Restaurant History and Dining Out

 

According to Britannica.com, the first café is said to have opened in 1550 in Constantinople; during the 17th century cafés opened in Italy, France, Germany, and Englan d – Above, Jan Steen’s “Revelry at an Inn”

The Birth and Spread of Public Catering

Public consumption of food has always been both a private matter –when we are eating– and a collective event –when we are socializing. The atmosphere that is created leads to exchange a few words with those who are close, creating interpersonal relationships influenced by the type of accommodation where the food is offered, whether it be via a kiosk, tavern, or restaurant.

Today, one of the most popular catering establishments is the restaurant. It is an environment where one can sit at the table to eat outside the home for a fee. In the worst case, one is satisfied with what is there– good, bad, or, at best, experiencing a moment of intense artistic creation. More generally, the situation is a middle ground that combines business with pleasure in varying proportions, and quality with a modest price.

Origins of the Restaurant in Street Cooking

The roots of the cuisine date back to the borders between prehistory and history. Then the public catering service was born with markets and fairs that forced farmers and artisans to leave their home for one or more days, and to feed themselves while they formed or maintained social relations of friendship or business.

The service offered by this type of public cuisine has grown and diversified at the same pace as urbanization, to which it has remained tied. Eating outside the home was already widespread among the Romans. Over time, it became increasingly important among the urban popular classes. Those who lived in the city had the need to feed themselves by buying food cooked in public places or from street vendors. Some examples of the most famous traditional Italian street food are: Sicilian arancine, raw Apulian seafood, Ascolana olives, Romagna piadina, Ligurian focaccia, Roman pork “porchetta.”

The Birth of the Modern Restaurant

France was the birthplace of “restaurants.” This birth dates back to the end of the 18th century, with the exception of the inns frequented by travelers and by street kitchens, where was it possible to have a meal served outside the home in Europe of the time. Essentially in the establishments offering alcoholic beverages (such as taverns) which, in addition to wine and beer, the main object of their trade, were offered simple and inexpensive dishes, prepared on the spot, or brought from a nearby food shop.

All these establishments made for a noisy, often inconvenient and sometimes quarrelsome conviviality, serve more “plebeian” style foods than elaborate dishes. To drink and meet friends in a refined setting, you have to go to the café, a kind of meeting place born in the previous century. – From  Taccuini Gastrosofici

Our newest contributor, Eva Sorribas Costantini, was born in Barcelona Spain, but currently lives in Rome Italy. She is a graduate of La Sapienza University of Rome, specializing in in the courses of Etiquette, Good Manners and Costume Paths, Ceremonial, Protocol and Institutional Etiquette. She has performed Basic and Advance courses in Etiquette and Good Manners at the Accademia Italiana Galateo in the city of Rome, and has studied British Etiquette, English Afternoon Tea, Social History of Tea and Colonial Drinks. She also worked in the luxury retail fashion sector in window dressing, image consultancy and fashion history. Her expertise is in the history of dress code and court dresses with a focus on the psychology of fashion, gender identity, body, image and symbolism of color.

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