The Atlantic

The French Aristocrat Who Invented the Restaurant

Originally a “restaurant” referred to a type of soup.
Source: Larry Crowe / AP

People traveling away from home, not to mention those without kitchens of their own, have always needed a place to eat. But, until 1760s Paris, those places were not restaurants. And indeed, and the restaurant guide, cleverly marketing them under different parts of his double-barreled surname.

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