I Like Reading
Ritz & Escoffier The Hottellier, The Chef, and The Rise of the Leisure Class
I recently finished reading a biography on César Ritz and Cher Auguste Escoffier and at the end, in the early 1920, or perhaps just before the 20s Ritz had died. From pushing himself too hard, way too long. Slowly, losing-his-mind-illness that he never recovered from after he just lost consciousness. A favored and befriended client of his for as long as Ritz had owned hotels was The Prince of Whales, who was then crowned King Edward VII after Queen Victoria died. It was still a thing in London where you couldn't party or celebrate literally until a specific date, to mourn the death of a monarch. And that day in June of 1901, that was set was also then the day they would crown the King. But he had to have an emergency appendicitis surgery (is that how you say it??) and it was postponed. They had all the preparations, all the flowers, and I tell you All the flowers, all the food, wine, the orchestra, all the rooms booked, and Window Time rented all out because the royal procession was to pass by the Carlton. And it was Edward's crowning, so several dinners hosted and holding large amounts of political figures all over the world filling the restaurant, which was also entirely booked, as always. But remember, not so recently. As no one was to excitedly entertain. It was so sudden, the surgery, Ritz had people waiting for the commencement in the dining room (there was a set time, as well as a set date). There were to be fireworks set off all over the city. It all had to be cancelled. Everything that Ritz had done to prepare the hotel- not the fireworks- he had to call. And cancel. And then a few weeks later he just collapsed. And he never could work again. And when Edward died, replaced with a George, he became what his wife described of him as a ghost. He died two years later. He was a brilliant man. He was over-the-top and always knew what everyone wanted, when they needed those accommodations. Such as the lady who "abolished butter" and was to be given dry toast in the mornings. The man who was almost seven feet tall and required a longer bed. The Chef kept notes as well. Making sure not to serve the same dish twice to a returning customer, serving renditions of ones they had loved, also keeping note of what they didn't really touch. He named dessert after women of both old money (royalty) and new money. Actresses and singers. It was their hotels, kicking into high gear once they hit London, that created the Leisure Class and changed the outlook of how women should behave in public. The Savoy was the firs restaurant to allow women to entertain without men. They also got to serve dinner on Sundays, which had never been allowed before. It was the war that forced the hotels to temporarily be turned into hospitals, and Ritz was dead by the time he saw it running wonderful and better than ever, this is the Carlton, there had been a lot of him selling all his previous hotels and then getting fired from another and he was just all over with hotels, but the Carlton was his as was the Ritz in Paris. And he never got to see them back up and wonderful like they were in 1925, when people were using the term Ritzy as a term for Luxury.
I recently finished reading a biography on César Ritz and Cher Auguste Escoffier and at the end, in the early 1920, or perhaps just before the 20s Ritz had died. From pushing himself too hard, way too long. Slowly, losing-his-mind-illness that he never recovered from after he just lost consciousness. A favored and befriended client of his for as long as Ritz had owned hotels was The Prince of Whales, who was then crowned King Edward VII after Queen Victoria died. It was still a thing in London where you couldn't party or celebrate literally until a specific date, to mourn the death of a monarch. And that day in June of 1901, that was set was also then the day they would crown the King. But he had to have an emergency appendicitis surgery (is that how you say it??) and it was postponed. They had all the preparations, all the flowers, and I tell you All the flowers, all the food, wine, the orchestra, all the rooms booked, and Window Time rented all out because the royal procession was to pass by the Carlton. And it was Edward's crowning, so several dinners hosted and holding large amounts of political figures all over the world filling the restaurant, which was also entirely booked, as always. But remember, not so recently. As no one was to excitedly entertain. It was so sudden, the surgery, Ritz had people waiting for the commencement in the dining room (there was a set time, as well as a set date). There were to be fireworks set off all over the city. It all had to be cancelled. Everything that Ritz had done to prepare the hotel- not the fireworks- he had to call. And cancel. And then a few weeks later he just collapsed. And he never could work again. And when Edward died, replaced with a George, he became what his wife described of him as a ghost. He died two years later. He was a brilliant man. He was over-the-top and always knew what everyone wanted, when they needed those accommodations. Such as the lady who "abolished butter" and was to be given dry toast in the mornings. The man who was almost seven feet tall and required a longer bed. The Chef kept notes as well. Making sure not to serve the same dish twice to a returning customer, serving renditions of ones they had loved, also keeping note of what they didn't really touch. He named dessert after women of both old money (royalty) and new money. Actresses and singers. It was their hotels, kicking into high gear once they hit London, that created the Leisure Class and changed the outlook of how women should behave in public. The Savoy was the firs restaurant to allow women to entertain without men. They also got to serve dinner on Sundays, which had never been allowed before. It was the war that forced the hotels to temporarily be turned into hospitals, and Ritz was dead by the time he saw it running wonderful and better than ever, this is the Carlton, there had been a lot of him selling all his previous hotels and then getting fired from another and he was just all over with hotels, but the Carlton was his as was the Ritz in Paris. And he never got to see them back up and wonderful like they were in 1925, when people were using the term Ritzy as a term for Luxury.
22-25, M
