Al Fresco dining, blame it on France

May 30, 2007

al·fres·co (l-frsk) adv.
In the fresh air; outdoors: dining alfresco.


Let’s face it, everyone loves to dine outdoors, and on a pleasant summer day in Northern Michigan, there’s nothing better than soaking up the sun and looking out across the bay or along a downtown street at a table outside your favorite restaurant.
But where did the tradition of dining outdoors begin? Why, back in the Stone Age, of course. In ancient cave paintings found in France, there are depictions of picnickers enjoying a meal (mastodon, perhaps? Giant sloth?), not in a restaurant as one might imagine, but in a pastoral outdoor setting.
But seriously folks, it was in France that our modern tradition of dining outdoors got its start in a big way, thanks to an explosion in “café society” that blended socializing and entertainment with dining outdoors.

THE Café CRAZE
After decades of being buffeted by revolution and the Napoleanic wars, Paris began to rebuild and expand in the mid-19th century. A French civic planner named Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann was commissioned by Napoleon III to rebuild the Right Bank of the city. Haussmann transformed Paris from a medieval city to one filled with broad boulevards and gardens.
It was on these new boulevards that the first cafés began to flourish. By the 1850s, over 20,000 cafés had sprung up in Paris.
Blessed with a fairly mild climate (Paris is roughly on the same latitude as Northern Michigan, but has warmer winters), the city’s outdoor cafés became chic places to meet to discuss the arts, theater, politics, music and plain old gossip.

THE ARTS CROWD
Some might point out that dining al fresco was certainly practiced in other lands, ranging from Timbuckto to Tobago. The Italians, Spanish, Chinese and people of India were no slouches when it came to enjoying outdoor cafés.
The difference, however, is that as the center of bohemian cool in the 1890s through the 1920s, the café culture was popularized around the planet by some of the world’s greatest artists and writers.
In fact, the oldest café in Paris is Le Procope, established in 1686 and still in operation, which features a sunny, second floor terrace. It was here that U.S. ambassador Benjamin Franklin enjoyed frequent meals, as did philosophers Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire.
When café society came into its full flower, one could find writers such as Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein rubbing elbows with artists such as Pablo Picasso and the great actors and opera stars of the day.
Part of the fun (then as now) was watching the procession of thousands of people out taking the air up and down the boulevards, brimming with café crowds.
In fact, Hemingway, who wrote some of his best work scribbling on a notepad in the cafés of the Left Bank, once claimed that if you sat in a Parisian café long enough, you’d see everyone you’ve ever known.

CLOSER TO HOME
The same can seem true in Northern Michigan, where archaic rules governing outdoor dining loosened up a few years ago. Today, you’ll find al fresco opportunities popping up like morel mushrooms, ranging from the smallest restaurants in town with a table or two out front, to dining spots that are building new decks to capitalize on a trend.
And take heart, Northern Michigan, because unlike the cafés of Paris, you’re not likely to be soaked for what can be a day’s pay for the pleasure of dining al fresco. And though you may not see “everyone you’ve ever known” promenading by, chances are good that at least a friend or two will stroll past with a comment on how sweet life is in Northern Michigan.