and frying, which
is done at the one range, complete the
kitchen furniture. In another room just
across the court is the chopping machine
ting t,hl and
here too, the vegetables prepared for
the machine or the cauldron. A long row
of refrigerator closets, store rooms, linen
and china closets take up space on the
ground floor, and below the laundry and
the boilers for generating steam.
The Early Trials.
During the first year Of the Steam kitch-
ems existence it's manager had not learned
the routine necessary for SO large an estab-
ltshment, and 1t could not even support
itself. Then was started side issue of the
business which is now in most prosperous
condition and furnishes all the surplus for
reserve fund and dividends, while the cook
ing department merely pays its own ex-
penses. as no conjuncture of high or low
prices for raw material persuade the
shareholders to charge more for the dinner
or to give an inferior quality quantity
OF the food provided. The side branches
make and sell all kinds of force meat sau-
sage, etc. as well preserve fruits and
fruit juices, and this part of the business
soon outgrew the parent establishment and
now has its branch stores in various parts
of the city
The managers, besides the many meals q
dag given gratis, often furnish refreshments
for bazaars in aid of any worthy charity
and occasionally gift of money is donated
as last year, when 800 kronors (sI37 .au was
subscribed to the fund raised for the fami
Hes OF fishermen drowned la disaster to
The Christiania fishing fleet
Thousands of Meals
During the last year as many as 5000
meals day have been served either in
the dining halls or to customers to take
away. and the amount has never run he
low 1850 meals day for ten wears So
that an average of 2,4OO dinners a dav
cooked and served would not be an over
rating OF the facts. The establishment
er!p!oys an immense force OF servants in
Kitchen and dining hall, besides office as
slStahts, cashiers. bookkkeepers heads of
departments. sales people and drivers sta
Diemen and messengers. Those STUDYING
this matter of providing good food at rea-
s"Iabe cost for the inhabitants of great