Fashionable restaurants for public dining in the grand manner were a Victorian innovation, and in London there were few to rival that of Auguste Kettner, formerly chef to Napoleon III, who opened his Soho establishment in 1867. Kettner's quickly became renowned for champagne, gaiety and gastronomic delights, attracting the custom of leading members of society, the stage and the literary world including King Edward VII and Oscar Wilde. In 1877, Kettner was persuaded to share the benefit of his skill and knowledge of cookery, and this delightful book is the result. Witty, worldly and wonderfully wise, it is a culinary A to Z - from absinthe to zest -- that embraces every Victorian speciality you might want to cook, eat or know about, embellished with anecdotes and gossip. There are recipes aplenty, given in the narrative style of the period, but this is much more than a cookbook -- it is an intimate look at late Victorian and Edwardian society life in its privileged heyday.