The New York herald., 1920-12-06
At the landlords Table.

The way OF the committees which
would make restaurant and hotel liv-
ing cheaper seems always to lead to
the table OF the landlord. Here and
there are promises of reduced cost
for the best Of food. but they are In
yariably associated with what has so
long been known as the table d'h0te.
Whether it be dinner or luncheon that
issto be offered at lower price there
Is TO be little or no choice. Like the
traveller OF old, the guest must sit at
the landlords table.
Reductions In price that demand
such change are reactionary. This
is the only country in which the din
ner. for all has been dropped alto
gether out Of the plan Of most hotels.
The native, so-called American plan"
survived until a generation ago. When
it was abandoned the liberty OF the
hotel guest to eat Just what he wanted
became absolute. The cosmopolitaE
hotels In the capitals Of Europe arc
ms free from any domination Of the
landlords dinner as our own palatiai
inns. Bat to this day in the majority
Of the European hotels the table of
the landlord is the dinner of ma
jority of the patrons. Where luncheon
is offered at fixed price the same
condition obtains.
The separation between the New
York MOTEL and the table d'hotc seems
as complete as it well could be. The
demand for the privilege Of sharing
the landlords dinner Is By no means
Mt an end elsewhere. Indeed, his fare
is highly popular, but in the restau-
rants providing entertainment exclu-
sively of this kind rarely does the
guest find food Of the quality served
"by the card existing In Its best es-'
tate concurrently with the fixed dishes
OF the hosts table. There are not
many restaurants to-day that seek to
combine the two methods of sustain
iifg life.. 1T Is also true that the mosl
expensive establishments in this coun-
try as well as In Europe are those
which allow their visitors liberty Of
choice and no longer rely on the fixed
price meal.
Yet there was no lack of excellence
about the dinner of the American plan
IN its best days. Sunday at the old
st. Nicholas Hotel on Broadway was.
tho occasion of the greatest culinary
aclnelistrat ton of the week. II was
an afternoon affair.". Any scoffer nesd
but read in the Astor Library the bin
or fare of that remarkable meal,
which, beginning with oysters and
ending with cream candy. included
every delicacy of the season. Othcr
hostelries of the time were almost IS
famous, even If Sunday dinner ut
the st. Nicholas was regarded as an
Indispensable incident of visit to
the metropolis In the days when that
famous house was In Its glory.
There was no suggestion in the
meals on the old American plan of the
frugalIty thought to be one of the ad-
vantages Of the landlords table. It's
theory was that the preparation of u
few dishes prevented waste and made
for economy. But the tastes Of the
guests gradually led to the abandon
ment of this old system, which applied
rot only to dinner but TO the three
meals OF the day. The table d'h0tc
was brnished TO the restaurants, and
the hotc'a knew only the freest indi-
vidualism IN refreshment. Not until
the demand for lowered cost Of hotel
life was IL suggested that the public
should once more be urged to seek the
landlords table.