I bought the tickets for "The Liars," and on the morning of the day I was to have the responsibility of chaperoning Miss Brighteyes I went to the Criterion, to the East Room, to order my dinner and choose my table.
M. Lefèvre, the manager, is an old acquaintance of mine, for once before the East Room was under his direction, and now, with M. Node and Alfred as his adjutant and sergeant-major, he still keeps a watchful eye over all that takes place there. He is an enthusiast on cookery, and should one day write a book on the introduction of good foreign cookery into England, for he talks of M. Coste and Maître Escoffier, and the other great pioneers of culinary progress, with real enthusiasm.
There are three tables, one of which I always take, if possible, when I dine in the East Room. One is the little table in the corner by the entrance from the ante-room, another a table sheltered by a glass screen, and the third a table in the corner at the far end of the room. I told Alfred to keep me the table at the far end of the room; and then M. Lefèvre--tall, with a thin beard, with strong, nervous hands, that he clasps and unclasps as he talks--arrived, and we talked over our menu. Caviar I preferred to oysters, for I did not know whether Miss Brighteyes cared for shellfish, and then we passed to the consideration of the soup.
I suggested that it should be a consommé, as I did not want a heavy dinner, and M. Lefèvre hit on exactly the right thing, a _consommé de gibier_. Next came the fish, and as the details of the fillet of sole with soft herring-roe, and the sharp taste of prawn and crayfish to make the necessary contrast were unfolded, I nodded my head. _Cailles à la Sainte Alliance_ we settled on at once, and then came the difficulty of the _entrée_. I wanted a perfectly plain dish, and in a grilled chicken wing and breast we found our way out of our difficulty. There was a novelty, a method of cooking bananas that M. Lefèvre, who believes that bananas are not sufficiently appreciated, wanted us to try.
Caviar. Potage consommé à la Diane. Filets de sole aux délices. Suprêmes de volaille grillés. Carottes nouvelles à la crème. Laitues braisées en cocotte. Cailles à la Sainte Alliance. Salade de chicorée frisée. Croûtes à la Caume. Soufflé glacé à la mandarine.