Reading a cooking article in a recent NewYork Times Magazine, I learned about Simon Hopkinson, founding chef in 1987 of a restaurant in London called Bibendum. Of course, the name
of the restaurant caught my Latin eye, as the word bibendum recalls the opening words of the poet Horace’s famous ode
(I.37) on the death of Cleopatra:
nunc
est bibendum, nunc pede libero
pulsanda tellus, nunc Saliaribus
ornare pulvinar
deorum
tempus erat
dapibus, sodales.
[Now it must be drunk, now with a free foot the earth must
be struck, now, friends, was the time to honor the sacred couch of the gods
with priestly feasts.] The poem becomes much more complex, but the opening
words are frequently quoted on wine coasters, cocktail napkins, and in other
convivial contexts.
But I also learned that the building in which the restaurant
Bibendum opened was the 1911 Michelin Building, and another reference
to the word bibendum revealed itself: the famous Michelin man
has a name, and it is... Bibendum! On
the Michelin website there is a fascinating little excerpt from an old film
explaining how the Michelin man took shape in April of 1898 AND how he received
the name Bibendum. You can watch it here, but you may also wish to check out more Bibendum history at the Michelin website. The text of the film is
in French, but you can clearly see the drawing of a portly man enjoying a good drink
under the Latin heading Nunc est bibendum! The artist signed as O'Galop, but his name was--mirabile scriptu--Marius Rossilon.
Time to rejoice in the inventive imagination of the
classically-influenced advertising artist!
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