How to Dine in Style: The Art of Entertaining, 1920

(Hardback)

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First published in 1920, How to Dine in Style opens a window onto the golden age of elegant dining, where the basic function of ingesting nourishment was elevated to a high social art, attended by intricate details and elaborate ritual. Starched linens, candles, white gloves, aperitifs, ball suppers, French menus and garden-parties - this is the world of the decadent classes who came to prominence in the post-war period. Published in an age where achieving a reputation for throwing recherche dinner parties was a route to international celebrity, this is a book about food as performance art. In it we catch tantalizing glimpses of astonishing excess such as the craze for eccentric venues for dinner parties, including the roof of a Chicago home (for amateur mountaineers), a lion's den, and a gondola in the Savoy. An engaging blend of practical advice and a catalogue of eccentricity, this book contains everything you need to know, from the fine art of composing a menu to the practicalities of the correct order and temperatures for serving wines.

Author Bio

In addition to The Whole Art of Dining, J. Rey was the author of Le Guide du Gourmet Table.