dispatches from a different world

To file under the heading of "Things I'd Like To See Dramatized": Jim Harrison, in writing about a thirty-seven-course lunch, writes, "When I wanted a taste of Calvados as an entremets the waiter actually told me that I'd have to be patient until after the cheese course, an hour distant. Luckily, an intemperate French count who was at my table told the waiter to bring my Calvados immediately or he would slap his face."

The gentry are useful, after all.