The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-31
THE ART OF DINING
" M sANTI-STEAK LECTURE BY 4 HEAD WAITER.
Saw People Know How to Order n Dinner. He Complnins--WiIi Eat y Turkey, NcgIecting Deiicaciss of Sea-

4 Dinner. He Complains--WiIl Ea " Eurkey, NogIccting Delicaciss of Sea
 ..
 ery few people really know how tc
 f dinner" said head waiter wh' a)become famous by the choice menui |1ich he selects for the patrons of the GSslionable dining room over which he 6tesides. And then, how many there Hre who, not knowing what to choose VIII neglect to get the advice of the waiter who knows exactly what the Kitchen holds that is especially good on Int particular occasion.
 For Kitchens have their secrets, and Hs of the oldest chefs in New York ed to have a telephone at his desk 6necting him with the dining room, {pugh which he imparted valuable in- fnation to the waiter ordering for 7fne special party.
 fxt Is when entertaining guests that Average man is most in doubt. He |iS5w what he wishes himself but he fnrally prefers to consult the tastes I'M guests.
 8Tnvariably he founders; they hold IF their preferences and frequently
 Will see whole party gratefully 3lnR to the eliminating choice Of
 k. Steak, always steak, with all the TT fish and game to choose from. It jliful!
 9f course, the man who knows does
 do this. He has learned that the f&st plan Is to consult with the head !5f he has been busy with his stocks s bonds or his office affairs all day ll1lA not had much time to dwell on
 dainty foods that are in market
 American man who has not lived F6ad rather disdains this nicety of |l11ary Knowledge. But even when he SWs and gives any thought to the kfer. if he be wise he still ascertains
 may be in the larder in it's per The love of the American man for feteAk has grown to be the despair fhoSe who have gradually watched
 gastronomic progress of the na-
 But steak still remains the one
 needful to thousands of Amerl-
 iers S65 nights in the year. < ten to one they have it for
 Last also. Yes, it is a fact. We
 know the peculiarities of the ap-
 of people and not, in a place
 Ms, of the working class, but of
 Zwho can afford to pay for what
 &ts.
 they will come to places famed a]eir game, their French and 1tal- 3ishes that have been praised by < NJ md After going carefully over the flley will look up smilingly and fa nice steak and see that it is not rare!' And few of our thoroughly mplished French chefs are at their In broiling steak.
 ft, IS this lack of culinary knowledge fo selection that makes cur foreign shote so popular that most of
 heAd walters in town are antici- E1ie going into the business when Y have sufficient capital.
 tVery night these restaurants are I11d ito the doors with groups of Sre who have the troublesome ques-
 Of what they are to eat answered T6em by bill or fare already chos- 5 Ind they go through it manfully | Start to finish. sighting nothing, unaware of what the dish may be
 lied beneath the sauce which GOV tf1e gastronomic education of the 4Yican is still sadly at fault in many {icu1ars. But the man who orders |fout consulting the head waiter is sure to come to grief. Iie head waiter has to assimilate all E Eperception of the gourmet with the Skrvatism of the artist. And as a ktf1e Americans who have become
 V. for knowing what to eat have
 it from their walters. have been chided gently at the 8 4Eheir over -fondness for steak
 Aually they have been rescued |
 blindness of steak eating to a
 bsion of better things. Once wear a man from the hide 4{lition that steak is the one
 lat man can live by you can 1
 
 @ moving turkey an epicurean 1
 5the American knows his beef |
 And he knows his turkey. He 1! s~ 4 by 1t and if you venture to sug- | Ahe superiority of the wild turkey | ' Ms other tame monstrosity he looks | bu with troubled eyes.
 He understands turkey as he has | Sla to know and to love it. He nev- { TIT 6lixes it's absurdity-its absolute 1 Gsqueness
 never grates on him. It took the
 perception of an Irishman to see I94irnor of the turkey as food when 47Ieclared Tt is square burrd. Too 1ii for one and not enough for two' 3f1f course I know it sounds like a flflce to attack the turkey, but it is 'frated, spectaclur, rather than of f fApicurean. Children like it and as grow up 1t means a sort of child
 Ideal, that they try to warm into <Hat Christmas and Thanksgiving. fhe turkey is surrounded with a IO of attendant dishes on these occa- iIs. stuffed with oysters or chestnuts q you worship it, as though, it were rlorseI, rare as pheasnts' tongue, 1 |en in reality it is the crudest bird in tame state that ever came to table i, often.
 when you consider how America has yanced in art within the last ten or .een years does it not seem odd that re advance is not made in gastro- mic matters? Take the furnishing 4 house decoration of twenty years and contrast the artist e dinig room