The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-16
come OUT OF The
KITCHEN RUSSIA
CALLS TO WOMEN
Chain Restaurants Take
Cities Like Wildhre
RY ANlsE.

me 171a cents and 1t was a good din
ner. Borscht, nourishing cabbage
soup with meat, then round beef balls,
with kasha, carrots and cabbage. All
the bread could eat thrown in.
And what is a narpiet? 1t is a gov
eminent owned chain restaurant
which is attempting boldly to compete
with home cooking and so to ransom
women from drudgery in the very In
convenient kitchens Of Russia. The
literal translation Of its name means
peoples eating. There are hundreds
Of them already, sweeping like wild
fire thru the Soviet Republic.
saw the sign over an entrance to
court on the main street of Kiev
Back thru the court, up half flight
of stairs, came to tia large, light
room we'll filed with people. Working
people, most of them, from the obv.
ious looks of them. Tables covered
with white cloths, and again with
white paper.
Lenin Quotations on Wall.
AS was eating l looked up at the
signs on the wall. Every new gen.
eral dining room is another argument
for the social revolution" quotation
from Trotsky. And beside 1t these
words from Lenin: Homework is the
most unproductive and primitive work
which woman can do"
1t was evident that this narpiet was
founded on some general principle, so
l went back to the director to ask
about it. YES" he said, 1--WE plan to
compete with the home, so that the
man and wife and his whole family
will find it easier to eat with us. AT
present many women who are working
must come home and work for hours
in the evening. In many other fami-
lies, they eat only cold food all the
time because of this"
"WeII Fed Workers" Is Aim.
"Our first AIM" said the manager Of
narpiet, SIS to feed workers so that
they shall be well fed and contented.
Our next aim is to make it cheap. We
get low taxes and low rents from the
government, and cut our price so that
it just covers cost of materials and
wages, with little over for upkeep
and improvements. In this restaurant
we feed 500 people a day; but we
have only been running for three
months. In England there are restau-
rants that feed thousands a day, but
Russian workers are not used to eat
ing in public eating places.
There are now ten narpiets in
Kiev and two tea houses, in many
parts of the city"
But" l protested, yours is marked
Dining-Room No. on the sign, and
you have only been running three
months"
YES" he replied, "the others
started only two months or even one
month ago. We shall open several
more this coming month" He ex-
planned that they did not take profits
from one restaurant to open another,
as this would make prices too high
and unpopular. They got new capital
for each restaurant.
Meals 15c at Factory Narpiets.
"The workers all over town are ask
ing for Them" he said, and when
asked for a list of the various mar
piets, / found it was indeed a survey
of the working life Of Kiev. There
was one at the Red Arsenal, and one
at the electric station, and one near
the Telegraphers' Club, and one at the
Bolshevik steel factory, and one at
the Lenin iron works, and one at the
Red Army barracks, and one near
big shoe factory, and one at the Com
munist Party club. There was also
one near the famous big bridge which
was destroyed by the Polish invasion
and is now being rebuilt: this narpiei
serves the bridge workers. The two
tea-houses In the center Of town cater
to Office workers, serving tea, coffee,
cocoa, pastry, cold meats and various
lighter dishes.
"A new narpiet starts in this way:
me WOTkerS OF some lhClOIy SSHu US
a delegation saying that 1t Is hard to
go home for dinner and that they
want a narpiet. II there is room
available in the factory itself. this is
given to us free Of rent. Very little
capital is needed; this is subscribed
by different government trusts and de
partments and unions. The meals in
the factories cost only is cents, be.
cause we have no rent to pay"
I'VE intend to expand" he con
cluded. ito serve all the working class
districts. In Russia they have had
narpiets for year now. but they have
only begun in the Ukraine. They are
going like wildflre.'