CHAA Meetings
The Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor generally meet on the third Sunday of the month at 4 p.m. Eastern, September through May. Meeting invitations are sent to members and other interested individuals, but all are welcome to attend. Some of our meetings are held in person at the downtown Ann Arbor District Library and streamed on YouTube, and some are held online via Zoom. Please check this website for the date and location and format of each meeting, as these will vary.
Members receive emailed information regarding meetings in advance and a reminder on the day of each meeting.
Next program
Sunday, September 15, 2024, 4 p.m.
online via Zoom and YouTube
Brasseries, Bistros and Bouillons
The first place to be considered—after the fact—as a restaurant opened in Paris in the 1760s. While the importance of this first “restorer” has been exaggerated in some regards, it did spark the rise, decades later, of the first great restaurants. As these began to draw tourists to Paris at the start of the nineteenth century, numerous other public dining options arose, some of them variations on earlier places, and others completely new.
These included cafés, wine shops, workers’ restaurants, women’s restaurants, bouillons, crèmeries, brasseries, treehouse restaurants, bistros, and a host of other options, some of which disappeared, while others have remained part of Parisian dining. This talk presents an overview of these options, and their development and influence going into the twentieth century.
Jim Chevallier began by studying French bread, notably the croissant and the baguette, before branching out into other corners of food history, including early medieval French food and the history of the food of Paris. This talk draws on one chapter of his book for Rowman and Littlefield, A History of the Food of Paris: From Roast Mammoth to Steak Frites, which Choice magazine named an Outstanding Academic Title for 2019. Among his other works are Before the Baguette: The History of French Bread (2019) and Feasting with the Franks: The First French Medieval Food (2021).
Upcoming programs and links to past programs.
Join Us!
Our membership year runs from September to September. The annual membership is $25. You can print out the membership form here. We also accept membership dues via PayPal. Click on the membership link at the top of this page for more information.
The Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor (CHAA), founded in 1983 by Jan Longone and friends, is an organization of scholars, cooks, food writers, nutritionists, collectors, students, and others interested in the study of culinary history and gastronomy.
The mission of the group is to promote the study of culinary history through regular programs open to members and guests, through the quarterly publication Repast, and through exchanges of information with other such organizations.
Monthly meetings of the CHAA are normally held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from September through May on the third Sunday of the month at 4 p.m. (unless otherwise announced).
Membership in CHAA is open to anyone interested in culinary history. Dues are $25.00 for an individual or couple and include a subscription to Repast. The membership year is from September to September. For those who cannot attend meetings, a yearly subscription to Repast is $20.00.
Repast is the official quarterly publication of CHAA. Besides announcements of future meetings and reports of past meetings, it also contains feature articles, book reviews, a calendar of upcoming events of culinary interest, and special events. For information about contributing articles, placing information, announcements, or other regular features, contact the Editor.