GEORGES AUGUSTE ESCOFFIER'S LIFE

Ninety years ago, the Carlton Hotel in London had the most famous restaurant in the world under a chef called Georges Auguste Escoffier. Many young chefs trained there and carried the excellence of French cuisine to countries all over the world. Escoffier started cooking at his uncle's restaurant in Nice in 1859, when he was thirteen. At nineteen, he moved to Paris to the famous Petit Moulin Rouge. He stayed there for many years, married, and had two sons and a daughter. In 1884, he moved to Monte-Carlo as Directeur de Cuisine at the Grand Hotel and in summer he worked at the Hotel National in Lucerne, Switzerland. Here he met César Ritz and in 1890 they both went to London to manage the Savoy Hotel there. Later, they opened the Ritz in Paris and the Carlton in London.

At the Carlton, he introduced the first à la carte menu. At large banquet-style meals, Escoffier abandoned a practice called service a la francaise (service in the French style), in which collections of dishes of all kinds were served at table simultaneously; instead, the French chef chose to standardize service a la russe (service in the Russian style), in which each course is presented in the order that it appears on the menu. Also during this time the French chef introduced and perfected some of his many innovations to cookery, restaurant service, and kitchen organization. Departing from the style of previous chefs, Escoffier simplified the art of cooking, doing away with excessive garnishes, heavy sauces, and elaborate presentations.

When he was seventy-three years old, Escoffier returned to Monte-Carlo but still worked for another fifteen years. Towards the end of his life he was especially famous in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Zurich, Prague and New York. His book `Le Guide Culinaire' still contains all that is best in Classical French and International cookery.

GEORGES AUGUSTE ESCOFFIER

Answer the following questions :

1. How old was Escoffier when he started to work ?
   

2. Where did he work in Paris ?
   

3. Where did he open the Ritz ?
   

4. Where did he move in 1884 ?
   

5. Where did he work in summer 1884 ?
   

6. Who did he go to London with ?
   

7. What did he manage in London ?
   

8. When did he return to Monte-Carlo?
   

9. Where did he introduce the first à la carte menu?
   

10. What was Escoffier's main innovation in restaurant service?
    

11. How was the service organised before this change?
    

12. What else did he change?
    

13. How old was he when he returned to Monte Carlo?
    

14. Did he stop working there?

15. What does his book still contain?
    

Ask the question about the underlined element of the sentence:

1. Many chefs trained there.
   

2. Escoffier started cooking at his uncle's restaurant.
   

3. In 1884, he moved to Monte Carlo.
   

4. Escoffier simplified the art of cooking.
   

5. He still worked for another fifteen years.
   

6. He had two sons.

---