The grand opening, 1889. The hotelier and the impresario ; A London debut ; An offer too good to refuse -- Boomtown, 1890. Taking charge ; A celebrity guest and an infamous dinner -- Decadence and suspicion, 1890-1893. The shareholder meeting ; Flying high ; Expansion plans and new pressures -- Scandal, 1894-1898. The Prince of Wales vs. the Duc d'Orlea̓ns ; Ritz makes a move ; A secret investigation ; Calamity -- Paris, 1898-1899. A new beginning ; The cookbook ; The perfect hotel -- Return to London, 1899-1902. Revenge is sweet ; The toast of the town ; A new king and a nervous breakdown -- Afterword. Paris, 1925.
Summary:
In early August 1889, Cesar Ritz, a Swiss hotelier highly regarded for his exquisite taste, found himself at the Savoy Hotel in London. He had come at the request of Richard D'Oyly Carte, the financier of Gilbert & Sullivan's comic operas, who had modernized theater and was now looking to create the world's best hotel. D'Oyly Carte soon seduced Ritz to move to London with his team, which included Auguste Escoffier, the chef de cuisine known for his elevated, original dishes. The result was a hotel and restaurant like no one had ever experienced, run in often mysterious and always extravagant ways--which created quite a scandal once exposed.
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