Liverpool cafe finds menu from 1913 during refurb

From Irish stew to grilled kidneys and boiled fowl, a menu dating back more than 100 years has been found during renovation work at a cafe.

Workmen peeling back old walls discovered the delicate piece of culinary history at the eatery in Liverpool.

The menu, from Wednesday 15 January 1913, is from the former Yamen Cafe in Bold Street.

Staff at the cafe standing at the same site said it had "blown their minds".

The menu offers a selection of appetising "refreshments, luncheons and afternoon teas".

The cafe currently based at the site, called LEAF, now plans to recreate some of the dishes in tribute to the Yamen.

LEAF restaurant
IMAGE COPYRIGHTLEAF
image captionRenovation work is taking place at LEAF cafe, which currently inhabits the building
Featured meals include tournedos bearnaise, consommé de volaille and meringues chantilly with pears, reflecting the cosmopolitan character of the Merseyside port city.

As a thriving global hub, Liverpool fully embraced its maritime heritage and this was reflected in the cuisine on the high street, with French bistro dishes listed alongside more traditional English fare.

A bowl of tomato soup on the menu cost four old pennies, the equivalent of £1.20 today.
ADVERTISEMENT



Menu
IMAGE COPYRIGHTLEAF
image captionBold Street was known as a place for fine dining at the time
Natalie Haywood, from LEAF, said: "When I saw it I was staggered, it's like a time capsule hidden in the walls.

"To see what they were doing then, how forward-thinking and creative as a restaurant, is so inspiring.

"We have always known this is a historic building but having the menu in our hands has made it all feel real, something dating back to before the First World War."

Natalie Haywood
IMAGE COPYRIGHTLEAF
image captionNatalie Haywood said staff were delighted by the discovery
The menu was not typical fare for an average working class Liverpudlian in that era and the prices were out of reach for most people, a food historian has said.

Associate professor in history at Liverpool Hope University, Bryce Evans, said it was aimed at an "upper middle class clientele".

The "meaty" menu had a continental influence "typical only of the better-off in Britain at that time", the author said.

He said foreign dishes and the greater use of vegetables illustrated "cosmopolitanism and, in turn, Liverpool's status as a major city of empire and trade and exchange" and indicated the restaurant was "geared towards a bourgeois clientele".

The British working class diet tended to include more starchy food than its middle class equivalent, especially bread, and not nearly as much fat and protein, Mr Evans added.

Staff hat from 1913
IMAGE COPYRIGHTLEAF
image captionA hat worn by staff members of the time was also found
Contractors also discovered a hat worn by Yamen Cafe staff members, a whist book and a packet of playing cards.

In 1913 Bold Street was the equivalent of London's Bond Street, boasting car show rooms, extravagant clothes shops and fine dining.

It was the year suffragette Emily Davidson died, the House of Lords rejected the Irish Home Rule Bill and Liverpool FC's legendary manager Bill Shankly was born.

No doubt the sinking of the Titanic the previous year would still have been a regular subject of conversation in the city where the White Star ocean liner was registered.