Its gallery of celebrities contains over 2,000 autographs and
pictures of distinguished visitors. Besides the main dining room,
it has 15 others. One room's floor, the Mystery Room, is covered
with sawdust. Guests have included Marshall Foch, Sarah
Bernhardt, Will Rogers, Jenny Lind, Caruso, Edwin Booth,
"Gentleman Jim" Corbett, General Pershing, down to enough U.S.
Senators and Congressmen to ruin anybody's country.
The present head waiter has been there 40 years, his predecessor
50 years. Bus boys must serve an apprenticeship of 10 years. Time
is a necessary element in the proper preparation of food at
Antoine's. If you are in a hurry, Antoine's recommends you go to
the corner drug store.
But let's get back to dinner before it gets cold. We started off
with a cocktail of something. I think our host said it contained
applejack, champagne and some other ingredient. It had a white
collar like the beaten white of an egg. Then came "Oysters
Rockefeller," so named because of the richness of the sauce . . .
The recipe for this sauce is a closely guarded family secret. The
dish consists of six oysters on the half shell. A much used pie
tin is filled with rock salt to hold the heat indefinitely.
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