Los Angeles herald., 1906-06-16

washington Is the paradise OF places
to cat From the pushcart woman. who
follows the laborers about from one
building in course of construction to an
other, UP to the SWEETEST hotel or cafe,
variety In service and food exists with
out end. There are as many varieties
OF people as there are places to eat, and
each has his own individual idea of
what place to eat should be.
First, there is the place where one
waits upon himself and no checks are
given. The proprietor seemingly re-
poses childlike faith IN the honesty of
his customers. AS matter of fact, he
does nothing OF the kind. He simply
sells quick-lunch food, such as sand
wiches, pies, coffee, rolls, puddings, etc.,
and a rush comes around the noon hour
that would tax fifty walters we're il pos
sible for all to seat themselves. Hence
he is forced to dispense with walters
and checks and bear the reputation Of
placing implicit confidence in the hon
esty of human nature. In this kind of
place the hungry man helps himself to
whatever he sees, except coffee, Which
is drawn for him. He secures his own
knife, fork and plate, goes to anoth aP
place for his water, and by the time he
is supplied he has secured quite an
amount of exercise These places are
for those who like to hustle their food
into the inner man as something to get
out of sight as soon as possible. There
are number of this type in the city,
and they may be said to be the most
popular both on account Of the limited
time most people have at the noon hour
and on account of this great American
failing of bolting the food.
Then there is the English tea room.
It's English, you know. People VINO
patronze this type are quietly elegant
and desire to be calm and judicial bout
the matter of storing up energy in the
shape of food. Well, they are so con-
stituted Time hangs heavy in these
tea rooms. A tastefully dressed girl
whom you imagine is English. takes
your order of tea, eggs and a muffin and
disappears You wait. Still you wait,
and you make up your mind she has
gone. The old song, ut May Be for
Years, and 1t May be Forever" of
Kathleen Mavoureen, rings in your
ears. You grow ravenous, especially
as others are enjoying real food.
At this stage you are sorry you did
not go with the girl and help. You
would not refuse anything in the shape
of food. You would bite into anything
and not question, if only you could find
something to bite.
AT last she comes with that inn
perturbable English air and deposits
that wonderful muffin and the tea and
the eggs The tea is in pot, about
pint of it. When you bite that muf-
fin you are sorry that you did not order
half a dozen, but when you remember
the girls long absence you reconsider
your wish. All about you are men
and women having plenty of time on
their hands for lunch, patent attorneys,
lawyers. business men, ladies out shop
ping and others. The room Is done in
mission furniture and everything is
neat, tasteful and appetzng. Alto
gether, once you begin, you could eat
stalled OK in such surroundings. BY
the way, that waiting for the girl to
return is part of the English system
of dietetics. You see when you go into
the place you may be a little out of
sorts or tired. You decide upon a dish
and then maybe you wish you had
ordered something else After ten min
utes waiting for that girl you wouldn't
have anything else but what you
ordered-no, not if Delmonico could be
brought hither and a feast fit for Lu-
cullus spread before you. AS the wait
grows longer and you make up your
mind you will have that muffin and
eggs If you have to go into the kitchen
and demand them at the point of the
pistol So the stomach is aroused to
great activity, and the gastric juices
are simply hollering murder for food
Thus the madness has some method in
it-and who ever heard of a dyspeptic
Englishman?
Loud and boisterous eating and the
Rabelaison laugh would be looked upon
as sacrilege in such places. The Eng
lishman likes to eat leisurely, and the
IMMORTAL muffin and chops may be
found here fit to make one endure the
wait and consider himself well blessed
to get it in the end. There is a hushed
air about these places that is quietly
genteel and goes well with our pre-
tentions.
Then' there is the slap, bang. hur-
rah, knock down and drag out style
of eating and serving food. These
places have a man who stands before
window leading into the kitchen and
receives the orders from the walters
which he bawls out to the kitchen
artillery. Suppose you have ordered
coffee pork and beans The caller