Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-01-03
New York's Big Hotel
Keepers Say That the
Gothamites Are Going
Back to the Frugal Re-
past.
NEW YORK. Saturday.

NEW YORK, Saturday.
~ ERHAPS it is the fear of govt or
s ass'i sas or 1 'Tss o vss
shadow Of the simple life is settling
down over New Yorl's gilded haunts
of the bon vivant. The Strasbourg
pate is losing its vogue. Hereafter
1t must tickle the palate of the dinner party
from up State" or some new-made West
ern millionaire anxious to eat all the good
things he has read about in novels dealing
with the doings of the aristocratic wealthy.
The dinner of many courses, Lucullian in
the quantity of its portions has lost favor.
The highly seasoned dishes are Stunned
and in their places is a regimen so simple
e dyspepsia tablets and pepsin chewing gum.
1t looks as If the epicures of New York
had reversed the policy of living to eat
and now are eating to live. Shades of
Brillat-Savarin. that such a thing could be!
The connoisseurs Of foods, they who min
lister to the Gotham appetite, explain it by
saying 1t is a process of evolution. New
York is getting used to its money, getting
accustomed to spending it, and has passed
the stage of caring to make a gaudy dis
play at the table. 1t no longer thinks it
the ''sweu thing to ''open wine" and
gorge itself with lobster. The long suffer
ing stomach has won final victory over
an undiscriminating appetite. 1t is the
conquest of elegant simplicity over the
''gilded age" of the table, a first cousin
to that same 'tgilded age" that ''blew its
money on horse hair sofas and wax
flowers under glass case.
us it really true?' asked a reporter
Oscar was in his Office at the Waldorf
when the momentous question was pro-
pounded. He knew its purport and asked
for no explanations
Yes, it is true" He did not say "only
too true" In fact he seemed rather
pleased.
LAS matter of fact" he went on, the
up to date diner out gives you the i'm
preston that all New York is dieting.
There is no question but that people eat
palmer food and that they do it from
choice. The patrons of the first class
cafes know they can have anything they
want to eat They are not bothered about
the expense. Most of them have travelled
widely and there is nothing in the line Of
cuisine the world over that they don't
know about. They have eaten the favor
lite dishes of a dozen countries and there
is hardly an article on the card with the
preparation and service of which they are
not thoroughly familiar. Consequently one
must view this return to simplicity as
purely voluntary
What phases has the reformation
taken? A great many. Perhaps the most
remarkable change hes in the fact that
much better hours are kept both for din
ners and after theatre suppers. 1 have
seen many dinners that lasted long after
midnight, and the supper parties frequent
ly did not break up until it was about
time for many good people to think about
what they would have for breakfast. Now
it is the exception for dinner to last
more than two hours, while the supper
parties dispense in time to get a good
nights rest.
There are fewer courses, also. Remem-
Der, I speak about a modest dinner party,
not formal banquet. We used to serve
about ten courses, while now there are
only five or six. The foods are more SIM
pie. People don't seem to care for as
many gravies and sauces. the compounds
of which are mysteries known only to the
chef.
''Of course this tendency toward simpler
foods-it might better be put simpler din
ners-neeessitates cutting out a great
many old time favorites. For one thing,
1 notice a growing disposition to abandon