ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the origins and development of British Restaurant (BRs), particularly with regard to the rhetoric and hidden purposes of the Ministry of Food (MF) and of political interests generally. It introduces a regional perspective has not been attempted before. The chapter explores that pulling together for the war effort was not a feature of the catering sector, where vitriolic criticism was made of the government's communal feeding policies. It also explores that there is consideration of the food served in BRs. BRs received allowances for rationed foods on the same scale as commercial catering establishments, although the quantities were higher where at least 60 per cent of the clientele were industrial workers, especially for those in Category B heavy manual labour. BRs were just one element of a broad government war time food policy, which can be divided into the systematic and the practical. The latter included provisions for day-to-day feeding and emergency feeding.
