An Important Occasion

Beans, Beef, and Bourbon is a book about 100 restaurants, in Boston, which according to a Business school student named Riker, serve good food. It didn't sound very promising, but the voice insisted that if we came to the 'press-conference,' we would not only get a story, but lots of good Manhattans and a chance to talk to a lot of important people. So we went, to Cobb's Restaurant, 32 Tremont.

The lady at the door wasn't very hospitable, and we waited while she muttered in the back about college students and looking for a free drink. They let us in anyway, and introduced us to the authors. Harland and Ann Riker were very nice, and promised to see us later as they shook hands.

Every time we asked what it was all about, one of the models introduced herself and said she came from the Allen agency. Then she introduced a Manhattan and went to answer somebody else's questions. The caviar went well on Ritz Crackers, and the wall was covered with pictures of bulls. It was very puzzling, because they called the place "The Steer Room," but then we passed that off as New England modesty.

We read the book, and looked for "the marine atmosphere" it described at Cobb's, until a man grabbed a microphone and apologized for being Fred Foye. He explained that he was a sports writer.

Then he promised that Majorie Mills, a food expert would tell us more, but instead he introduced the Rikers. We grew very optimistic at this point, but the Rikers didn't seem to know quite what had happened either. They said that they had put out a mimeographed list of eating establishments in Boston for students at Harvard. The first edition sold out, so they wrote a whole book. But, the publishing houses must have thought either that Boston food was so bad that nobody would want to know about it, or else that gourmets werentt curious. So the Rikers had to print it themselves, and it had been a huge success, and they were planning a new and better edition soon. We sat back, our curiosity satisfied, but they disillusioned us again, because it seems they weren't paying for the affair after all. They had only met Mr. Bel a couple of weeks before and were very surprised when he told them he would like to give them a party. Bel told them he owned Cobb's, and that lots of customers had mentioned their book, and that he liked people who had ideals, and he felt that the Rikers had ideals.

Then the reporter got hold of the mike again and told us that the Assistant to the District Attorney was here because the District Attorney was busy in the penitentiary. The District Attorney's assistant explained that he had been sent because he was single, so the reporter grabbed the mike and introduced a fellow from the Boston Executives' Council who said he was very sorry that the President of the Chamber of Commerce hadn't been able to make it. He mentioned hopefully that he had a friend who had made three million dollars printing a magazine, and then the reporter made his move again, turning the floor over to Miss Mills.

Miss Mills seemed more certain of herself, because she wasn't substituting for anybody, and she was hidden behind a pink hat. She said that she thought it was a breath of life to see such an uncynical show, and we applauded, so the reporter told us to go back to the martinis. The book costs fifty cents at the Coop.