Tea at Trianon: Dinner at Antoine's

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Dinner at Antoine's

From The New Orleans Advocate:

Antoine’s, the city’s oldest restaurant, marks a major milestone this year with its 175th anniversary. Through the course of 2015, the restaurant will host events and promotions tied to its long history and deep well of tradition, including special dishes resurrected from its recipe archive and an event paying tribute to the 1947 novel “Dinner at Antoine’s.

While celebrating its past, however, Antoine’s is also using the anniversary to introduce changes to the restaurant’s menu and marketing that are aimed squarely at the future and at its own survival.

Though hardly sweeping on their own, the changes are aligned with an ongoing campaign to make Antoine’s more accessible to more potential customers. It’s an effort that management views as essential for a huge and historic restaurant that embodies the traditional mode of old-line French Creole dining to compete in the rapidly-changing modern culinary scene.

“The most critical issue, the only thing that will keep us open in the next generation, is if we keep Antoine’s relevant to that next generation,” said Rick Blount, president and CEO of the restaurant started by his great, great grandfather Antoine Alciatore in 1840. “If my daughter’s friends don’t think Antoine’s is cool, then it won’t matter what else I do here. It won’t matter if nobody cares. So my goal is to make Antoine’s fun and relevant for the next generation.” (Read more.)