Haus Vaterland metres deep, panoramas, and lighting effects, and served appropriate food; it was an early example of modern theme dining or experiential gastronomy. While the main shows took place in the ballroom, each theme restaurant also had musicians of the appropriate origins on staff to complete the dining experience, including at least six dance bands. A central kitchen occupied the entire top floor, connected to the different dining establishments by pneumatic tubes, through which orders came up, and dumbwaiters, by means of which food was sent down and dirty dishes sent back up; conveyor belts at kitchen level transferred the dishes
A Gift to Young Housewives also gave time- and money-saving hints. During the Soviet era, the book, written for the middle class and aristocrats, was condemned as "bourgeois and decadent", mainly because of its aristocratic tone. Also, it was mostly outdated for the 20th century, as it did not include usage of modern kitchen equipment: refrigerators, electric and gas ovens, etc. In the post-war USSR, a time when people dealt with food shortages, long lines, and a scarcity of the necessary ingredients, cookbooks were mostly seen as a laughable anachronism. For example, one recipe for babka called for ingredients such as 60 to 70 eggs,