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Family Gatherings

September, 16 1893 – Milano, Italy, Ristorante Meridiana: lunch

March 7, 1905 – London, England, Hotel Carlton: lunch.

September, 3 1906 – Milan, Italy, Hotel du Nord: lunch

circa 1910 (date not given) – Italy: lunch

March, 21 1937 – Rome, Italy, Hotel Excelsior: reception

April 13, 1985 – Maleo (LO), Italy, Il Sole Restaurant: lunch

In the Academia Barilla Historic Menu Collection, there are many menus gathered from the special events and milestones of various families celebrated, for the most part, in restaurants. There are menus from Baptism parties to numerous wedding day lunches to 25th, 50th and even 60th wedding anniversaries. These menus are tender documents that record the daily life and rare occasions when a modest Italian family could afford to celebrate with a restaurant dinner.

Different occasions called for different menu graphics and different foods, of course. The wedding day lunches are characterized by very elegant dishes – like the obligatory roast – that have been a tradition for generations.

	September, 16 1893 – Milano, Italy, Ristorante Meridiana: lunch Wedding Banquet of Bellone – Panizzardi Written in Italian – International Cuisine 4 pages, letterpress, decorated and embossed This menu contains elegant and precious dishes prepared for the wedding lunch held in a restaurant in Milan. The wine list contains a couple of assumptions. The menu graphics and decorations are simple, yet particular, and include a sliver ornamentation. [Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library - Italy – Family Events: Weddings]. COLLOC. A.363.02 – INV. 1633.
	March 7, 1905 – London, England, Hotel Carlton: lunch. Wedding Banquet. Written in French – International Cuisine 1 page, sanguine lithograph print, menu items are superimposed in using alcohol. This menu is from a wedding day reception for 50 people at the Carlton Hotel of London – as is documented in the handwritten note on the menu. The lunch cost 125 Franks a person, a very expensive price at the time) and was prepared by the very famous French chef Auguste Escoffier (1846–1935). Chef in training for 13 years and owner of his own restaurant for 30 years, Escoffier also founded the magazine “L'Art Culinaire.” He also worked at the Ritz and became extremely efficient at managing restaurants of hotel and cruise companies. In 1903, he published a cookbook called Guide Culinaire that became very famous and is still in print. Escoffier, “the chef of kings and the king of chefs,” was a creator, an innovator, great promoter of French cuisine throughout the world and writer of recipes that are still known and used today. He believed that the culinary arts should be practiced with simplicity, highlighting the flavor and nutritional value of the ingredients. The allegoric illustration of the menu includes floral garlands braided by an angel and carried towards heaven by doves. This rare menu includes elegant dishes and extraordinary wines. [Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library - Europe – England – Restaurants]. COLLOC. B.46.02 – INV. 1618.
	September, 3 1906 – Milan, Italy, Hotel du Nord: lunch Wedding Banquet of Spinelli – Monticelli Written in French – International Cuisine 4 pages, color chromolithograph print This menu includes well-organized and elegant dishes, elaborate wine list, and art nouveau style graphics. [Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library - Italy – Family Events: Weddings]. COLLOC. A.363.06 – INV. 4293.
	circa 1910 (date not given) – Italy: lunch Wedding Banquet Written in Italian – Italian Cuisine 1 page, color chromolithograph, embossed The menu comes from a wedding party for an anonymous couple without considerable wealth. The menu has simple, romantic decorations with a lot of hearts, interlocked rings and roses made in a perfect art nouveau style. [Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library - Italy – Family Events: Weddings]. COLLOC. A.363.61 – INV. 4062.
	July, 29 1914 – Lombardy, Italy: lunch Wedding Banquet of Arrivabene Valenti-Gonzaga – Rosario Schiffner Written in French – International Cuisine 4 pages, lithograph print This menu includes very elegant dishes, excellent wine, 19th century style graphics and typical wedding imagery on the cover. The menu was created for the wedding of the son of an important noble family in Lombardy. [Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library - Italy – Family Events: Weddings]. COLLOC. A.363.12 – INV. 1632.
	April 18, 1931 – Palestro, Italy: lunch Wedding Banquet for Bertoldi – Deangeli Written in Italian – Italian Cuisine 1 page, lithograph print The menu illustration of S. Talman is a 19th century style image of two newlyweds raising their glasses in celebration. [Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library - Italy – Family Events: Weddings]. COLLOC. A.363.27 – INV. 4319.
	March, 21 1937 – Rome, Italy, Hotel Excelsior: reception Wedding Banquet of Cesana – Tagliacozzo Written in Italian – Italian Pastries 4 pages, letterpress The menu is a list of pastries served at this afternoon wedding reception that included operatic music. The first on the list is the wedding cake. The menu is elegantly decorated in art deco style with the initials of the newlyweds stamped onto the first page. [Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library - Italy – Family Events: Weddings]. COLLOC. A.363.53 – INV. 0862
	April 13, 1985 – Maleo (LO), Italy, Il Sole Restaurant: lunch Wedding Banquet of Piccinardi – Wybronowski Written in Italian – International Cuisine 4 pages, lithograph print, illustrated by Enrico Baj This food listed on this modern menu is perfectly paired with the wines. The menu is illustrated with two lithographs made by the Italian painter and sculptor Enrico Baj (1924–2003.) They are his and hers images of the newlyweds and appear on both the front and the back of the menu. This is a contemporary interpretation of the great traditional wedding menus. Baj, a cultured artist and author of many publications, is famous for his collages made with different materials, (including metals, buttons and trimmings) mixed into his paintings. He was strongly influenced by Surrealism and Dadaism and his paintings contain the air of an irreverent, anarchic spirit. This works often contain grotesque figures or characters of parody. [Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library - Italy – Family Events: Weddings]. COLLOC. A.363.59 – INV. 1324.
	May 1, 1912 – Italy: lunch Silver Wedding Anniversary Banquet of Costanzo – Rinaudo Written in Italian – International Cuisine 1 page, color chromolithograph print, decorated and embossed, Tipografia Centrale Lynari This menu has some 19th century style graphics, as well as a garland of roses in honor of the 25th wedding anniversary of Mr. & Mrs. Costanzo. [Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library - Italy – Family Events: Wedding Anniversary]. COLLOC. A.364.04 – INV. 4307.
	April, 17 1925 – Saluzzo, Italy: lunch Diamond Wedding Anniversary of Rebufatti – Bruna Written in Italian – Italian Cuisine 4 pages, letterpress with photos, Ditta C. Simonetti e Figlio This list of dishes is missing from this menu. Presumably the courses were listed on a separate piece of paper inserted into the menu. The two photos on the menu are sweet and show the happy couple the day of their wedding, in 1865, and sixty years later on their diamond anniversary. [Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library - Italy – Family Events: Wedding Anniversary]. COLLOC. A.364.06 – INV. 4392.