33 - Breakfasts in the 1970's

THE SHERRY-NETHERLAND, New York, The PLAZA ATHENEE, Paris, etc.

View of Manhatten at dawn, arriving  from the sea 2009

 

Ann came back from her first trip to the States in 1976 deliriously pro-New York.  She liked everything about it, even in those violent, dirty days of the Big Apple.

One of her prime discoveries was the New York City breakfast.  Not the diner variety (which I tend to prefer nowadays), but the kind you find in a grand hotel.

Ann around 1978

Someone had invited her to the Sherry-Netherland on 59^th Street, and breakfast there was an eye-opener.  At the time, the Sherry’s breakfast room was on a circular mezzanine overlooking the main lobby area;  Ann's description of watching the animated comings and goings below of luxury hotel life, while enjoying a tasty breakfast, conjured up a glamorous world to which I had never before given much thought.

 Back in Paris, she recounted how anyone could just walk into the best hotels in New York, have a cup of tea, a wander around, or even stay for scrambled eggs. We decided to try some of the Parisian hotels for our own little breakfast survey.  Hemingway got there first, but we liked to call it our moveable feast.

Other than in Anglo-Saxon countries, eggs and bacon are not the normal morning staple.  Except in the smarter hotels, that is, and there it is often a point of honor for the chef to sparkle his “English” at breakfast time.

We launched our outings with what was then still considered to be the best America had to export --the Hilton and the Sheraton.  They were both shamefully disappointing:  cold toast and heavy, lumpy eggs, it was so dismal that we almost abandoned the whole Paris breakfast project.

Me 1978, the year I quit smoking (photo Martin Woods)

Fortunately we persevered, and it was in this manner that I first started to learn about life in the Paris Palaces. 

The power breakfast had not yet arrived in the French capital, and our presence was sometimes looked upon as a real oddity.  No one seemed to waltz in from the street like us in those days.  We were sometimes greeted a little like Martians, but usually as welcomed ones.

Ann 1976

 It often took a bit of nerve walking in for breakfast.  There was never a direct street entrance, but at any rate I wanted the chance to explore the hotel lobbies, and we also always tried to reconnoiter the toilets for future information.

When inevitably asked for our room number, Ann (whose French was much more polished than mine) taught me a rather elegant expression that vaguely translated as “just passing through.”  I felt it gave me an extra bit of self-assurance.

It was thus that I got to know a little of the Bristol, the George V, Prince de Galles, Le Crillon, the Ritz and many others.  It was not cheap.  In the beginning nearly 40 years ago it cost close to eight dollars.  A lot of money in those days, but still cheaper than anything else up for sale at those hotels.

The Plaza Athenée's flower-bedded facade 2012

Of all our outings, only the Plaza Athénée let us down with an unwelcoming greeting.  We had arrived on a 14^th of July, the French national holiday, and the hotel and restaurant were packed.  We were already seated when an important Arab trade delegation began to pour in, taking every other available seat.

Franchot Tone (Google)

The staff was probably taken unawares, and a harried, crotchety old maitre D' (picture an older, belligerent Franchot Tone) asked for our room number.  When I tossed out my prepared catchphrase about “just passing through,” old Franchot Tone gave us such a condescending, withering glare that it took real wherewithal to survive it.

Long before we were even thinking of leaving, he was back with the check.  With a look of supreme exasperation, he virtually snapped his fingers in impatience.

 Ann and I both felt singularly unloved.  I ultimately wrote to the managing director about our failed outing, and we were invited back, compliments of the house.  This time the restaurant was almost empty, Franchot Tone was nowhere to be seen, and the food beyond reproach.

Still, it’s that earlier, less successful breakfast that I remember best!

 SIDEBAR:  Hotel dining rooms

Lunch at the Meurice. Paris

Ever since the arrival of Auguste Escoffier at the London Savoy around 1890, hotel dining rooms have held a special place in the world of fine cuisine. 

In recent years top hotels around the world have engaged in a fierce bidding war to hire the finest, award-winning chefs.  It has become a necessary note of prestige for a really fine hotel to engage a star in the kitchen.

Tea time at the Mount Nelson, Capetown

Pastry shop at the Savoy, London

Lunch at Apsleys in the Lanesborough Hotel, London

 In contrast to "normal" restaurants, grand hotels don't necessarily have to make a profit on their food.   It is but one of the many facets of a hotel's personality, designed to attract paying guests and to bolster the overall reputation of the establishment.

Sunday lunch at the Negresco, Nice

 Since the turn of the 21st century, hotels have increasingly counted on outside diners to both help balance the budget and to add a little diversity and ambiance.

Tea at the Mount Nelson, Capetown

As luxury  hotel dining rooms can be intimidating to many, management has devised a  number of ways to attract a more democratic (i.e. less rich) clientele.  In addition to the "power breakfast" --early morning, high powered business meetings over breakfast-- or the increasingly popular money-maker, the afternoon tea, there is the lunchtime "businessman's menu," and it is this that I have almost exclusively availed myself of.  

Here are a few memorable and photogenic dishes from hotel lunches in recent memory. 

 

Game pie at the Negresco

Fish dish with beets and spinach, Negresco

Shrimp in cream sauce, Negresco

Vanilla soufflé and ice cream at the London Ritz

Mount Nelson tea buffet, Capetown

Olive-crusted lamb, The Lanesborough

Tempura di scampi at the Lanesborough

Scallops at l'Hotel, Paris

Chocolate cherry dessert, Le Meurice. Paris

Your input is welcomed:  hotel-musings@hotmail.fr

Next Friday:  "Remembering Diana Dors"

  [Photos are mine, unless otherwise credited]

CROSS REFERENCING … a look at other postings

Ann was also featured in blog No. 5 "Room without bath," 28 Sept., 2012; No. 20 "Decaffeinated Coffee in Hungarian?" 11 Jan. 2013, and No. 28 "Rue des Beaux-Arts."  The Sherry Neverland was the setting for part of blog No. 53 "Looking For Carlotta" 24 Jan. 2014  (to access, click on titles)