Andreas Augustin

Feuilleton 347 - Ritzy Things You Should Know

( words)

Some Ritzy Things To Spice Up Your Dinner Conversation

During his career, Swiss born César Ritz (1850–1918) managed or owned the following hotels.

A buffet in the Bois de Boulogne (his first private enterprise),

... and in loose order:

Hotel Rigi Kulm,
Hotel de Provence in Cannes,
Hotel Minerva and Restaurant de la Conversation in Baden Baden,
Savoy, Carlton and Claridges in London,
Riviera Hotel in Maidenhead
Grand Hotel Rome,
Frankfurter Hof,
Grand Hotel des Thermes Salsomaggiore,
Grand Hotel Villa Igiea in Palermo,
Restaurant Ritz in Biarritz,
Hyde Park in London,
Kaiserhof and Auguste Victoria Bad in Wiesbaden,
Grand Hotel in Monte Carlo,
Grand Hotel National in Luzern,
Grand Hotel des Ilse Britanniques in Menton,

and the Ritz Development Company, planning and overlooking projects in Johannesburg, Madrid, Cairo and Budapest.

César Ritz influenced modern lighting, was known for trying out different colours of lampshades to enhance the appearance of the complexion of a lady's skin.

THE SAVOY LONDON: In 1889, César Ritz became the first general manager of the new SAVOY in London. It was deliberately called SAVOY HOTEL & RESTAURANT, because he wanted the kitchen under Auguste Escoffier to stand out as a very special feature of the enterprise. Ritz brought Auguste Escoffier to the scene, the man who revolutionised the organisation of modern kitchen, and influenced modern cooking.

With the support of the press and even members of parliament, the team introduced Sunday evening dinners and made it fashionable to attend them. The sudden demand for fresh bread on Sundays (no London baker would provide fresh bread on the day of the Lord) led to the employment of a baker from Vienna, a tradition that has been upheld for over a hundred years. This baker brought with him the delights of Viennoiserie, from crisp dark rye bread to rolls and croissants, and the mouth-watering delights of Austrian cakes, strudels and pastries.

In 1894, César Ritz opened the Grand Hotel Rome, today St Regis Rome.

The name Ritz Carlton goes back to London of the year 1899. That year, César Ritz opened the hotel Carlton in Pall Mall, London.

For visitors it was simply the Carlton, but for all who knew Ritz, they would have referred to it as "Ritz’ Carlton". However, the hotel was never called that way.

This combination of names was first used for fine dining restaurants operated on the steamers of the Hamburg-Amerika Line. They were indeed called Ritz's Carlton - Restaurant. In 1905, the restaurant on board of one of the ships, the Augusta Victoria, named for Empress Augusta Victoria, wife of German Emperor Wilhelm II, was still called "Ritz Restaurant. Ritz Carlton appeared after 1905, like here, on this 1909 menu.

The Ritz-Carlton Investing Company was established by Albert Keller in 1911, paying a stately sum to the Ritz hotel development syndicate in London for franchising the name in the United States. The New York hotel, located at 46th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan, opened in 1911 as the first Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the U.S.

Puttin’ on the Ritz is a phrase first coined in America in the 1920s. It refers to the Hotel Ritz Carlton and the "well-to-do, walking down Park Avenue" in New York. It means to put on your finest dress, a dress suitable to be worn at a Ritz Carlton hotel. The song "Puttin' On the Ritz" was written by Irving Berlin in May 1927 and first published it in 1929. It was introduced in the musical film "Puttin' On the Ritz" (1930, by Harry Richman). The song was sung, danced and immortalized by Fred Astaire.

César Ritz died on 26. October 1918.