The Art of the Table

By Suzanne von Drachenfels
Published by Simon and Schuster
November 2000; $40.00US/$59.00CAN; 0-684-84732-9

Coming together to share a meal is one of our most vital traditions. Whether dining with friends, family, or business associates, we know that an elegant setting and gracious manners bring a sense of harmony and order to the occasion. Yet when it comes to knowing precisely how to set a table for formal and informal dining, which fork is for dessert and which for appetizer, how to serve different types of wine -- even how to eat certain foods -- many of us are not fully confident.

Suzanne von Drachenfels learned this firsthand in her career as an expert on table setting, tableware, and etiquette. Conducting seminars throughout the country, she would hear the same questions again and again: Should bread be buttered entirely or bite by bite? What is the purpose of holding a wine glass by the stem or the base? Is handmade crystal worth the price difference?

The Art of the Table answers all these questions and more. A treasure trove of timeless information, this complete guide is to the table what Joy of Cooking is to the kitchen. Von Drachenfels shows us how to select, lay, and use tableware to enhance any dining experience, and how to properly store and care for it -- whether it's your grandmother's porcelain or everyday stainless steel. She provides guidance on mixing and matching tableware patterns; the basics of coffee, tea, and wine; menu planning; napkin folding; and the proper service techniques for all types of entertainment. So as not to let the lore of the table fall away, she delves deep into the history of specific tableware and the customs we keep, making today's practices understandable.

For the novice host, this is an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide with more than one hundred helpful illustrations. For the host with more experience, it is a rich and exciting source of new ideas. Like its author, whose passion for the table is contagious, The Art of the Table is an authoritative, elegant, and sophisticated resource for all one's dining needs.

Reviews

"The Art of the Table is a must have -- fun to read and chock full of information -- that will help America raise its hosting and guesting manners by several degrees. As young people begin to renounce their plastic flatware . . . this book will be invaluable. And for anyone setting a table, it's an ABC primer!"

--Letitia Baldridge, former White House social secretary

"The arts of cooking and wine making have made tremendous headway in the last few years. It is time for someone to teach us how to properly and elegantly serve and enjoy the fruits of this progress. The Art of the Table is that guide."

--Jacques Pépin, PBS-TV cooking show host, cookbook author, and cooking teacher

"Suzanne von Drachenfels's charming book, The Art of the Table, combines the history of what we eat with how we eat in a way that will appeal to those who entertain, those who are interested in the history of civilization, and those who simply want to know what the rules are."

--Nancy Dunnan, coauthor of The Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette

"The Art of the Table is filled with information that people have forgotten or just don't know. It's a great reference for dining and entertaining."

--Jean-Georges Vongerichten, chef and cookbook author

"From acing the basics of setting a beautiful table to perfecting the fine points of entertaining, The Art of the Table will inspire confidence and creativity in every newlywed who quivers at the thought of entertaining the in-laws."

--Millie Martini Bratten, editor in chief of Bride's magazine

"Fascinating . . . historical . . . practical . . . a worthwhile guide for the new and seasoned host."

--Judith Ré, author of Social Savvy and etiquette expert

"The Art of the Table covers everything you ever wanted to know or need to know about tableware . . . This book is a real treasure."

--Dorothea Johnson, director of the Protocol School of Washington

"The Art of the Table [is] a staple for every household. Read it once, refer to it often -- you'll never question your dining savvy again."

--Diane Forden, editor in chief of Bridal Guide

"When your boss is coming to dinner and you can't tell your dessert spoon from your demitasse spoon and you're wondering if you actually have a five o'clock spoon, turn to The Art of the Table for all the answers on the finer points of dining and tableware."

--Nathalie Dupree, television host and author of Nathalie Dupree's Comfortable Entertaining

"A great experience awaits in reading The Art of the Table. I highly recommend it."

--Bert P. Cutino, cofounder of the Sardine Factory Restaurant and Monterey chapter president of the Confrèrie de la Châine des Rôtisseurs, the world's oldest gastronomic association.

Excerpt

The following is an excerpt from the book The Art of the Table: A Complete Guide to Table Setting, Table Manners, and Tableware

HOW TO LAY DINNERWARE

All human history attests

That happiness for man,

The hungry sinner;

Since Eve ate apples

Much depends upon dinner.

Lord Byron, Don Juan

The dinner table is the heart of the home, a magic place where moments are treasured and memories made. Family events, anniversaries, and holidays are all celebrated at the table, a place where children are taught, business is conducted, and romance is found, a setting that greets with a silent message: "Welcome. A place is prepared for you."

A myriad of traditions surround the service of meals, especially dinner. We dine in a designated area and sit at a table enhanced by the symmetrical alignment of dinnerware. Like a picture slightly askew, an asymmetrical place setting creates subtle irritation, and to promote a harmonious relaxed ambience, dinnerware is laid directly opposite the ware on the other side of the table. When an odd number of people are seated at a rectangular, square, or oval table, the odd-numbered place setting is aligned with the middle of the even-numbered place setting opposite. This is not to suggest that one set the table with a ruler in hand, only that the symmetrical alignment of dinnerware please the eye.

The type of dining occasion determines where to lay dinnerware. At a multi-course meal, notably a formal affair, each course is served one at a time, and dinnerware is laid in the center of the place setting. In formal dining, side dishes are not used, cups and saucers do not appear on the table, and demitasse is served in another room.

At an informal meal, the menu is simpler and the courses are either laid on the table all at once or presented one at a time as in formal service. A meal served all at once requires space, and side dishes, namely, salad plate, bread-and-butter plate, and fruit saucer, are laid to the left of the cover. The left-handed person reverses the placement. Why are side dishes placed opposite the hand with which one eats? Because the placement of ware near the "eating" hand is awkward to manipulate and makes the dishes too close for comfort.

The placement of the cup and saucer is different for company and family dining. Because the majority of people are right-handed, at a company occasion the cup and saucer are placed on the right side, even for a left-handed person; this placement promotes a symmetrical table setting. The cup and saucer are laid to the right of the outside piece of flatware. However, at a family meal, aesthetics are not as important as comfort, and commonsense dictates seating the left-handed person at the end of the table where the cup and saucer are placed on the left (even though the other cups and saucers are on the right).

When hot beverages are served during a meal, such as coffee at breakfast or tea at lunch, the cup and saucer are laid on the table initially. But if hot beverages are served at the end of a meal, such as after dessert, the cup and saucer are brought to the table following the last course.

Here are some guidelines for the alignment of dinnerware.

• Large plates, such as the dinner plate and luncheon plate, are laid about 1 inch in from the edge of the table. The exception is the service plate, a capacious plate aligned flush with the edge of the table.

• Small plates, such as the salad plate, fish plate, and dessert plate, are laid in the center of the cover, about 2 inches in from the edge of the table.

• Cups and saucers are placed approximately 1 inch beyond the outermost piece of flatware. The top edge of the saucer is aligned with the top rim of the plate or bowl.

• Cup handles are faced in a four o'clock position for easy access.

• Soup bowl and soup cup handles are aligned parallel with the edge of the table.

• Bread-and-butter plates are laid at the top left of the cover, usually above the dinner fork, a placement that avoids overcrowding on the right side, where the goblet and wine glass are placed.

• Elbow room requires a minimum of 15 inches between place settings, or approximately 24 inches from the center of one place setting to the middle of the next.

Author

Suzanne von Drachenfels's passion for table things led her to a career as Tabletop Consultant to Fitz & Floyd, a maker of fine dinnerware that has been used in the West Wing of the White House. As an expert on the table, she has traveled extensively to conduct seminars and appeared on local television morning shows throughout the United States. She lives on the Monterey Peninsula in California, where she and her late husband, Baron Alexei von Drachenfels, have lived for many years.

Copyright © 2000 Suzanne von Drachenfels

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