Tea at Trianon: The Oldest Restaurant in Europe

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

Sunday, April 2, 2023

The Oldest Restaurant in Europe

I was able to enjoy a lunch of Hungarian goulash there in 1995. From Insider:

I knew from my first visit that St. Peter Stiftskulinarium isn't visible from the street. Its entrance is located in a tucked-away courtyard inside St. Peter's Abbey. As I neared the restaurant's location, I saw a beautiful church with a stunning bell tower, which is St. Peter's Church. St. Peter's Abbey, which houses the restaurant, is an extension of St. Peter's Church. The archway leads into a beautiful courtyard surrounded by an enormous pink and cream-colored fortress on all four sides. This building is St. Peter's Abbey and Monastery, and the restaurant is located inside.

The abbey and monastery were built into the Mönchsberg mountain during the 7th century. I didn't know this the first time I walked into the courtyard, so I was surprised to see what looked like rocky cliffs directly above it. Across the courtyard, I saw a turquoise plaque with the number 803, the year the restaurant was established. The walk across the courtyard to the restaurant felt suspenseful. It was hard to believe that I was entering a building that originated in the year 803. When I walked through the archway under the turquoise plaque, I was greeted by a friendly host who walked me to my table. (Read more.)