Les Grands Buffets strives to set itself apart from its anything-goes friends, calling itself, for instance, an “eat-what-you-wish” rather than an “all-you-can-eat” buffet. I have liked buffets since childhood—if my dad was working late, my mom typically took us to a “steak house” chain called Quincy’s. It may have served sirloins and filets, but I by no means noticed them, …

Even rich ladies with many slaves have been anticipated to run the family, and that meant chores. It was like being a Fifties housewife however with out vacuum cleaners or ovens or plumbing to make it even the tiniest bit easier. There was plenty of hands-on «weaving, spinning, sewing, grinding of grain, fetching water, washing, and bathing» to do every …