be reckoned in the cost.

From this we come to the ordered dinner, and here is where your own
knowledge and special desires come in. Here, too, comes a marked
increase in the cost. You now have the widest range of possibilities
both as to viands and as to price. It is not at all difficult to have a
dinner, without wine, that costs twenty-five dollars a plate, and when
you come down to the more normal dinners, unless you confine yourself to
one or two dishes you will find that you far exceed in price the table
d'hote dinners of equal gastronomic value.

While this is true it is well to be able to order your dinner for it
frequently occurs that one does not care to go through the heavy course
dinner provided table d'hote. Sometimes one wants a simple dish, or
perhaps two, and it is well to know something about them and how to
order them. We have made it a rule whenever we have seen something new
on the bill of fare to order it, on the theory that we are willing to
try anything once, and in this way we have greatly enlarged our
knowledge of good things.

It is also well to remember national characteristics and understand that
certain dishes are at their best at certain restaurants. For instance,
you will be served with an excellent paste at a French restaurant, but
if you want it at its best you will get it at an Italian restaurant. On
the other hand if you desire a delicate entree you will get the best at
a French restaurant. For instance, one would not ask for sauer braten
anywhere except at a German restaurant. It will readily be seen that the
Elegant Art of Dining in San Francisco means much more than the sitting
at table and partaking of what is put before you. Dining is an art, and
its pleasure is greatly enhanced by a knowledge of foods, cooking,