The Birth of the Modern Restaurant

By the late 19th century the restaurants in Paris had become accepted centers of social life, accompanied by the elegant art of the menu card.— From “Food Mania... An extraordinary visual record of the art of food from kitchen garden to banqueting table,” 2001

Paris of the 1760s saw the birth of one facet of the modern world... The modern day restaurant

When traveling, lunches and dinners can be the most delightful of moments. Especially, if we allow ourselves to spend some time discovering the culinary particularities of the visited region. The chances are that we have all enjoyed these moments at restaurants, as we can find them in most places we visit, whether the place is a tourist destination or not. The fact is that restaurants are nowadays so commonplace, we can hardly picture ourselves in a world without them. However, it hasn’t always been the case. Did you know that the French Revolution deeply influenced the development of the restaurant as a major cultural practice, and made it nowadays a marker of world heritage?

Historically, inns and hotels have always provided meals for their guests, but it was related to hospitality and not on the culinary experience itself. Moreover, these were mostly taverns which were notoriously crowded, noisy, not very clean and they served food of dubious quality at large common tables. The first modern restaurant appeared in rue des Poulies in Paris in the 1760s, owned by Mr. Boulanger; he opened a place with his motto written on the top of it, “Venite ad me, omnes qui stomacho laboratis, et ego restaurabo vos” (“Come to me, you whose stomachs hurt, and I will restore you”). Mr Boulanger was serving healing “bouillons” to his guests, in order to cure their aches. This is why he created the word “restaurant,” which comes from the verb “se restaurer” (to restore), a place where you would find something to restore your strength. But quickly Boulanger adapted his place to the expectations of his clientele, giving birth to the modern restaurant and bringing three disruptive innovations.

The first was on the food itself. Indeed, the client could choose from a much larger selection of dishes, up to 250, of a higher quality. Also, it was possible to enjoy various types of food, from bouillons to meat, and vegetables to pastries, while taverns mostly proposed a daily meal. The concept of eating “à la carte” was born. The second innovation seems commonplace for us today: at Boulanger’s restaurant it was possible to be seated at an individual table, and no longer on collective benches, as was the case in inns and hotels. And finally, the restaurant displayed fixed pricing in advance. Thus the client was able to choose the table he wanted, be seated with the persons he had invited, eat the dishes of his choice and know how much he would have to pay for it. How innovative!

Very often disruptive innovations break the situation of well-established competitors. This was also the case at that time. The industry of the “traiteurs” (caterer) were the only ones allowed to serve dishes cooked in sauce, thus they decided to sue Boulanger, who won the trial. This affair had a major impact with enlightening the new concept of the restaurant, making it even more successful by attracting philosophers and intellectuals. Quickly, several competitors appeared. The most famous was “La Taverne de Londres” at the rue de Richelieu, held by Antoine de Beauvilliers, the chef of the Count of Provence, King Louis XVI’s brother. In a very delicate and refined environment, he invited his guests to eat like at the Court of Versailles. The wine was served by the bottle, according to the custom in of the time in London, which was fashionable at that time. “La Taverne de Londres” was the first grand restaurant, and remained the largest one in Paris for 20 years from 1782 without any rival. Joséphine de Beauharnais, the future Empress and wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, enjoyed dinners there. But the take off of the modern restaurants happened thanks to a major historical event... the French Revolution!

By the late 19th century the restaurants in Paris had become accepted centers of social life, accompanied by the elegant art of the menu card.— From “Food Mania... An extraordinary visual record of the art of food from kitchen garden to banqueting table,” 2001

Without a doubt, the French Revolution helped indirectly the development of this innovative dining trend. Before the Revolution, the profession of cook was almost exclusively dedicated to serve at the private mansions of the bourgeois and aristocrats. No chef was on his own. But during the French Revolution most of the nobility emigrated outside of France, leaving their cooks and domestic servants unemployed. In order to use their talents, many of them became restaurant owners. There were fewer than 100 restaurants before 1789, but 10 years later Paris had more than 1,000 of them. There were 3,000 restaurants by 1815. The competition became fierce, each place trying to make a difference by offering different styles and varieties of food, and also enhancing the quality. The trend went quickly abroad: the first restaurant in the United States opened in Boston in 1794. And slowly, the fashionable trend became a well-integrated habit, which went during the 19th century from an elitist custom to a well-popularised practice.

Another revolution, the industrial one, also deeply influenced the development of the modern restaurant. People from the countryside left their provinces in numbers to come to Paris to work in factories. They arrived in a city where they had no family to feed them, and no place to cook for themselves after the day’s work. Therefore, cheaper versions of the restaurant appeared, called “gargote” or “guinguette,” where it was possible to enjoy some basic meals at very low prices. The trend went on, and later, in Paris during the Second Empire (1853-1870), each neighborhood had a restaurant offering choices of food matching the tastes of the local population. This is why, in 1867, the “Almanach des étrangers à Paris” wrote, “Paris is the city in the world where people enjoy the most dining at restaurants.” The author also added “This is the city where you can taste the best cuisine if you are not paying too much attention to your expenses, but also the capital where you can get fed for very moderate prices”. In 1900 the Michelin guide was created to go with the development of automobiles as a common practice, giving for drivers a list of mechanics, doctors and maps for each listed cities. Some 20 years later, the guide also started to list restaurants, and gave its first stars in 1926 for the best tables. At the time, restaurants could be found around the world, and the success of the “restaurant” has not declined since.

The next time you travel, give a bit of thought to your ancestors, who 250 years ago could not choose their own food while traveling, and could thus face some difficulties to adapt local culinary customs. Nowadays, you can make your own choice, and it is no longer a luxury to enjoy a meal when traveling. In fact, one of the best things to do for the next Bastille Day celebrations, could be to enjoy a meal at a restaurant!

Etiquipedia contributor Guillaume Rué de Bernadac is the President & Founding Director of the luxury etiquette institution, Académie de Bernadac in Shanghai and Paris. He has been featured in Michelin Guide, L’Officiel, Global Times, The Guardian, M6, CNN, etc... Académie de Bernadac

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia