The history of setting up the first restaurant

The idea of ​​selling food for profit also existed in the earliest civilizations. The growth of restaurants throughout history is related to the growth of cities. The presentation of public food was formed around the time of the Roman Empire and ancient China. When peasants and farmers brought their livestock and other goods to urban markets, they often traveled for several days at a time and needed a place to eat and rest. This issue led to the formation of places for serving food. The first form of restaurants were roadside inns. Inns, usually located in the middle of the countryside, served meals to travelers at a common table. There were no menus or even options to choose from. Every night the food offered was the chef's choice. In the inner city, places where living conditions were tight, many people did not have the means to cook their own meals. These people usually prepared the food they needed from small carts or street kitchens, which is still popular in many parts of the world. The meals sold in these places were usually affordable. In fact, it was this form of food sales that later led to the formation of today's modern fast food. In fact, it can be said that the first restaurants in history were the same inns that different people visited to rest and eat.

Restaurants in the Middle Ages: In Europe, from the Middle Ages until the Renaissance, taverns and inns were the main place to buy a prepared meal. In Spain, these institutions were called Bodegas, which served small Spanish dishes called "tapas". In England, foods such as sausages and shepherd's pie were popular. While in France, stew and soup were prepared. All of these early restaurants served simple foods, whose customers were usually peasants or merchants. Following Columbus's voyage to America in 1492, global trade increased and introduced new foods to Europe. Coffee, tea and chocolate were soon served in public houses alongside beer, soup and wine. By the 17th century, while full meals were still commonly eaten at home, the wealthy usually had a private hall for their private parties, with a dedicated team of service.
French Revolution and the rise of the restaurant: In France during the Middle Ages, the guilds that were members of a certain engine had ready meals. For example, charcutiers were guilds that prepared cooked meats for sale. If one did not belong to this guild, he could not sell cooked meat, and it was illegal to sell cooked meat in any form. In 1765, a man named Boulanger, who sold edible lamb in his shop near the Louvre, began selling cooked lamb. The food association sued him, but Boulanger won the case. Over the next 20 years leading up to the French Revolution, more shops like Boulanger opened in Paris.

France is the birthplace of what we now call restaurants. This happened at the end of the 18th century. With the exception of inns, which were primarily for travelers, and street kitchens, where there was only one type of food and mostly for people who did not have the necessary equipment to cook, there was no place in Europe where city dwellers could prepare ready meals or gather together for a meal, until in 1765 Boulanger opened a restaurant near the Louvre in France. With his work, different people started to open restaurants in France, which later became known as Bouillon restaurants. At first, only prepared meat was served in these restaurants and only their variety was in the type of cooked meat, but later with the expansion of these places to other countries, other foods such as soup, cooked chicken and all kinds of drinks were also served. It was also added to the menu of these restaurants. Gradually, chefs added small tables to their workplace so that guests do not have to eat their meals at a common table, and special tables for different numbers of customers were added to restaurants. Before the French Revolution, there were less than 50 restaurants in Paris. Until in 1814, according to a survey conducted to write a travel guide to France, it was determined that there were 3000 restaurants working in France, each of which had at least 2 or 3 dishes on their menu.

In the 19th century, in addition to restaurants, cafes also appeared. These places were a style of restaurant that did not offer table service and were mostly for serving drinks and small snacks. These places became more popular gatherings of young people and the lower class of society who could not afford to serve food in restaurants. Over time and with the passage of time, the concept of cafe changed and today there are different types of them all over the world. At the end of the 19th century, the increase of travelers and tourists and the emergence of the tourism industry stimulated luxury tourism and this made Travelers who are away from home should look for prepared food. This made food preparation an art and not just a necessity. Part of the travel experience at the time included dining in the famous Parisian cafes and restaurants, which by then had developed a reputation for excellent food and service. In the 1880s, César Ritz, a Swiss developer, teamed up with a prominent French chef. Auguste Escoffier collaborated on the Grand Hotel Monte Carlo, which was the first place to offer luxury accommodations and gourmet dining. Later, he started expanding these places all over Europe. In the 20th century, restaurants gradually became important places and the culture of a city in Europe. Little by little, the restaurant industry turned into a lucrative commercial industry, and this led to its expansion in the continents of Asia and America, and today we see different types of restaurants, including chain restaurants and fast food, all over the cities of the world.