Manhattan is a narrow island off the coast of New Jersey devoted to the pursuit of lunch.

Sichuan food would not be Sichuanese without the hot chilies that arrived before 1700 from South America.

The noncook is in a helpless position, much like that of the car owner who can’t change a tire and has to depend on mechanics to keep his automobile running.

Manhattan is a narrow island off the coast of New Jersey devoted to the pursuit of lunch.

The Bar Room has a corner table placed strategically at a point diagonally across from the entrance. the table of tables in the setting of settings in the building of buildings. In the religion of lunch, this is the holy of holies.

Only the river is free, always changing but always the same.

To the chefs who pioneered the nouvelle cuisine in France, the ancienne cuisine they were rebelling against looked timeless, primordial, old as the hills. But the cookbook record proves that the haute cuisine codified early in this century by Escoffier barely goes back to Napoleon's time. Before that, French food is not recognizable as French to modern eyes. Europe's menu before 1700 was completely different from its menu after 1800, when national cuisines arose along with modern nations and national cultures.