The evolution of the restaurant and foodservice industry has been driven by a combination of social, scientific, and physical advancements for many centuries. The following is a condensed overview of the history of restaurants specifically for Culiary students…. just the bits and pieces you REALLY need to know.
The Rise of Clubs – Ancient Greece
The people of ancient Greece rarely dined out, although they enjoyed the social aspect of dining and often got together for banquets. Private clubs, called lesche (LES-kee), sometimes offered food to members. But the early restaurant was called phatnai (FAAT-nay) and catered to travelers, traders, and visiting diplomats. It is most likely that travelers brought standard fare like grapes, olives, bread, dried fish, cheese, and wine with them and would share with one another, eating while reclining on couches with performances of music, poetry, and dance to enhance their experience.
Farming’s Growth-The Middle Ages
The end of the Roman Empire was the start of farming as we know it. When the victorious German tribes took Christianity back to Germany, their new faith led to two major changes in their way of life. First, it united Europe into one large church-state called Christendom. Second, it ended the view that gods and spirits inhabited the forest. The ancient Nordic myths included the beliefs that trees were sacred and could not be cut down and that diverting river water for agriculture would displease the gods of the rivers. With these fears dismissed, people began to clear large tracts of land, thus moving from a nomadic group dependent on hunting and foraging for food to an agrarian (or farming) society.
Spices, Cafes, Guilds, and Boulanger – The Renaissance through the French Revolution
In Renaissance Europe, noblemen instructed their cooks to use large amounts of exotic spices in their dishes as a way of showing off how wealthy they were. Because of their location on the Adriatic Sea, it was not long before merchants in Venice controlled the spice trade. They could easily get spices from India and sell them at very high prices to distributors headed north. Venice prospered as a seaport and bought and sold spices and other goods, trading with merchants bound for other destinations.
This expansion of world travel changed the mind-set of the artists and philosophers during the Renaissance. They adopted epicurean (ep-i-KYOO-ree-uhn) lifestyles-showing great appreciation for fine wine and food. While the majority of the population was unaffected by this renewed interest in all things Greek and Roman, it did much to create the food-preparation system we now call haute cuisine (hote kwee-ZEEN), an elaborate and refined system of food preparation.
International trade also greatly improved the European way of life. For example, Europeans were introduced to coffee from Africa. The first coffeehouse, or cafe, opened in 1650 in Oxford, England. The coffeehouses of that time were open, airy, and inviting. Bakers soon started selling pastries as well. Unlike taverns and ale houses, cafes welcomed women, and the coffee shop soon made it acceptable to eat in public.
Guilds were associations of people with similar interests or professions. They were organized during the reign of Louis XIV in France in an attempt to increase the state’s control over the economy. Each guild controlled the production of its specialties and could prevent others from making and selling the same items. Two of these guilds were the Chaine de Rotissieres (roasters) and the Chaine de Traiteurs (caterers). Cooking guilds like these established many of the professional standards and traditions that exist today.
In 1765 Paris, a humble soup vendor named Antoine Boulanger hung a sign above his shop that would change culinary history:
“Venite ad me omnes qui stomacho laboratis et ego vos restaurabo” (Come to me all who suffer from stomach pain and I will restore you).
His specialty was restorative broths called “restaurants” – healing soups that gave birth to our modern word for eating establishments. While ancient Romans and Chinese had public eateries centuries earlier, Boulanger’s innovative menu of restoring broths launched a dining revolution in France.
Despite the government’s attempt to end the political unrest, the French Revolution began. When the French Revolution was over, large numbers of cooks and other guild members found themselves unemployed. They followed Boulanger’s example and began opening restaurants of their own. Within 30 years, Paris had over 500 restaurants serving meals. Dining out on a large scale was born.
Inns-Colonial North America
The first Europeans to settle in North America were city dwellers poorly equipped for farming. As more people immigrated to the New World to find their fortunes or to escape religious persecution, cities along the East Coast grew. Boston and New York became major centers of trade. As early as 1634, an inn in Boston called Cole’s offered food and lodging to travelers. However, very few early colonial Americans ever traveled or dined out. Once they settled down, they rarely traveled more than 25 miles from their homes. When people did travel, they stayed at inns, often sleeping together in the same large room and even sharing a single bed. Not much care was given to the preparation of meals. If travelers arrived after dinner had been served, they would not eat.
From Cafeterias to Elegance-The Late 1800s
When American high society dined out, they did so in style. Entrepreneurs in New York during the Gilded Age (1870s to 1900) opened fancy restaurants, such as Delmonico’s and the Astor House, so that people could dine and be seen in elegant surroundings. Dinners of up to 18 courses were popular.
On the other side of the continent, California was in the middle of the gold rush. People poured into the area to claim their fortunes. With such a sudden growth in population, meeting the demand to feed so many at once was nearly impossible. Clever restaurateurs developed the cafeteria, an assembly-line process of serving food quickly and cheaply without the need for servers.
The Rise of Modern Restaurants-The Twentieth Century
By the turn of the century, employment in the United States was at an all-time high. More and more people went to work in new factories, stores, and office buildings. People were therefore eating out more, especially for lunch. After World War II, in the 1940s and 1950s, the quick-service segment of the restaurant industry grew quickly. The economy was growing quickly too, and more of the population now also owned cars. People began to stop for food more often during the day and as part of road trips. Entrepreneurs of the time began to look for ways to offer the food more quickly and at a cheaper cost to both them and their guests. Some even offered curb service-delivering the food directly to cars.
The Global Industry-Today and Beyond
The rapid growth of national chains since the 1970s has changed the face of the restaurant and foodservice industry. It has caused a major shift in how people look at food and the social context of food. “Eating out” has become almost as commonplace as eating at home-not just for special occasions or as a convenience. In the last few decades, lifestyles have moved steadily toward busier households that no longer have a dedicated daily food preparer.
Global connections via technology and the rapid growth of international trade have also allowed restaurant companies to grow even larger. Some of the most famous American restaurant brands can be found in countries on many continents.
At the same time, many guests have begun to expect local, sustainable options in their dining choices. So restaurants have also begun exploring how to offer menus and ingredients that satisfy these trends. The restaurant and foodservice industry is one that is often bound by tradition, but it must also be responsive to changes in the society it serves. It provides the familiar and comfortable, while also working to deliver innovation and adventure.
The restaurant of the twenty-first century does not differ from Boulanger’s 1765 restorante all that much… in the end, they both “restore” guests’ comfort. The goal is to provide guests with an opportunity to reenergize.