The Epicure’s Almanack by Ralph Rylance

The Epicure’s Almanack on January 18, 1815
Genres: Fiction / Historical
Pages: 313
Goodreads

With websites like Yelp and television networks dedicated exclusively to food, today’s foodie need not look far for advice on what and where to eat next. But before Zagat and the Michelin star, there was Ralph Rylance (1782–1834) and The Epicure’s Almanack, or Guide to Good Living, his listing of more than 650 eating establishments, taverns, inns, and hotels in and around London in the early nineteenth century. Working single-handedly and on foot, Rylance investigated and reported on a broad range of restaurants, from haughty chophouses and suburban tea gardens to humble tripe shops and dockyard taverns, as well as London’s first Indian restaurant. He also gives an account of London’s markets, featuring an inventory of merchants selling everything from anchovy sauce to kitchen stoves.

Published in 1815, The Epicure’s Almanack was never updated or reprinted and was never truly emulated until 1968, when the Good Food Guide to London was first issued. Reproduced here with an introduction by Janet Ing Freeman, and accompanied by extensive notes, indexes, and many details from a contemporary map of London, this extraordinary edition vividly brings back to life the tastes, smells, and culture of Regency England and is a must-read for lovers of London and food alike.

The Epicure’s Almanack written by Ralph Rylance in 1815 and lovingly edited and compiled by Janet Ing Freeman is truly a work of art. This book was London’s first “food guide, surveying 650 establishments in and around the city and promising to direct the reader to those in which he might dine well, and to the best advantage.” For all those authors of Regency romance, you need this book to bring to life the hustle and bustle of life during that era. Freeman has it organized well with wonderful historic notes throughout. I feel like I stumbled upon a true treasure.