savor the written word
Several years ago, chef Michael Gibney was asked by The Guardian to select a handful of the most memorable restaurants in modern literature. He chose venues like The Dingo in A Moveable Feast, Korova Milk Bar in A Clockwork Orange, and Douglas Adams's The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. The restaurant-as-setting is a staple. But you can turn it around -- and instead essentially celebrate a book inside restaurant.
You can make a day of it in Paris. An early brunch at Les Editeurs, surrounded by some 5,000 books in Paris's publishing district. Lunch around the corner at Le Procope, where the walls are adorned with author-signed pages. Dinner at the more than 170-year-old Polidor, where Victor Hugo and Ernest Hemingway were regulars. In New York City, options include The Round Table at the Algonquin Hotel, The Library at the Public, even a Potteresque restaurant called Pasta Wiz (Dragon's Blood smoothies!) and a sandwich-and-tea franchise known as Alice's Tea Cup. (Feeling a bit more hallucinogenic? Try Tokyo's Alice of Magic World, where you can eat caterpillar-shaped sushi rolls atop playing-card tables).
"Unquiet meals make ill digestions," William Shakespeare declared. So chew quietly at eateries bowing to the Bard, including the casually medieval Shakespeare's Restaurant in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania; Oberon's Restaurant and Bar in Ashland, Oregon (home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Swan (at iconic Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London); several Shakespeare and Co. franchises throughout the Middle East; and The Bard's Town in Louisville, Kentucky, where you can enjoy a "To Bean, or Not to Bean" black bean burger.
Sometimes the placement makes perfect sense -- like the Dickens Restaurant in Halstead, England; or the Steinbeck House Restaurant in Salinas, California; or the Mark Twain Dinette in Hannibal, Missouri. Fire & Ice Restaurant in quaint Middlebury, Vermont, is named for the work of New England native Robert Frost. And it somehow seems right that there's an eatery called Kerouac's in the middle-of-nowhere community of Baker, Nevada. Or sometimes the theme perfectly fits the author, like the murder mystery dinner at Agatha's (even if it is, incongruously, in Atlanta). But who knows where an author homage might pop up? Don Quijote is the name of a Spanish restaurant... in Singapore. There's a Hugo Cafe... that serves French-Vietnamese cuisine... in Dubai. And there's a popular eatery called Hemingway's. In Paris? Key West? Idaho? No, Toronto.
Occasionally, it can be difficult to discern between bistro and bookstore, like when you surround yourself with some 2,000 volumes in various languages at Cafe du Livre in Marrakech. You can clutch a coffee at Cafe Kafka in Vienna... and Barcelona... and Istanbul. Or order a Rum of One's Own cocktail at Kramerbacks & Afterwords Cafe in Washington, D.C. For that matter, take a break from browsing at The Courtyard Restaurant at the Boston Public Library.
One author can inspire tangents: There's a submarine-themed Verne Restaurant in Budapest, while Le Jules Verne is located on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You can savor cucumber and caviar at WILDE in Dublin, not far from a statue of Oscar himself... or hot wings at Wilde Bar and Restaurant in Chicago. Even a single character can lead to myriad restaurants -- like Bilbo Baggins (in Alexandria, Virginia), Hobbit Restaurant (Orange, California), Hobbit Bistro in Quebec City, and The Hobbit Cafe (Houston). Gastronomical Gatsbys abound, as well, including Gatsby's Restaurant (Pottstown, Pennsylvania), Gatsby's Sports Bar (Arlington Heights, Illinois), Gatsby's Pub and Grill (Indianapolis), Gatsby's Landing (Roslyn, New York), and simply Gatsby's (in both Gahanna, Ohio, and New York City).
The Literary Hour, a supper club in London, offers immersive celebrations. Walk through a wardrobe to Feast in Narnia. Enjoy a Banquet in Toad Hall. Try Dr. Hannibal's Dinner. In Manhattan's Greenwich Village, you can order chicken Kiev at Onegin, named for Russian author Alexander Pushkin's heroic character. Gone With the Wind is the focus at Southern-styled Pittypat's Porch in Atlanta. Philadelphia's Chapterhouse Cafe is named after the fifth book in the Frank Herbert's Dune series. Bluebeard in Indianapolis is named after a novel by native son Kurt Vonnegut. The Winding Stair in Dublin, takes its name from a William Butler Yeats poem: "My soul. I summon to the winding ancient stair..." The Seuss-themed Sammy's Breakfast Bar in Fort Collins, Colorado, offers green eggs and ham. And the Mexican bar and grill in Ocean City, Maryland? It's called Tequila Mockingbird.
But the most ubiquitous classics-and-calories combination comes from Herman Melville. Sure, you can try the caramelized crust at Pequod's Pizza in Chicago (named after Captain Ahab's ship) and several restaurants known as Moby Dick House of Kebab in and around Washington, D.C. But there's also a franchise named after Ahab's first mate: Starbucks.
Click on one of the 44 links below for a closer look at these literary eateries.
You can make a day of it in Paris. An early brunch at Les Editeurs, surrounded by some 5,000 books in Paris's publishing district. Lunch around the corner at Le Procope, where the walls are adorned with author-signed pages. Dinner at the more than 170-year-old Polidor, where Victor Hugo and Ernest Hemingway were regulars. In New York City, options include The Round Table at the Algonquin Hotel, The Library at the Public, even a Potteresque restaurant called Pasta Wiz (Dragon's Blood smoothies!) and a sandwich-and-tea franchise known as Alice's Tea Cup. (Feeling a bit more hallucinogenic? Try Tokyo's Alice of Magic World, where you can eat caterpillar-shaped sushi rolls atop playing-card tables).
"Unquiet meals make ill digestions," William Shakespeare declared. So chew quietly at eateries bowing to the Bard, including the casually medieval Shakespeare's Restaurant in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania; Oberon's Restaurant and Bar in Ashland, Oregon (home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Swan (at iconic Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London); several Shakespeare and Co. franchises throughout the Middle East; and The Bard's Town in Louisville, Kentucky, where you can enjoy a "To Bean, or Not to Bean" black bean burger.
Sometimes the placement makes perfect sense -- like the Dickens Restaurant in Halstead, England; or the Steinbeck House Restaurant in Salinas, California; or the Mark Twain Dinette in Hannibal, Missouri. Fire & Ice Restaurant in quaint Middlebury, Vermont, is named for the work of New England native Robert Frost. And it somehow seems right that there's an eatery called Kerouac's in the middle-of-nowhere community of Baker, Nevada. Or sometimes the theme perfectly fits the author, like the murder mystery dinner at Agatha's (even if it is, incongruously, in Atlanta). But who knows where an author homage might pop up? Don Quijote is the name of a Spanish restaurant... in Singapore. There's a Hugo Cafe... that serves French-Vietnamese cuisine... in Dubai. And there's a popular eatery called Hemingway's. In Paris? Key West? Idaho? No, Toronto.
Occasionally, it can be difficult to discern between bistro and bookstore, like when you surround yourself with some 2,000 volumes in various languages at Cafe du Livre in Marrakech. You can clutch a coffee at Cafe Kafka in Vienna... and Barcelona... and Istanbul. Or order a Rum of One's Own cocktail at Kramerbacks & Afterwords Cafe in Washington, D.C. For that matter, take a break from browsing at The Courtyard Restaurant at the Boston Public Library.
One author can inspire tangents: There's a submarine-themed Verne Restaurant in Budapest, while Le Jules Verne is located on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You can savor cucumber and caviar at WILDE in Dublin, not far from a statue of Oscar himself... or hot wings at Wilde Bar and Restaurant in Chicago. Even a single character can lead to myriad restaurants -- like Bilbo Baggins (in Alexandria, Virginia), Hobbit Restaurant (Orange, California), Hobbit Bistro in Quebec City, and The Hobbit Cafe (Houston). Gastronomical Gatsbys abound, as well, including Gatsby's Restaurant (Pottstown, Pennsylvania), Gatsby's Sports Bar (Arlington Heights, Illinois), Gatsby's Pub and Grill (Indianapolis), Gatsby's Landing (Roslyn, New York), and simply Gatsby's (in both Gahanna, Ohio, and New York City).
The Literary Hour, a supper club in London, offers immersive celebrations. Walk through a wardrobe to Feast in Narnia. Enjoy a Banquet in Toad Hall. Try Dr. Hannibal's Dinner. In Manhattan's Greenwich Village, you can order chicken Kiev at Onegin, named for Russian author Alexander Pushkin's heroic character. Gone With the Wind is the focus at Southern-styled Pittypat's Porch in Atlanta. Philadelphia's Chapterhouse Cafe is named after the fifth book in the Frank Herbert's Dune series. Bluebeard in Indianapolis is named after a novel by native son Kurt Vonnegut. The Winding Stair in Dublin, takes its name from a William Butler Yeats poem: "My soul. I summon to the winding ancient stair..." The Seuss-themed Sammy's Breakfast Bar in Fort Collins, Colorado, offers green eggs and ham. And the Mexican bar and grill in Ocean City, Maryland? It's called Tequila Mockingbird.
But the most ubiquitous classics-and-calories combination comes from Herman Melville. Sure, you can try the caramelized crust at Pequod's Pizza in Chicago (named after Captain Ahab's ship) and several restaurants known as Moby Dick House of Kebab in and around Washington, D.C. But there's also a franchise named after Ahab's first mate: Starbucks.
Click on one of the 44 links below for a closer look at these literary eateries.
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