Victorian Restaurants- The Quartered Room

In the heart of the city, societies’ best gather nightly around the Quartered Room to dine exquisitely in fantastic surroundings. Although some find its décor and magical construction garish, hundreds of well dressed gentlemen and ladies flock to the Quartered Room each night, to dine and be seen. A meal in the Quartered Room is on the check list of every visitor to the city.
Alphonse Quesnay, a court thaumaturgist of King Louis XVI, fled the French Revolution and became a wealthy architect in England. Quesnay designed the Quartered Room and personally painted the mural on its famous ceiling shortly before his disappearance.

Chef Salomon Villon (Revered gnome chef)
Initiative: 5
Physical: 4
Mental: 8
Social: 6
Health: 8
Traits: King of the Kitchen +3, Eye for Quality +2
Combat: Throw whatever is at hand (3-6), Punch (2)

Hamish Mallory (Capable but apologetic human waiter) 
Initiative: 5
Physical: 4
Mental: 6
Social: 7
Health: 6
Traits: So Sorry, My Fault Entirely +2
Combat: Punch (3)

Layout
Both the west and east entrances open to small ante-rooms with green wallpaper and roaring fireplaces. Patrons sit in comfortable chairs and wait to be called by the clerk standing at the doorway.
Once called, the maitre d’hôtel leads patrons into the restaurant’s namesake: the quartered room, a hall full of glimmering glass, and gilt decorations. The quartered room is divided into four dining rooms of equal size by short walls six and half feet tall topped by one foot panels of frosted glass.

Different color palettes and designs decorate each quarter, but the white table clothes, red upholstered chairs and constantly moving waiters in black jackets are present in each division.
The northeast corner has grey fabrics and wallpapers trimmed with gilt and silver decorations. Delicately framed mirrors hang on the walls.
Dark green carpet and pale blue brocades decorate the southeast corner. A long painting of the Bosporus strait runs the length of one wall.
In the southwest corner a bronze bas relief of Apollo dimly reflects the glow of yellow wall hangings and brass fixtures.
Large potted plants of foreign origin decorate the northwest corner. An oriental design of roses dots across rich dark wooden panels.

Fifteen feet above patron’s heads, Quesnay’s grand mural covers the quartered room’s entire ceiling. A meticulously detailed angelic host flies magically across the heavens and brings light to the world in fantastic oranges, pinks and reds. Occasionally an angel may hover over a particular table and smile down on its occupants. The mural’s moving figures and glowing color provides illumination and splendor to the entire dining experience.

Three entrances in the quartered room’s southern wall open to the restaurant’s kitchen. Chef Salomon oversees the chaotic flurry of food preparation and sees every detail. Many dishes have been sent out only to have him swoop down and fix a missed detail before sending the meal back on its way.

Menu (The sample meal for the Quartered Room is based on menus found in “Dinners and Diners” by Lieut.-Col. Newnham-Davis, published in 1899.)

Sample meal
Caviar 2s
Potage consommé à la Villon 1s
Filets de sole aux délices 1s 6d
Suprêmes de volaille et légumes 4s
Carottes nouvelles à la crème 1s
Laitues braisées en cocotte 1s
Cailles à la Sainte Alliance 5s
Salade de chicorée frisée 6d
Crouties à la Villon 1s
Soufflé glacé à la mandarine 1s
Total: 16s

Wines (by the bottle) 
Burgundy 6s
Chablis 6s
Claret 5s
Iced Champagne 7s
Madeira 7s
Port 4s
Sherry 4s

Other Beverages 
Coffee (1 cup) 3d
Seltzer water (bottle) 6d
Scotch (bottle) 1s

Encounters
Two colonels, an admiral, and their wives sit at a table. The men are animatedly telling war stories, which the wives have apparently heard before. Some of their stories are unprintable.

A young woman, named Samantha Pollis, sits by herself in a booth, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling. Her hand busily scratches patterns on the table cloth with a pen.

Members of Royal Societies and Academies often come to the Quartered Room to think, and work during the day. They claim the room’s arrangement helps them concentrate and think differently.