Evening star., 1902-01-25

No entree? No salad9 No cheesef No
frglty smiling after each cold inquiry.
Yet there have always been regular cus-
toners or the Cafe Anglais and the Maison
Ooree breakfasting for francs 60," an
oia pouievardier remarked apropos Of this.
But how did they manage it?''
Anyone can do It," he replied There IL
no order, In any good restaurant, not to
serve a single dish or two to any well
dressed person The dishes are always
large, ano certain OF them cannot be mark
ed up beyond, say, two francs nifty. All
You have to do is to choose one OF the
cheapest. The waiter will sniff a few times:
but In the end you Will be accepted for
what you area very modest client"
Take. Courage surely.
Only a few rare souls possessed the
courage to work up such cold tolerance
for themselves, a fact which explains the
existence OF 50 many OF those interme-
date restaurants and "bouiIlons" where
quality corresponds to price. Such rare
souls lunched daintily. but did nothing to
amenorate the condition OF the bouleVar-
dier who might be hurried. No, the work
has been the work OF the American food
tide that ebbs and flows around the Place
de rOpera
These Americans, congested In the opera
quarter always hurried often hungry,
nave ever blandly ignored the sacred
claims OF hors-d' oeuvre, entree entremet
and dessert. When they desired fish. they
often refused meat. They took salad only
when they desired II for itself They regu-
larry demanded vegetables with their meat,
refusing TO make a special course OF each
now these Americans were always we'll
dressed, possessed OF money and strong
wiI-power. Above all, they were very
numerous II took a long time, certainly.
around the Place de rOpera the struggle
mas been going on for years. Although the
american came OF victorious in every IN
aividual engagement, the Paris restaurant
ina gs, n-Fal
the principle. ~
The exposition summer marked the great
change. For almost half a century the res
taurant OF the Cafe de la Paix had heen
among the foremost 10 maintaIn ar5s,o-
cratic restaurant traditions. From its no.
sition on the Place de rOpera IL had long
oorne the brunt OF the American attack
upon them. To individuals IL had already
yielded. Now il yielded up the princinIe as
We'll And why .not2 II the customer who
mas time to eat only one dish or two dishes
pays tne price asked for them, is It not
good business to let him have them2 Nav
not the total profits on q hundred small or
aers become equal to the profits on twenty
large ones? "
The extraordinary success of the new res
taurant rooms of the Cafe de la Paix was
at nrst hidden from view ir the vast sxno-
sltion crowd. Parisians saw that great
space along the boulevard, which had been
once all care proper, transformed to res
taurant uses. They said to themselves. II,
Is the exposition summer" The great
tnrong OF tourists who filed up its tables
accepted the new style service willingly but
without surprise. The hurried bouleyardiar
found 1t boon and wondered II II would
last. indeed, 1t was only with the passing
OF the exposition that the boulevard itself
walked to the fact that here was a new
kind of restaurant. One block up the bo,I-
ieVard, however. the great rival of the Cafe
oe Ia talx-the Grand Cafe-had realized II
fully. "
The Great Change Now.
with these two great cafes transformed
the boulevardier's breakfast has entered a
new period. The Transformation is a re-
markable one. 1t seems only yesterday that
their immense cafe spaces were empty at
lunch time. Here and there a drowsy
waiter nodded over one of a hundred unoc-
cupied tables. No cloths were ever spread
upon those tables. Toward pm. they be-
San nlllng. At 3 p.m.-the abs,nthe hour
tney were hlled up to everflowing Mean
While at one conrer OF each, cut off from
the great cafe proper, there existed in great
dignity the restaurant of the cafe. reigned
over by Its old-style, confidential maitre
d'hotel
Now these great cafe halls at lunch time
gieam with white tablecioths They are
packed-not with hustlng throngs, but with
tnrongs of men who lose no time You can
order one dish and expect to have II served
with promptness and politeness. / have
just had one OF them-no matter which-e
francs % centimes, real tenderloin real
tols-gras, done in the grand style" while
no maitre d'hotel sniffed: mo hors a.
oeuvre? No potage? No fish? No entreuet?
No fruit?" Decidedly. the boulevard has
changed. STERLING HEILIG.