A long, clear capon broth, concentrated enough to revive strength. The 17th-century 'restaurant', prescribed to the sick and convalescent long before the name was given to a place.

Why this dish? Molière, consumptive, played *The Imaginary Invalid* and collapsed on stage in 1673; he died a few hours later. Capon broth, called 'restaurant' because it restores strength, was THE remedy of the era for weakened bodies — a poignant echo for the man who mocked doctors while fighting illness.

You find me pale? Eh, I cough more than I would like — keep that between us, and far from my doctors! Put a fine capon in cold water, skim patiently, let it simmer for hours with leek and turnip until you draw a clear, strengthening broth they call restaurant, for it restores a half-dead man. I take a cup between rehearsals; it does me more good than all their prescriptions in kitchen Latin.

How it was made : In the 17th century, a 'restaurant' referred to a concentrated broth believed to restore the strength of the sick — the word would only designate a place around 1765. It was considered sovereign against exhaustion and fevers; cookery and health treatises gave recipes enriched with potable gold or precious stones for the wealthiest.

The contemporary twist : Serve in a cup, like a consommé, with a thin shaving of Parmesan on top to enhance umami — an artist's dressing room comfort.

Sources : François Pierre de La Varenne, Le Cuisinier françois, 1651

Molière · Charactorium