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Gilbert Le Coze, the chef of Le Bernardin at the time with his sister Maguy Le Coze, were thinking about opening Le Bernardin, and what could they do?

This use of “coze” predates the word’s first recorded appearance in print – in Austen’s own novel Mansfield Park, in 1814.

With just a few words, the novelist conjures up for her sister an image of her situation: “We are now all four of us young Ladies sitting round the Circular Table in the inner room writing our Letters, while the two Brothers are having a comfortable coze in the room adjoining.”

And while Eric Ripert is the face of Le Bernardin, the celebrated seafood restaurant, the restaurant was opened, and is co-owned, by Maguy Le Coze, a Frenchwoman whom Mr. Ripert has described as “the soul, the spirit and the boss.”

“We used the money we made in the summer working for our parents to pay the taxes, little by little,” Ms. Le Coze said.