When Jones minor had made a clean sweep of the plate of petits fours, and had drained the last drops of his glass of Chartreuse, I thought I might venture to ask him how he liked his dinner, as a whole. This was what he had conscientiously eaten through:—
Hors-d'œuvre variés.
Consommé Monte Carlo. Potage vert-pré.
Petites Soles à la Florentine. Blanchailles au citron.
Filets mignons à la Rachel.
Petites bouchées à la St-Hubert.
Sorbet.
Poularde de Surrey à la broche.
Salade saison.
Asperges nouvelles. Sauce mousseux.
Charlotte Russe.
Soufflé glacé Pompadour.
Petits fours. Dessert.
He had drunk a glass of Amontillado, a glass of '89 Liebfraumilch, two glasses of Deutz and Gelderman, a glass of dessert claret, and a glass of liqueur, and when pressed for a critical opinion, said that he thought that it was jolly good.
Impressed into using a new adjective Jones minor should be somehow. So, with Mr. Isidore Salmon as escort, I took him over the big house from top to bottom. He shook the chef's hand with the serenity of a prince in the kitchen at the top of the house, and showed some interest in the wonderful roasting arrangements worked by electricity and the clever method of registering orders. He gazed at the mighty stores of meat and vegetables, peeped into the cosy private dining-rooms, had the beauties of the noble Empire ball-room explained to him, and finally, in the grill-room, amid the surroundings of Cippolini marble and old copper, the excellent string band played a gavotte, at my request, as being likely to take his fancy.
Then I asked Jones minor what he thought of it all, and he said that he thought it jolly good.
I paid my bill: Two dinners, £1: 1s.; table-d'hôte wine, 7s. 6d.; half 277, 7s.; liqueur, 2s. 6d.; total, £1: 18s.; and asked Jones minor where he would like to go and be amused. He said he had heard that the Empire was jolly good.
10th May.
I bearded Mr. J. Lyons in his den one fine spring day and told him that "Dinners and Diners" was going to appear in book form. He showed no visible sign of emotion. Next I asked him if he would tell me what the plats were that the Trocadero kitchen prided itself on, and if he would give me the recette of suprême de sole Trocadéro of which I had a pleasant memory. He kindly said that I should have a list of the dishes, and not one but two recettes if I wanted them. My remark was "Thank you."
Caviar glacé, huîtres à la Orientale, potage Rodisi, soles à la Glover, côtelettes de saumon à la Nantua, chapon de Bresse à la Trocadéro, poularde à la Montique, selle d'agneau à la Lyon d'or, salade d'Orsay, asperges nouvelles Milanaises form a little list from which an admirable dinner could be designed.