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Restaurants:
A restaurant is a retail establishment that serves prepared food to customers. Service is generally for eating on premises, though the term has been used to describe take-out establishments and food delivery services. The term covers many types of venues and a diversity of styles of cuisine and service.
A restaurant owner is called a restaurateur; both words derive from the French verb restaurer, meaning to restore.
History of Restaurants:
China:
Food catering establishments which may be described as restaurants were known since the 11th century in Kaifeng, China's northern capital during the first half of the Song Dynasty (960–1279). With a population of over 1 million people, a culture of hospitality and a paper currency, Kaifeng was ripe for the development of restaurants. Probably growing out of the tea houses and taverns that catered to travellers, Kaifeng's restaurants blossomed into an industry catering to locals as well as people from other regions of China.
Restaurants catered to different styles of cuisine, price brackets, and religious requirements. Even within a single restaurant much choice was available, and people ordered what entree they wanted from written menus. An account from 1275 writes of Hangzhou, the capital city for the last half of the dynasty:
"The people of Hangzhou are very difficult to please. Hundreds of orders are given on all sides: this person wants something hot, another something cold, a third something tepid, a fourth something chilled; one wants cooked food, another raw, another chooses roast, another grill".
The restaurants in Hangzhou also catered to many northern Chinese who had fled south from Kaifeng during the Jurchen invasion of the 1120's, while it is also known that many restaurants were run by families formerly from Kaifeng.
Ma Yu Ching's Bucket Chicken House was established in Kaifeng in 1153 AD during the Jurchen-controlled Jin Dynasty (though documentation does not exist to prove continuous service) and is still serving up meals today.
Western World Development of Restaurants:
In the West, while inns and taverns were known from antiquity, these were establishments aimed at travellers, and in general locals would rarely eat there. Restaurants, as businesses dedicated to the serving of food, and where specific dishes are ordered by the guest and generally prepared according to this order, emerged only in the 18th century. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the Sobrino de Botin in Madrid, Spain is the oldest restaurant in existence today. It opened in 1725.
The term restaurant (from the French restaurer, to restore) first appeared in the 16th century, meaning "a food which restores", and referred specifically to a rich, highly flavoured soup. It was first applied to an eating establishment in around 1765, founded by a Parisian soup-seller named Boulanger. The first restaurant in the form that became standard (customers sitting down with individual portions at individual tables, selecting food from menus, during fixed opening hours) was the Grand Taverne de Londres (the "Great Tavern of London"), founded in Paris in 1782 by a man named Antoine Beauvilliers, a leading culinary writer and gastronomic authority who achieved a reputation as a successful restaurateur. He later wrote what became a standard cookbook, L'Art du cuisinier (1814).
Restaurants became commonplace in France after the French Revolution broke up catering guilds and forced the aristocracy to flee, leaving a retinue of servants with the skills to cook excellent food; whilst at the same time numerous provincials arrived in Paris with no family to cook for them. Restaurants were the means by which these two could be brought together — and the French tradition of dining out was born.
A leading restaurant of the Napoleonic era was the Véry, which was lavishly decorated and boasted a menu with extensive choices of soups, fish and meat dishes, and scores of side dishes. Balzac often dined there. Although absorbed by a neighbouring business in 1869, the resulting establishment Le Grand Véfour is still in business.
The restaurant described by Britannica as the most illustrious of all those in Paris in the 19th century was the Café Anglais (the "English coffee-shop") on the Boulevard des Italiens, showing for a second time the high regard that Parisians evidently had for London, England, and the English — at least when it came to naming their restaurants.
Restaurants then spread rapidly across the world, with the first in the United States (Jullien's Restarator) opening in Boston in 1794. Most however continued on the standard approach of providing a shared meal on the table to which customers would then help themselves (Service à la française, commonly called "family style" restaurants), something which encouraged them to eat rather quickly. Another formal style of dining, where waiters carry platters of food around the table and diners serve themselves, is known as Service à la russe, as it is said to have been introduced to France by the Russian Prince Kurakin in the 1810's, from where it spread rapidly to England and beyond. The familiar pattern of service where customers are given a plate with the food already arranged on it is called "American Service," though it surely did not originate in America.
Types of Restaurants:
Restaurants can be classified by whether they provide places to sit, whether they are served by wait-staff and the quality of the service, the formality of the atmosphere, and the price range.
Historically, restaurant referred only to places which provide tables where one sits down to eat the meal, typically served by wait-staff. Following the rise of fast food and take-out restaurants, a retronym for the older "standard" restaurant was created, sit-down restaurant. Most commonly, "sit-down restaurant" refers to a casual dining restaurant with table service rather than a fast-food restaurant where one orders food at a counter. Sit-down restaurants are often further categorized as "family-style" or "formal".
In British English, the term restaurant almost always means an eating establishment with table service, so the "sit-down" qualification is not usually necessary. Fast food and takeaway (takeout) outlets with counter service are not normally referred to as restaurants.
Fast-Food Restaurants:
Emphasize speed of service and low cost over all other considerations. A common feature of newer fast-food restaurants that distinguishes them from traditional cafeteria is a lack of cutlery or crockery; the customer is expected to eat the food directly from the disposable container it was served in using their fingers.
In the United States, fast-food restaurants have become so widespread that the traditional standard type is now sometimes referred to as a sit-down restaurant (a retronym). Despite this terminology, most fast-food restaurants offer some form of seating for diners to eat on-site, albeit in a utilitarian atmosphere.
There are various types of fast-food restaurants:
1. Patrons collect food from a counter and pays, then sits down and starts eating (as in a self-service restaurant or cafeteria).
a. Patrons collect ready portions.
b. Patrons serves themself from containers.
c. Patrons are served at the counter.
Patrons first pays at the cash desk, collects a ticket and then goes to the food counter, where one gets the food in exchange for the ticket.
2. Patrons order at the counter; after preparation the food is brought to one's table; paying may be on ordering or after eating.
3. Drive-through is a type of fast-food restaurant without seating; diners receive their food in their cars and drive away to eat.
Most fast-food restaurants offer take-out: ready-to-eat hot food in disposable packaging for the customer to eat off-site.
Cafeterias:
A cafeteria is a restaurant serving mostly ready-cooked food arranged behind a food-serving counter. There is little or no table service. Typically, a patron takes a tray and pushes it along a track in front of the counter. Depending on the establishment, servings may be ordered from attendants, selected as ready-made portions already on plates, or self-serve their own portions. In some establishments a few items, such as steaks, may be ordered specially prepared from the attendants. The patron waits for those items to be prepared or is given a number and they are brought to the table. Beverages may be filled from self-service dispensers or ordered from the attendants. At the end of the line a cashier rings up the purchases. At some self-service cafeterias, purchases are priced by weight, rather than by individual item.The trays are taken to a table to eat. Institutional cafeterias may have common tables, but upscale cafeterias provide individual tables as in sit-down restaurants. Upscale cafeterias have traditional cutlery and crockery, and some have servers to carry the trays from the line to the patrons' tables, and/or bus the empty trays and used dishes.
A cafeteria differs from a "fast food" restaurant in that it will have a wider variety of prepared foods. For example, it may have a variety of roasts (beef, ham, turkey) ready for carving by a server, as well as other cooked entrées, rather than simply an offering of hamburgers or fried chicken.
Casual Restaurants:
Casual Dining:
A restaurant that serves moderately-priced food in a casual atmosphere. Except for buffet-style restaurants, casual dining restaurants typically provide table service. Casual dining comprises a market segment between fast food establishments and fine dining restaurants.
Family-style restaurant is often a synonym for a casual-dining restaurant, particularly used for chains such as Denny's and IHOP that serve mild breakfast-style foods around the clock. A diner is a specific casual-dining restaurant in the United States that emphasize traditional food such as hamburgers and sandwiches.
Fast Casual-Dining Restaurants:
A fast casual restaurant is similar to a fast-food restaurant in that it does not offer full table service, but promises a somewhat higher quality of food and atmosphere. Average prices charged are higher than fast-food prices and non-disposable plates and cutlery are usually offered. This category is a growing concept that fills the space between fast food and casual dining.
Counter service accompanied by handmade food (often visible via an open kitchen) is typical. Alcohol may be served. Dishes like steak, which require experience on the part of the cook to get right, may be offered. The menu is usually limited to an extended over-counter display, and options in the way the food is prepared are emphasized. Many fast casual-dining restaurants are marketed as health-conscious: healthful items may have a larger than normal portion of the menu and high-quality ingredients such as free-range chicken and freshly made salsas may be advertised. Overall, the quality of the food is presented as much higher than conventional factory-made fast food. An obvious ethnic theme may or may not be present in the menu.
The moderate volume music and nontraditional decor pioneered by Starbucks are fully embraced by fast casual restaurants with details such as couches and a fire place in some Panera Bread locations for example—approximately half of the customers eat in the establishment, compared with a quarter of fast food customers.
Café:
Cafés and coffee shops are informal restaurants offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches. Cafés offer table service. Many cafés are open for breakfast and serve full hot breakfasts. In some areas cafés offer outdoor seating.
Coffeehouses:
Casual restaurants without table service that emphasize coffee and other beverages; typically a limited selection of cold foods such as pastries and perhaps sandwiches are offered as well. Their distinguishing feature is that they allow patrons to relax and socialize on their premises for long periods of time without pressure to leave promptly after eating.
Pubs:
Mainly in the UK and other countries influenced by British culture, a pub (short for public house) is a bar that serves simple food fare. Traditionally, pubs were primarily drinking establishments with food in a decidedly secondary position, whereas the modern pub business relies on food as well, to the point where gastropubs are known for their high-quality pub food. A typical pub has a large selection of beers and ales on tap.
Bistros and Brasserie:
In France, a brasserie is a café doubling as a restaurant and serving single dishes and other meals in a relaxed setting. A bistro is a familiar name for a café serving moderately priced simple meals in an unpretentious setting, especially in Paris; bistros have become increasingly popular with tourists. When used in English, the term bistro usually indicates either a fast casual-dining restaurant with a European-influenced menu or a cafés with a larger menu of food.
Family Style:
Family style restaurants" are restaurants that have a fixed menu and fixed price, usually with diners seated at a communal table such as on bench seats. More common in the 19th and early 20th century, they can still be found in rural communities, or as theme restaurants, or in vacation lodges. There is no menu to choose from, rather food is brought out in courses, usually with communal serving dishes, like at a family meal. Typical examples can include crabhouses, German-style beer halls, BBQ restaurants, hunting lodges. Some normal restaurants will mix elements of family style, such as a table salad or bread bowl that is included as part of the meal.
A more modern execution of this is big plates of food being delivered to the table and as above everyone helps themselves to as much or as little as they want. This is common with Chinese food.
In American usage, family-style restaurant is usually a synonym for a casual-dining restaurant.
Destination Restaurants:
A destination restaurant is one that has a strong enough appeal to draw customers from beyond its community.
Restaurant Chains:
A restaurant chain is a set of related restaurants, usually with the same name in many different locations either under shared corporate ownership (e.g., In-N-Out Burgers in the U.S.) or franchising agreements. Typically, the restaurants within a chain are built to a standard format and offer a standard menu. Fast food restaurants are the most common, but there are also midscale upscale establishments (T.G.I. Friday's, Ruby Tuesdays, Olive Garden etc.). Restaurant chains are often found near shopping malls and tourist areas.
The proliferation of chain restaurants (and other chain businesses) is becoming an increasingly controversial trend worldwide. A common concern is nation-wide homogenization of culture. Some people fear this assimilation into chains creates unimaginative cuisine appealing to the lowest common denominator of society, highly processed food shipped from a central location, frozen and meant only to be reheated and served by the restaurant staff, low wages often paid to employees of chain restaurants, and the furthering of suburban sprawl. In the U.S., a movement is building among communities and independent businesses opposing this trend.
Diners:
A prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially on Long Island; in New York City; in New Jersey, and other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout the US and in Canada. Some people apply the term not only to the prefabricated structures, but also to restaurants that serve cuisine similar to traditional diner cuisine even if they are located in more traditional types of buildings. Diners are characterized by a wide range of foods, mostly American, a casual atmosphere, a counter, and late operating hours.
Truck Stop Restaurants:
A commercial facility that provides fuel, parking and usually food and other services to long-haul trucks. Truck stops are usually located on or near a busy road and consist (at the very least) of a diesel grade fueling station with bays wide and tall enough for modern tractor/trailer rigs and have a large enough parking area to accommodate from five to over a hundred trucks or other heavy vehicles.
Restaurant Ratings or Guides:
Identify restaurants according to their quality, using various notations such as stars or other symbols, or numbers. Stars are a familiar and popular symbol, with ratings of one to four or five stars commonly used. Ratings appear in guidebooks as well as in the media, typically in newspapers, lifestyle magazines and webzines. Websites featuring consumer-written reviews and ratings are increasingly popular.
In addition, there are ratings given by public health agencies rating the level of sanitation practiced by an establishment. These ratings are given from a numerical scale, with 100 being a perfect score and points deducted for each violation, such as keeping food at the wrong temperature, roach/vermin/rodent infestation, failure to use NSF-certified equipment, or improper food storage. From that, a grade is often assigned.
Culinary Arts:
The art of cooking. The word "culinary" is defined as something related to, or connected with, cooking or kitchens. A culinarian is a person working in the culinary arts. A culinarian working in restaurants is commonly known as a cook or a chef. Culinary artists are responsible for skillfully preparing meals that are as pleasing to the palate as to the eye.Increasingly they are required to have a knowledge of the science of food and an understanding of diet and nutrition. They work primarily in restaurants, fast food franchises, delicatessens, hospitals and other institutions and corporations. Kitchen conditions vary depending on the type of restaurant.
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