With its chic restaurant scene and world-famous chefs, Paris attracts foodies of all stripes. Groups of female diners are an everyday sight, happy socializing as they enjoy exquisite dishes. But that hasn’t always been the case. In fact, there was a time when women were barely accepted as restaurant-goers. In the mid-19th century, France, defeated at Waterloo but still culturally dominant, invented modern haute cuisine. Eating out became a pastime rather than a necessity for the country’s bourgeoisie, an opportunity for conspicuous consumption and business talk. In keeping with the…
