Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-11-11
NEW YORK MEALS.
Here's an Englishman Who Thinks
 Them Not Half Bad.

Here's an Englishman Who Thinks
 Them Not Half Bad.
 Tn New York the vagrant epicure can find the cooking of all countries, from Mexico to China-and every kind of food in every style, at every price. From the humble course din ner' for 25c (the equivalent of shil- ling) to the elaborate table d'hote at the best French restaurants for $1.50, Approximately 6s) from the eccentric steak dinners" eaten without knives or forks in the wine cellar, to the costly service at the fashionable roof gardens, the man who possesses the harmless mania for variety can make his choice. One may tnlk of the Eng fish as a people, and so of the Ger mans or French, but it is less safe to generalize about Americans. The country is too large, the characteris- tics of the inhabitants too varied.
 But the American hotel breakfast is representative of the general delight Tn good living. The length of the menu and the variety of dishes be- speak an appetite that in the early morning can relish meal little less substantial than dinner. The hotel breakfast begins with fruit-grape- fruit If 1t happens to be in season. the bitter sweetness of which seems designed by nature to awaken the ap- petite. And there is really a bewil- dering problem when next you are asked to choose among the cereals- from the old-fashioned oatmeal to all kinds of predigeste6 preparations. Cooked oysters in every style are of fered on the menu, and even in the best restaurants plate of oysters costs only a shilling. The choice of fish can be made from the long ljst- of all kinds unknown ill England, in cluding weakfish, bluefish and shad. with it's delicate roe. 1t must be out of compliment to English travellers that herring and haddock are import ed--you see them very seldom on an American breakfast table When boiled eggs are eaten they are opened by the waiter into a glass, no small quantity of butter being added--salt butter, for sweet butter is seldom served. With chops or steak the American, who never eats cold meats at breakfast, usually orders potatoes,> and the meal may be brought to a close with pancakes. These hot cakes, which are made of wheat, buelswheat, rice of cornmeal, are eat en, smothered in maple syrup--a de hcious treacle obtained from the sap of maple trees.
 The American drinks coffee for breakfast--such coffee as you may find in Paris but not in London--and that he does not prefer tea would need no other explanation than the failure to understand the art of mak- ing 1t.
 As for lunch, you can no more make the American into type and set him down at the meal than you can at breakfast. The free lunch is no longer an institution ill New York; although there are spread many cafes where side tables are spread with light refreshments from which any one may help himself. The rush lunch forN American business men offers the same dishes at the same prices as the regular restaurant, but you sit on Il high stool at narrow counter and are served with celerity that makes eight or ten minutes an ample time of allowance.
 The most popular downtown res much as invite you to be seated. You
 
 about with your cup of coffee or milk in your hand, selecting from the side tables the dishes you prefer. You keep your own copnt and pay at the door as you go out, the economy ef- kected by this simple manner of ser vice and accounting more than making up for occasional dishonesty or lapse ofHmemory on the part of patrons. ~ But American business men are by no means given over to this rush. lunch habit. Nothing could be more leisurely and luxurious than the ap- pearance of one of the great lunch clubs in New York during the noon hour At the Lawyers Club, the Merchants' Club, the Hardware Club. or any of a dozen similar institutions you will find the prominent business men of the city taking their ease at luncheon and resorting to the smok- ing room to glance at the papers or discuss business over their cofrce and cigars. These clubs have several points of advantage Occupying the upper floors Of the highest buildings in the city, the express elevators carry you in less than a minute high above the hurly-burly of the streets to an elevation from which you can look down on the panorama of the city the great rivers flowing into the bay and the distant ranges of the Orange Mountains.
 New hotels are constantly being built in New York, new restaurants opened, but it Is hard to find dining room that is not crowded to the point of overhowing from the hours of 6a80 to S.
 Let us enter one of these brilliant resorts. and take notice as we pass of the little touches ti1at distinguish such picture in New York from 8 ---.tl1la azninr rnnna in London. Gay