Restaurants and Dining
Although hosting a dinner party at one’s home is still the height of social entertaining, more and more individuals are dining out instead of having meals at home. As such, Novandria is home to a wide variety of restaurants ranging from the highest caliber of haute cuisine to small businesses focusing on one type of food or another, and even to street carts selling their wares to passerbys.
The most exclusive and high-end restaurants are those serving choice steaks, seafood, wild game, and the like. As many as 8 courses can be presented, based on what the diners or their host have arranged for. A selection of wines are included with the meal. Most of these restaurants have lavish interiors complete with the finest china, silver, and crystal. These restaurants are the height of upper class dining, popular with the wealthy and nobility, for a meal at such a place can be quite the expensive affair.
For the middle classes, table d’hote restaurants are popular. A restaurant of this type serves an established menu for a set price; the diner will pick from two or three selections for each course (typically appetizer, soup, main course, salad, and dessert). These restaurants tend to be more down-to-earth, nice but with a comfortable, homey air to them.
Small locations known as tea rooms are also popular among the middle and upper classes. For those who cannot host a tea at their own home, tea rooms offer a place for them to entertain their guests in elegance and comfort. Tea rooms offer a wide variety of teas, coffees, and lemonades, as well as all manner of light refreshments like finger sandwiches, pastries, or hors d'oeuvres.
Among the lower classes, especially lower-ranked guild members, street laborers, and the like, cafeterias are the place of choice for a meal. For a low cost, visitors can get hearty, filling fare for any meal (many cafeterias are open all the time). Stews, sandwiches, porridge, casseroles, and other such foods are common; nothing particularly fancy, but nourishing and edible. Cafeterias tend to be utilitarian areas, with long communal tables and plenty of ale and water to drink.
Street vendors are common on the streets of Novandria, selling portable foods like sausages, pretzels, hand pies, or pastries. These carts often set up in a different location every day, and will invariably make their way to join any festivals or fairs that may be happening in the city.
For those truly destitute, the churches of Fodla and Elowyn have small public kitchens dotted across the city. The food is bland at best, but at least keeps a person from starving. Stews and porridges are the typical offerings. These kitchens are run by members of the churches with the help of volunteers, and are funded by donations.
Participants
The guild most tied into the business of dining establishments is the Hospitality Consortium, although the Food and Drink Provisioners are also heavily involved.
Important Locations
Related Organizations