Dining out in Victorian style - Ritz and Escoffier

Lyricist WS Gilbert and composer Art­hur Sulliv­an, under the pa­t­ron­age of the enter­pr­ising impresario/ho­t­el comp­any president Ric­hard D'Oyly Carte, wanted the good times of Comic Opera to continue. With profits from “HMS Pinafore”, Richard d'Oyly Carte built the Savoy Theatre, opening its London doors in October 1881. The money must have been rolling in; “Mik­ado” was also hugely successful from 1885-7.

Ritz Hotel Paris, Place Vendome

opened 1898

Richard d'Oyly Carte wanted a hotel that would complement his amazing new theatre. The result was the Savoy Hotel, whose opening cerem­ony in 1889 was a major production in its own right. d'Oyly Carte wanted to make the Savoy the centre of cultural activity in London, to attract the elite of classy society and the arts. So he gave the Savoy Hotel every new tech­nol­ogical gizmo that had been invented eg full electric lighting and dozens of bathrooms. And he also wanted the very best men for his new project, in­c­l­uding Cesar Ritz.

Swiss Cesar Ritz (1850–1918) had already become a well established hotelier in France. Frenchman Auguste Es­cof­­fier (1846-1935) finished school and moved to Monte Carlo where he worked in various kitchens. But they had not worked together until 1888 when Ritz opened a restaurant with Escoffier in Baden-Baden.

Escoffier (left) and Ritz (right)

When the two were invited to London by Richard D'Oyly Carte to become the manager and chef of the new Savoy Hotel, they secured their positions in 1889. In fact Ritz brought in ALL his own team with him to Lond­on. With Escoffier in the kitchen and Ritz with the cust­omers, Britain found itself with a very elegant restaurant. The two men revolutionised dining out and changed the preferences of well heeled British citizens, as well as tourists to Britain from elsewhere. 

Ritz was determined to create a mixed-gender, Continental atmosphere to dining out. In Vienna, couples went to see music or theatre, then dined out together. In London, men had traditionally had eaten in all-male private clubs or they ate at home. So Ritz introduced orchestras to the din­ing room, extended the dining period, required his customers to wear evening dress and restricted unesc­orted women. The Savoy had successfully promoted itself as a meeting point for London society and as a world-class hotel.

By the 1890s, dining in hotels had been raised to an impressive standard by these two men; even today we use the word “ritzy” to mean elegant, ostentatious and fancy. And it should surprise no-one that the very sociable and elegant Prince of Wales told his friends that “Where Mr. Ritz goes, there I go.” Anybody who had enough money, leisure time and culture tried to patronise Ritz and Escoffier. Especially the nearly arrived middle classes.

Savoy Palm Room, London

Escoffier was a thinker and analyst, noting preparation procedures so that he could record reliable rules for food preparation in hotels. Thankfully Escoffier made his menus lighter and easier to digest. The courses were still more numerous than strictly necessary, but at least they were in a predictable order so that cus­tomers could plan their meals sensibly: soup, fish, mains with vege­table and salad, a light dessert and cheeses. And a diff­erent wine was opened with each course. Although we eat smaller, simpler meals now, the format is largely still as Escoffier laid it down.

I particular liked Auguste Escoffier’s organisation of workers in the kitchen. The kitchen workers had to be clean, quiet and gentlemanly; and they had to specialise in one food production area or another. Instead of every cook and undercook yelling at the top of his voice, Escoffier created the position of announcer, a man who took orders from service personnel and instructed the cooks on which foods had been ordered.

Then something went badly wrong. Ritz and Escoffier might have been sought by royalty and people in the know, but they suddenly lost their jobs at London’s Savoy Hotel in 1897 because of theft. Ritz left Britain, purchased an old palace in Paris and transformed it into his own luxury hotel. Ritz Hotel Paris, opened in June 1898 to a glittering reception, was to provide his rich clientele with utter refinement, including a bathroom for every suite. As I would have expect­ed, Ritz looked to Escoffier to organise his kitchens.

Carlton Hotel London, 
New Years Eve, 1907

The following year the two returned to London for another joint venture, at the Carlton Hotel where they worked together until Ritz finally retired. Escoffier remained and continued to innovate, as he had done at the Savoy. He developed a military-style brigade system for maximum efficiency, organising the kitchen into a strict hierarchy of authority, responsibility and function. The kitchen was divided into stations, one for sauces, one for pastries etc. Thus the various chefs ensured that all the dishes were served hot and in a timely fashion, under the watchful eye of the chef de cuisine.

Fortunately Escoffier wrote journal articles and books, one of which is a cookbook still used in professional kitchens everywhere, Le Guide Culinaire, first published in 1903.

In case anyone in Britain did not know how much fun the Savoy Hotel offered, The Illustrated London News provided News Years Eve party photos in January 1907.