The French Origins of the Restaurant: The 1802 Menu of Antoine Beauvilliers, Restaurateur

It is generally agreed that the modern restaurant had its beginnings in Paris in the mid to late 18th century. Among these early restaurateurs was Antoine Beauvilliers, who ran a renowned restaurant in the years prior to and following the French Revolution. This talk will explore the early history of restaurants and showcase materials relating to Beauvilliers’ restaurant and its celebrity chef, including a rare surviving 1802 menu, his two-volume 1814 cookbook, and an 1803 sketch of the experience of eating a meal at the restaurant by an Englishman who frequented it both pre- and post- Revolution.