This is a curious read - written in 1911, set in the distant technological future - the year 2660 - any number of his "predictions" have already come to pass.
Others, well, not so much...
In any event - an appallingly written story - the "storyline" or "plot" really just a hinge for the technical utopia the author cares to describe. So - painful - almost cringe to read, but - sometimes that's a joy as well...
Link: The Wikipedia on Ralph 124C 41 +
Link: The full novel, online
When it neared noon Ralph escorted his companion to a luxurious eating place, which across its entrance bore the name Scienticafe. “This is one of our best restaurants, and I think you will prefer it to the oldfashioned masticating places,” he told her. As they entered, a deliciously perfumed, yet invigorating fragrance greeted them. They proceeded at once to the Appetizer, which was a large room, hermetically closed, in which sat several hundred people, reading or talking. The two sat down on leather-upholstered chairs and looked at a humorous daily magazine which was projected upon a white wall, the pages of the magazine changing from time to time. They had been in the room but a few minutes when Alice exclaimed: “I am ravenously hungry and I was not hungry at all 53 when we entered. What kind of a trick is it?” “This is the Appetizer,” Ralph exclaimed laughing, “the air in here is invigorating, being charged with several harmless gases for the purpose of giving you an appetite before you eat—hence its name!” Both then proceeded to the main eating salon, which was beautifully decorated in white and gold. There were no attendants and no waiters, and the salon was very quiet except for a muffled, far-off murmuring music. They sat down at a table on which were mounted complicated silver boards with odd buttons and pushes and slides. There was such a board for each patron. From the top of the board a flexible tube hung down to which one fastened a silver mouthpiece, that one took out of a disinfecting solution, attached to the board. The bill of fare was engraved in the board and there was a pointer which one moved up and down the various food items and stopped in front of the one selected. The silver mouth-piece was then placed in the mouth and one pressed upon a red button. The liquid food which one selected would then begin to flow into the mouth, its rate of speed controlled by the red button. If spices, salt or pepper were wanted, there was a button for each one which merely had to be pressed till the food was as palatable as wanted. Another button controlled the temperature of the food. Meats, vegetables, and other eatables, were all liquefied and were prepared with utmost skill to make them palatable. When changing from one food to another the flexible tube, including the mouthpiece, were rinsed out with hot water, but the water did not flow out of the mouth-piece. The opening of the latter closed automatically during the rinsing and opened as soon as the process was terminated. While eating they reclined in the comfortably upholstered leather armchair. They did not have to use knife and fork, as was the custom in former centuries. Eating had become a pleasure “Do you know,” said Ralph, “it took people a long time to accept the scientific restaurants? At first they did not succeed. Humanity had been masticating for thousands of years and it was hard to overcome the inherited habit. “
Eating had become a pleasure! Anyways, there's no accounting for taste, pardon the pun...