In the Restaurant

'A playful story, most entertaining, and wonderfully documented' - Ferran Adriá, Head Chef of elBulli

'Fascinating, multi-layered, audacious and unique' - Russell Norman, author of Polpo

The restaurant is where we go to celebrate, to indulge, to show off - or, sometimes, just because we're hungry. But these temples of gastronomy hide countless stories.

This is the tale of the restaurant in all its guises, from the first formal establishments in eighteenth-century Paris serving 'restorative' bouillon, to today's new Nordic cuisine, via grand Viennese cafés and humble fast food joints. Here are tales of cooks who spend hours arranging rose petals for Michelin stars, of the university that teaches the consistency of the perfect shake, of the lunch counter that sparked a protest movement, of the writers - from Proust to George Orwell - who have been inspired or outraged by the restaurant's secrets.

As this dazzlingly entertaining, eye-opening book shows, the restaurant it where performance, fashion, commerce, ritual, class, work and desire all come together. Through its windows, we can glimpse the world.

„O poveste jucausa, cea mai distractiva si minunat documentata” - Ferran Adriá, sef de bucatar al elBulli „Fascinant, cu mai multe straturi, indraznet si unic” - Russell Norman, autorul Polpo Restaurantul este locul unde mergem sa sarbatorim, sa ne rasfatam, sa arata-te - sau, uneori, doar pentru ca ne este foame. Dar aceste temple ale gastronomiei ascund nenumarate povesti. Aceasta este povestea restaurantului in toate aspectele sale, de la primele unitati formale din Parisul secolului al XVIII-lea care servesc bulion „restaurator”, pana la noua bucatarie nordica de astazi, prin marile cafenele vieneze si umilul post articulatii alimentare.