An Empty Plate in the Cafe Du Grand Boeuf

On an evening in 1961, the staff of a fine Parisian restaurant awaits the arrival of their employer and sole customer, an expatriate American newspaper tycoon. When he arrives – disheveled and morose – Monsieur’s wish is simple: to die of starvation at his own table. This sends the staff into a panic which only is quieted when Monsieur agrees to allow them to prepare a meal in the kitchen, while serving him only an empty plate with a description of the food. As they serve him a “feast of adjectives and adverbs,” he counters with his own story of desire and loss. A “comic tragedy in seven courses,” the play celebrates the joys of cooking, sex, bullfighting, and the collected works of Ernest Hemmingway.