Questions of the times

The following are questions from restaurant operators, consultants, journalists, and consumers about restaurants generally, dating from 1900 into the early 2000s. Many of those that I’ve chosen particularly reflect and represent the industry and the times. Prominent among the questions are those concerning race, modernization, and automation. There are also some that are reflections about what’s been lost over time. The questions with capitalization are headlines. Sorry no illustrations — I’m still trying to recover from a computer meltdown. 1900 “Do American men ever dine together in the cozy and communicative way that foreigners do?” 1908 “Should the Unchaperoned Girl Have an After Theater Dinner?” 1909 “What sense is there in calling potatoes ‘Pommes de terre,” oysters ‘huitres,’ soups ‘potages,’ and so on through a lot of lingual fol-de-rol, when plain everyday English would tell the story comprehensively?” 1912 “Why is there such a hubbub of late over a few negroes and East…