The famous Thursday dinners of King Staś

King Staś's Thursday Dinners
Poland's last ruling monarch, King Stanisław August Poniatowski (1732-98), affectionately referred to Król Staś, was a patron of the arts and learning known for his famous Thursday dinners, to which he would invite prominent politicians, thinkers and community leaders. In the 1990s, Warsaw Mayor Paweł Piskorski picked up on the tradition by holding Tuesday breakfasts to talk over current issues with leading businessmen and activists. King Stanisław August’s Thursday dinners were mainly a pretext to get together and discuss various topics of the day. Their culinary aspect was therefore secondary and only a few of the foods served have been pieced together by historians. The rest is a matter of speculation. Here is one such sketchy menu:
Starter: Oysters
Soup: barszcz or broth
Meat: Roast lamb and roast grouse
Dessert: Rose preserves
Beverages: water, old Tokay, Spanish wine