Cancelled: J. Weintraub on Eugène Briffault's "Paris à Table: 1846"
PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. WE HOPE TO RESCHEDULE FOR A LATER DATE AND APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.
"In its vivid evocation of daily life, Paris à Table is pure delight, equal parts wit and social commentary. J. Weintraub eloquently situates Briffault's work within the canon of French gastronomy, and his footnotes alone offer a lesson in culinary history. By the end of this charming book we must concur with Briffault: 'When Paris sits down at the table, the entire world stirs." -- Darra Goldstein, Founding Editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture
"A fascinating book for readers interested in cultural, social, and food history."--Library Journal
J. Weintraub discusses his translation of Briffault's Paris à Table. A Q/A and signing will follow the discussion.
At the Co-op
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About the book: Described by Le Monde as "the richest view of Balzac's time seen from the table," Paris à Table: 1846 is an essential text in the history of gastronomy, along with Brillat-Savarin's The Physiology of Taste and Dumas's Dictionary of Cuisine.
Its author, Eugène Briffault, was well-known in his day as a theater critic and chronicler of contemporary Paris, but also as a bon-vivant, celebrated for his ability to quaff a bell jar full of champagne in a single draft and well-qualified to write authoritatively about the culinary culture of Paris. Focusing on the manners and customs of the dining scene, Briffault takes readers from the opulence of a meal at the Rothschilds' through every social stratum down to the student on the Left Bank and the laborer eating on the streets. He surveys the restaurants of the previous generation and his own--from the most elegant to the lowest dive--along with the eating habits of the bourgeoisie, the importance and variety of banquets, the institutional meal, and even the plight of "people who do not dine," artists and intellectuals who fell on hungry times. He records the specialties, the décor, the patrons, and the restaurateurs and their waiters. A fine storyteller, Briffault collected culinary anecdotes, from the tantrums of a king deprived of his spinach to the tragedy of "the friendliest pig that was ever seen." The volume includes the humorous drawings of the caricaturist Bertall that cleverly reinforce the witty and ironic tone of the text. Along with J. Weintraub's introduction--which provides the first modern biography of the author and analyzes the place of Paris à Table in the literary culture of the time--the text is copiously annotated, acquainting readers with the events and characters that enliven the narrative.
Paris à Table provides a delightful and delectable entryway to Briffault's Paris, the city Walter Benjamin characterized as "the capital of the nineteenth century."
About the translator: J. Weintraub is a writer, dramatist, poet, and translator based in Chicago. He holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Chicago