Menu Design in Europe

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The colourful, sketchy Salts Diner menu was penned by none other than David Hockney, the spot being one that he regularly frequented: “the spontaneity of his drawing is wonderful and it appears he sketched it in situ”, Jim adds. Many famous establishments are represented as well: Le Grand Vefour, La Tour d'Argent, Les Frères Troisgros in France. Featuring an essay by graphic design historian Steven Heller and captions by ephemerist and antiquarian book dealer Marc Selvaggio, Menu Design In Europe features menus from leading collectors and institutions, providing a sumptuous visual banquet and historical document of two centuries of culinary traditions. One’s heart goes out to the organisers of a dinner in Leeds on behalf of the trade body of funeral directors in December 1919 to celebrate the end of the Great War. Taschen has released a new book that explores the visual history of menu design between the years 1800-2000.

A 1936 ‘diner de gala’ on board the Motorliner Kungsholm, a ship of the Swedish American Line, is one of the most joyous menus, with an outdoorsy looking young woman astride a leaping fish, and a man lounging under a palm tree on the horizon, all conjured up in a deceptively simple arrangement of areas of flat colour.

A long menu may be high class, as at La Tour d’Argent, where it is the product of a kitchen full of expert chefs and fresh ingredients. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. From extravagant bills of fare for royal feasts to delectable mid-century minimalist graphics, the gustatory customs of dozens of European countries are revealed in this encyclopedic design compendium.

More than just bills of fare, these menus often represent a memorable dining experience, at times being presented with as much care and attention to detail as the meal itself. Also showcased are the Michelin awarded restaurants of the celebrity chef-era and rarities such as a German military menu from World War II.

If France has no word for ‘pouding’ it is because it does not care to be associated with such a thing. Food is presented variously over the years as status, as style, as fun, as sex and seduction, and, occasionally, as necessary to sustain life. Auch wenn man nicht im Jahr 1952 ins La Tour d'Argent einkehren und das berühmte Entengericht Le Caneton Tour d'Argent probieren kann, so kann man sich beim Anblick der Themenillustration mit den Wasservögeln und dem Abendangebot doch vorstellen, wie es gewesen sein muss. David Hockney’s cheerful and practical design for Salts Diner, Shipley, in his native Yorkshire, has a long, flaring space in the middle to accommodate the changing menu, outlined as a pool of light beneath an overhead lamp. At the turn of the century, however, Jim explains that design began to be more influenced by various art movements, making way for Art Nouveau and later modernism to take centre stage.

So, although one cannot sit in La Tour D'Argent in 1952 and sample its famous duck dish Le Caneton Tour d'Argent, we can surely imagine what it was like when looking at the waterfowl-themed illustration displaying the night's offerings.

Erinnert die Speisekarte des Pariser Le Grand Vefour von 1891 mit ihrem komplizierten Stanzmuster an ein belebtes Bistro der Belle Époque, versetzt uns die Speisekarte des Londoner Royal Palace Hotels von 1932 an die Bar eines pulsierenden Nachtclubs des Jazz-Zeitalters. On the contrary, the small tarts I know under this name are delicious, made from short pastry with almond and raspberry filling. Liver sausage and boiled beef are presented, like all the dishes, in plain English and there is semolina for pudding.