Preceding this annotated translation of the chapter “Dinner in the Current Age” from Eugène Briffault's 1846 work Paris à table is a brief introduction summarizing the author's professional career, contextualizing the text into the literature of the time, and suggesting his objective for the chapter and the book. The translated chapter begins with a look back at previous decades up to the author's time to examine the evolution of dinner at the higher levels of society and among the professions, including the various factors affecting it, such as uncertain financial conditions and tourism. The author follows with a look at dinners held in the world of theater, mentioning the kinds of meals prepared by celebrated artists, like Rachel and Talma, of his and previous times. Descending the social ladder, he then focuses his attention on the “bourgeois” dinner and the role of women cooks in its preparation, both of which meet with his approval. On the other hand, the “parvenu's” dinner meets with his extreme disapproval, and from there he gladly turns to dinner among shopkeepers and merchants, workers and laborers, finishing with several anecdotes that present models for hosts and guests as well as stories describing some of the follies that can occur at the dinner table. Illustrating the article are portraits of the author, Briffault, and several of the Bertall engravings that illustrated the original text.

A brief introduction summarizing the author's professional career and his literary style and procedure precedes this annotated translation of the chapter “The Restaurants of Paris” from Eugène Briffault's 1846 text, Paris à table . Along with an historical discussion and a look back at the glorious days of the Empire's establishments, the chapter examines the specialties, the décor, and the patrons of the grand restaurants of the author's time and before. Looking at the changing restaurant scene since the fall of Napoleon, Briffault criticizes, in particular, the contemporary preference for the opulence of the surroundings over the quality of the food. Along with several anecdotes about specific meals and peculiar characters, he also observes restaurant owners and their staffs, with particular regard to the skills and temperament of the Parisian waiter. Briffault considers such celebrated restaurants as the Cadran bleu, Rocher de Cancale, and Chez Véry—restaurants famous for their cuisine, the lively crowds, and the novelists (along with many of their characters) who dined there. But he does not ignore the role of the mid-range restaurants and bourgeois tables, and he descends as well into the lower depths, visiting the eateries catering to workers and the students on the Left Bank, the gargotes, the tapis francs , the prix fixes, the Flicoteaus and Rougets.