Researching the history of eating-places
William fitz Stephen praised a cook-shop in late 12th-century London. Most people in the medieval period cooked their own food at home. We would expect cook-shops only in cities. Medieval Bristol had a row of them in the High Street, called Cook's Row.
London was well supplied with them by the 18th century, mainly created on
the ground floor of a standard terraced house. Those catering to the wealthier
client could be called chop-houses or
beefsteak-houses, while pastry-cook-shops
provided sweet as well as savory food.
The first coffee-house in the Western world opened in Oxford in 1651 and the second in London in 1652. By the end of the century there were hundreds in London and the concept had spread to Bath and elsewhere. They were almost entirely a male preserve, whereas the tea shops or tea rooms that sprang up from the 1880s were seen as respectable places for women to socialise. The first Lyons Tea Shop was established in Piccadilly in 1894; there were 250 by 1900.
They were rapidly followed by Lyons
Corner Houses - cafes sometimes on a grand scale. The 20th
century saw the rise of purpose-built eating-places, including a few of
architectural distinction, such as the famed Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow,
designed by Charles Rennie
Mackintosh. Still many restaurants and cafes continued to
be housed in buildings created for another purpose.
Studies
- Bird, P., The First Food Empire: A history of J. Lyons & Co. (2000; online version 2002).
- Ellis, A.,The Penny Universities: A history of the Coffee-Houses (1956).
- Keifer, N.M., Economics and the origins of the restaurant, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Quartley (August 2002). PDF format.
- Lillywhite, B.,London Coffee Houses. A reference book of coffee houses of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (1963).
- Maddox, A. and Nichols, P., Classic Cafes. A celebration of London's formica 50s and 60s cafes.
- Partington, M., Designing Britain 1945 - 1975: Oral testimony and the Interpretation of the Crafts is a teaching module on 1950s London coffee bars - their origins and design - with images from the Design Council Archive.
- Pelzer, J. and Pelzer, L., Coffee Houses of Augustan London, History Today, (October 1982).
- Shelley, H. C., Inns and Taverns of Old London (1909), includes Coffee-houses of Old London
- Stringer, H., The Story of the Restaurant.
Primary sources
- Business records: Those of J. Lyons & Co Ltd (London Metropolitan Archives ACC 3527, 3811) include property records and photographs.
- Street directories, usually in local studies libraries. The Guildhall Library has a countrywide collection.
- Trade Journals: Licensed Victualler and Catering Trade Journal; The Licensed Victuallers' Gazette.
- Victuallers' recognizances: bonds from purveyors of victuals 1578-1672 are in the National Archives E 180.
See also Pubs, Inns and Hotels, business history sources, maps and images.