History of Food Service Industry

History of Food Service Industry

Early History and Travel

  • The history of foodservice is closely linked to travel.
  • Merchants traveled for trade.
  • Religious pilgrimages required food and lodging at destinations.

Middle Ages

  • Foodservice began in the dining rooms of Roman posting houses and English inns and taverns.

The Canterbury Inn

  • The Canterbury Inn had a large kitchen (45 feet in diameter).
  • It provided food for monks and pilgrims visiting the abbey.

Royal Households of England

  • Royal households received many guests (150-200 daily), making foodservice a necessity.
  • Expenses were systematically recorded in the Northumberland Household Book, the first known record of scientific food cost accounting.

Industrial Revolution - Robert Owen

  • Robert Owen provided meals at nominal prices to improve working conditions in his mill.
  • His feeding program was successful and spread, earning him the title of father of modern industrial catering.

Florence Nightingale and Alexis Soyer

  • Florence Nightingale pioneered hospital foodservice during the Crimean War.
  • She efficiently managed meals for patients and is considered the first hospital dietitian.
  • Chef Alexis Soyer assisted her in establishing a hospital diet kitchen.

School Feeding Programs

  • Victor Hugo started the formal school feeding program in England.
  • American school feeding programs were patterned after Hugo's program.

Growth of Commercial Foodservice

  • Opportunities for travel increased, leading to the growth of commercial foodservice.
  • Coffeehouses were established in the 16th century in the United States.
  • In 1765, Boulanger opened the first restaurant in Paris, France.

Ancient Greece and Rome

  • Thermopolia (small restaurant-bars) in ancient Greece and Rome offered food and drinks.
  • They had L-shaped counters with storage vessels for hot or cold food.
  • Thermopolia's popularity stemmed from the lack of kitchens in dwellings and the convenience of buying prepared foods.
  • Eating out was considered an important social activity.
  • In Pompeii, 158 thermopolia have been identified, concentrated along main roads frequented by locals.

China's Song Dynasty

  • Food catering establishments existed in Hangzhou, China, during the 12th century.
  • Hangzhou was a cultural, political, and economic center.

Ma Yu Ching's Bucket Chicken House

  • Ma Yu Ching's Bucket Chicken House in Kaifeng, China, established in 1153 AD, is considered the world's oldest operating restaurant.
  • It originated from tea houses and taverns that catered to travelers.
  • Hangzhou's restaurants catered to locals with diverse cuisines, price ranges, and religious needs.

Emergence of Restaurants in the West

  • In the West, inns and taverns primarily served travelers.
  • Restaurants, businesses dedicated to serving food with dishes ordered by guests and prepared accordingly, emerged in the 18th century.

Sobrino de Botín

  • Guinness World Records recognizes Sobrino de Botín as the oldest restaurant because there isn't enough evidence to confirm Ma Yu Ching's Bucket Chicken House is the oldest.
  • It is located in Madrid, Spain, and was established in 1725.
  • The restaurant retains its original 18th-century firewood oven and is run by the González family.
  • Francisco Goya supposedly worked there as a waiter.
  • Specialties include cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig) and sopa de ajo (egg poached in chicken broth with sherry and garlic).

Origin of the Term "Restaurant"

  • The term "restaurant" (from the French "restaurer") first appeared in the 16th century, meaning "a food which restores," specifically a rich, flavored soup.
  • It was first applied to an eating establishment around 1765 by Boulanger, a Parisian soup-seller.

Grand Taverne de Londres

  • The first restaurant in the standard form (customers sitting at individual tables, selecting from menus, during fixed hours) was the Grand Taverne de Londres, founded in Paris in 1782 by Antoine Beauvilliers.
  • Antoine Beauvilliers was a culinary writer and gastronomic authority who later wrote the cookbook L'Art du Cuisiner.

French Revolution's Impact

  • Restaurants became common after the French Revolution.
  • Catering guilds were broken up, and aristocrats fled, leaving skilled servants.
  • Provincials arrived in Paris without family to cook for them.
  • Restaurants connected these two groups, establishing the French tradition of dining out.

George Auguste Escoffier

  • George Auguste Escoffier, a star chef, is credited with founding classic French cuisine, earning the title "Cook of Kings and the King of Cooks".
  • Escoffier:
    • Created traditional French cuisine methods.
    • Established the kitchen hierarchy or "Brigade de Cuisine."
    • Popularized and updated French cooking methods.
    • Elevated cooking to a respected profession and introduced discipline.
    • The brigade system involves a chef de partie in charge of each section.
    • He replaced service à la française (serving all dishes at once) with service à la russe (serving dishes in order).
    • Table d'hôte menu - menu offering a complete meal with limited choices at a fixed price
    • A la carte menu - means that all the items on the menu are separate, meaning you have to order it to have it

Napoleonic Era Restaurants

  • A leading restaurant of the Napoleonic era was lavishly decorated and offered extensive choices.
  • Le Grand Vefour, still in business in the 21st century, resulted from absorbing a neighboring business in 1869.

Café Anglais

  • The most famous restaurant in 19th-century Paris was the Café Anglais on the Boulevard de Italiens.

Spread Across the World

  • Restaurants spread worldwide, with the first in the United States (Julien's Restarator) opening in Boston in 1794.
  • However, most continued providing shared meals (service à la française).

Service à la Russe

  • The modern formal dining style (service à la russe) involves pre-arranged plates.
  • It was supposedly introduced to France by the Russian Prince Kurakin around 1810.

Food Service in the Philippines

  • Foodservice in the Philippines dates back to the barangay system.
  • The datu (chief) fed his people, including slaves.
  • The Chinese were the forerunners of commercial foodservice development.
  • Early Chinese-Philippine trade is recorded in 982 A.D.
  • Filipinos learned about dining from Chinese peddlers.
  • During the Spanish period, Chinese food became popular and was served in permanent structures.

Spanish Era

  • A civil servant reported to King Philip II that the Chinese community had many eating houses for Chinese and natives.
  • Natives set up eating places, called karihan, at the back of public markets, serving kari-kari.
  • Spaniards later called it carinderia.
  • Chinese operated eateries called panciterias, serving pancit (noodles).

American Influence

  • Americans introduced the cafeteria concept.
  • The public school feeding program started in 1906 to address poor nutrition.
  • American teachers set up cafeterias to demonstrate proper diet.
  • Cafeterias were laboratories for home economics courses.
  • The cafeteria concept expanded to commercial fast food, in-plant feedings, and healthcare institutions.

Modernization and Globalization

  • Many concepts have contributed to the development of foodservice in the Philippines.
  • Changes occur rapidly due to modern technology, new laws, and urbanization.
  • Globalization and information technology will further diversify and grow the Philippine foodservice industry.