Restaurants That Changed America
Overview
The history of our nation’s restaurants reflects nothing less than the history of America itself. In this fascinating talk, food historian and professor, Paul Freedman, will chart the birth of our first restaurant, Delmonicoโsย in New York, the rise of our love of Chinese food through San Franciscoโs fabled The Mandarin, the richness of Italian food through Mamma Leoneโs, theย rise and fall of French haute cuisine through Henri Soulรฉโs Le Pavillon, and more, by using each restaurant to tell a wider story of race and class, immigration, and assimilation. He’ll even treat us to a scintillating history of the then-revolutionary Schrafftโs, a chain of convivial lunch spots that catered to women, and that bygone favorite, Howard Johnsonโs, which pioneeredย on-the-road diningโonly to be swept aside by McDonald’s.
Loved this subject. The presenter (Paul Freedman) was difficult to like.