Unlike many books that delve into the history of restaurants and begin with France (or wayside taverns elsewhere), the academics who have written “Dining Out,” a compelling volume, start in the Bronze Age. Their definition of a restaurant is elastic, referring to places where strangers might have gathered to eat and drink, including the symposiums of ancient Greece. Long before social upheavals gave rise to the modern restaurant in France, there were what we would consider to be restaurants in 12th-century China; the authors cite a traveler’s memoir of a huge dumpling house with more than 50 ovens. (The influence of Chinese restaurants globally is significant.) The book discusses the economic and technological evolution of restaurants; restaurant service and hierarchy; tipping; the influence of transportation; sexism; chain restaurants; and food writing up to the present day. Discussion of the influence of social media, however, is lacking.
“Dining Out: A Global History of Restaurants” by Katie Rawson and Elliott Shore (Reaktion Books, $35).
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