Food For Thought

Whatever happened to porcelain-handled flatware, earthenware tureens, table centerpieces of flowering plants in wicker baskets, cabbageware plates, faience, floral print cloths and napkins, and all of the other traditional, charming table accessories that one used to see so often?  Not that any of this tableware is obsolete.  In fact, I am sure that many of you set your tables with one (or most) of the aforementioned items.  It's just that the current vogue for spare, minimal tableware seems to relegate the old and the jolly to the annals of yesteryear's tablesetting books or, even worse, to the backs of kitchen cabinets.

Look at the 1980s-era table setting above.  At Hélène Bouilloux-Lafont's house in France, a table was set for a casual breakfast.  Blue and white china, a strawberry teapot, and cabbageware dishes filled with fruit were considered fashionable for dining in the country.  But today, tables in the country are set much as they are in town.  The china is monochromatic as is the table linen.  Glassware is bereft of any ornamentation.  (Sometimes it is even bereft of stems!)  Flatware is little more than tines, blades, and bowls attached to plain metal sticks.  It's all so serious.  Where is the fun?  Where is the imagination?  Where is the strawberry teapot?

As much as I understand the practicality of plain tableware, I am also pretty certain that a beige colored plate won't enliven your table, or your mood, the same way a cabbageware tureen does.

Before we get to the table, let's discuss this room.  I think it is perfection, although the blackamoor vase is a little incongruous considering the room's decor.  This was the Essex home of Peter Coats, who I am assuming is the same Peter Coats, a noted landscape designer, who was involved in a relationship with Henry "Chips" Channon.  Anyway, looking at the table, you'll see there is not much more than a cabbage tureen, plates, simple stemware, and a bottle of Rosé.  So simple, and yet, so chic.

See?  Flowers in wicker baskets.  Very charming.  But what makes this table so very pretty is that floral cloth and napkins.  The blue and white check fabric in the room doesn't hurt, either. (At Château de Saint-André-d'Hébertot in Deauville, France.)

Jacqueline Hagnauer set this table in her home in Provence. The cloth was an Indian print, upon which small slipware plates and "Pont-aux-Choux" place plates were placed. Pink, green, and clear glasses were positioned at each setting. Note those Lilliputian-sized cabbageware salt cellars or mustard jars, as well as the trompe l'oeil basket of cherries.

A Tiffany tablesetting created by Mrs. Angier Biddle Duke.  The "Blue Canton" china looks smashing against the orange chintz cloth.  And that basket, filled with chrysanthemums and cornflowers, helps to tone down any formality at a "Country Supper on the Back Porch".

The Flowers of Tiffany & Co.

Years ago, Tiffany & Co. used to have the loveliest floral print china. Tulip lovers and wildflower fans alike could find a pattern that struck their fancies. That must be a thing of the past because a recent search on their website yielded only one such pattern.

I admit that if I were allowed to have only one china pattern, it would not be floral. I would have to choose a Chinoiserie pattern. However, I do find floral patterns to be very charming. Can't you see using floral print dinner plates for a Spring or Summer dinner party or ladies lunch? What about serving dessert on a set of flowery dessert plates? A berry dessert would look lovely against the backdrop of delicate flowers.

I realize that to some, floral china looks old-fashioned. And in a way, it does, but that's the charm of it. I searched the internet high and low for photos of discontinued Tiffany & Co. floral china, and if you ask me, I don't think any of the patterns look old nor stodgy.




I've always loved Sybil Connolly's Mrs. Delany's Flowers for Tiffany & Co. The black background is a nice twist.






Tiffany Tulips




Fleurettes, Tiffany Private Stock





Wildflowers





Famille Noir





Tiffany Garden



Image at top: Tiffany's Biedermeier earthenware; photo from Tiffany Taste; the other two tabletop photos from New Tiffany Table Settings.

A Thing of the Past?

Last week, The New York Times Dining section had an interesting article on the venerable Philadelphia restaurant Le Bec-Fin and the retirement of its star chef Georges Perrier. For forty two years, Perrier, who some deem to be America's version of Paul Bocuse, has been responsible for making Le Bec-Fin one of this country's most esteemed restaurants. But what has not boded well for Le Bec-Fin nor Perrier is its formal, elegant atmosphere and its lauded menu of classic French cuisine. It seems that few people feel comfortable dining in a formal restaurant anymore, and that's truly a shame.

The article quotes a Philadelphia restaurant critic as saying that it's difficult to entice customers to dine in a restaurant that "looks like Louis XIV's boudoir." Dining room photos show a space that is exquisitely sumptuous, and who wouldn't want to get dressed up and dine in such a room, especially on special occasions? But the kicker, for me at least, was this statement that described the restaurant's stodgy ways: "Le Bec-Fin was still presenting butter under little silver domes." Well, what is wrong with that? I serve butter under a little silver dome at my dinner parties, and I don't consider that to be stuffy at all. It's an attractive and easy way to serve butter, and it obviously beats serving your "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" from its plastic tub.

Unfortunately, fine dining is becoming something of a relic, and no where is that more true than in Atlanta. While I may not have many formal restaurants to support in my area, I can do my part by continuing to serve my butter from its silver domed dish.


Image at top: My Ercuis silver butter dish at the ready in my kitchen cabinet.



Christofle silverplated butter dish, designed by Andree Putman, available at Michael C. Fina.




Canard butter dish from Lauret Studio




Hammered silver butter dish from Orfevra




Buis Butter Dish by Ercuis




Ceramic and pewter butter dish by Match, available through Michael C. Fina.

Entertaining the Rothschild Way

I found an intriguing article in The Best in European Decoration (1963) on the Baron and Baroness Philippe de Rothschild (the Baroness being Pauline de Rothschild) and their style of entertaining at Château Mouton Rothschild. As sumptuous as the meals might have been, the preparation that went into entertaining guests seemed quite methodical. The choice of table linen, china, and flowers, not to mention the room in which the meal was to be served, was done with the utmost care. I have copied both the text and the captions of the article because really there is no improving upon what was originally written. And you know, I don't think that there is any improving upon the way in which the Baroness set a table, either.

"Not only the grapes are famous at Château Mouton Rothschild (near Bordeaux). Baron and Baroness Philippe de Rothschild provide their guests with food and wine so legendary that awed guests are apt to surreptitiously slip their menu card into their pocket. But besides the delicate succulence of the fare, the table itself invariably engenders a small shock of delighted surprise.

For every meal, the decoration is completely renewed. Always the centrepiece- and this might extend in drifts of leaves or flowers or berries eddying out towards the edge of the table- consists of imaginative clusters of vegetation held by flower-holders placed directly on the tablecloth. These bases are concealed by leaves or moss. The season and what is available in the garden or the park suggest the elements used; shown here are seven tables set for a winter meal. While two include orchids from the chateau's greenhouses, equally sumptuous effects are achieved by simple cabbage leaves or massed pine needles.

Adding to the gaiety are the tablecloths made for Baroness Rothschild. While for town she prefers white, for Mouton she chooses solid colours in delectable shades of orange, coral, yellow, lavender, or hand-blocked printed small designs.

'When one lives in the country', the Baron says, 'variety is essential'. Carrying out this maxim, the table is set in any of several rooms of the château's two houses: a large salon over the vines, a small, intimate sitting room, a library, a corner of the terrace in fine weather, or the regular dining room.

Part of the amusement is provided by some 180 sets of 19th century Creil plates with printed pictures, acquired over the years from all over France before these became collectors' items. A plate from each series has been photographed, given a number and pasted in a notebook. To order the table settings for the next day, the Baroness simply looks in the book, and jots down the selected numbers for her staff. Even the most long-staying guest has never seen the same series come around a second time."



"A forest of catkins, dried ferns and oak leaves spill over a mauve and white hand-blocked cloth. Polychrome Creil plates with hunting scenes. Vermeil, silver and horn knives and forks, the latter shaped like pistol handles. Emerging out of the vegetation are black metal candlesticks painted with a Japanese design. This photograph was taken in the dining room of the original house built by the present owner's grandfather. The walls are lined with linen printed in white and red. Green and gilt Napoleon III chairs."




"A pink cloth sets off decorative cabbage leaves. Sèvres pâte tendre plates decorated during the Revolution and silver tableware."




"Another printed tablecloth, this one heaped with pine cones and needles and, almost invisible here, pots of flowers. This series of Creil plates tells the story of the capture of Orléans by the Duc de Berry. Vermeil and silver tableware."




"Orchids are mixed with heather and moss to create a miniature glade down the centre of this yellow cloth. The plates were made in the 19th century for the family and bear the Rothschild monogram."




"More orchids on another printed tablecloth. The napkins to accompany these printed cloths are white with a monogram embroidered in a matching shade. Baroness Rothschild likes long tablecloths that swirl on the ground like trains."




"Here in a glow of orange: tawny tablecloth bearing seed-pods and orange and blue English stoneware plates decorated for the English trade in Japan. The knives and forks mingle ivory, vermeil and silver."


Image at top: "A small table by a window in the long salon overlooking the vines. Clumps of narcissi, their pots hidden by moss, rise from the centre of a yellow cloth. The plates are Chantilly pâte tendre "décor de brindille". The 19th century knives, forks and spoons, of silver and of vermeil, with hunting scenes, were made in England for Philippe de Rothschild's grandfather. 18th century painted Italian chairs, and Italian consoles on either side of the window holding objects brought back from travels. The sphere by the window is a bronze and ivory 19th century clock that climbs up and down a chain to indicate the time. Around the table, a glimpse of the handsome floor made of large pink and blue rectangles of ceramic squares set in stone."

All images and all text from The Best in European Decoration by Georges and Rosamond Bernier.

Entertaining with Anne d'Ornano

Continuing with Entertaining à la d'Ornano...

Back in 1968, Anne d'Ornano was officially known as Comtesse Michel d'Ornano, but by 2000, she had also added mayor of Deauville, France to her list of titles. Despite the fact that in the T&C book Anne said that she preferred being a guest at dinners and parties because "I'm basically lazy", Nan Kempner seemed to take a very different view of her. Kempner wrote "I always marvel at how effortlessly she manages to juggle all her roles" including mother, grandmother, mayor of Deauville, the counsel general of Trouville, and the President of the General Council of Calvados. Lazy? Hardly.

Like her sister in law Isabelle, Anne has had the luxury of employing personal chefs in her homes. For the dinners that she hosted thirty years ago, she liked to serve dishes such as "stuffed eggs on hearts of artichokes with truffles and sauce béchamel; roast beef with prunes stuffed with mousse de pâté and salade mimosa; cheese; and cold soufflé de fraise.






And just as Isabelle, Anne seems to have taken a more casual approach to entertaining over the years. When Kempner visited Anne for lunch at her Deauville house, the meal started with a scallop salad followed by poached turbot with beurre blanc and stuffed tomatoes. Dessert was a tarte tatin. Kempner noted that Anne prefers to serve the main course buffet-style in an effort to keep things easy. And, it seems that her menus have lightened up immensely as evidenced by the lack of a béchamel sauce.

I have to say, though, that what might impress me even more than her style, her menu, or that tarte tatin is the abundance of Boxwoods lining the home's front walk. (See below.) Talk about a good first impression!




Anne's Deauville dining room.

The tarte tatin






The interior of Anne's home.





The front walk that is lined with Boxwoods.

All color images from R.S.V.P.: Menus for Entertaining from People Who Really Know How by Nan Kempner; Quentin Bacon photographer.

Party in a Garden

I am completely charmed by this article, "Party Tables Set Like Gardens", that was published in the May 1971 issue of House & Garden. As was written in the article, "Big explosions of flowers, one tiny blossom, fruit...china in the shapes and designs of flowers...party cloths sprinkled with flowers-all to turn a table or room into a heavenly scented, gaily colored spring garden." Amen. I do a weakness for floral table linen and china (one of the few places in my house where floral prints make an appearance.) And if you don't have the luxury of having your own garden, why not create one in the dining room? The beauty of it is that the weather will never rain on your parade...nor your dinner parties and luncheons.


Image at top: A luncheon table set with a centerpiece of flowering quince, mimosa, carnations, and lilies on an embroidered organdy cloth. The interior design of the room was the handiwork of Richard Neas.




A Welcome to Spring Luncheon replete with sprays of lily of the valley in pink glasses and Porthault mats and napkins. Strawberry soup was served in crystal bowls placed on top of fern cuttings.






A spring lunch for two. A carnation print Porthault cloth was placed over an egg-yolk yellow table skirt. Wedgwood's "Chusan" dinner plates with their white quince pattern added to the abundance of flowers.




There is a gracious plenty of everything in this room: food, flatware, napkins, glassware, and pattern. The potted hyacinth, placed around a big bowl of strawberries on the cocktail table, is a nice touch. In case you're wondering, the chafing dish holds Seafood Newburg and rice. It photographed a little bland, but I bet it didn't taste that way.





The lilac colored apartment of designer Bebe Winkler. I covet that table (maybe by Bielecky Brothers?) The china was a collection of stackables called "Chromatics" by Block. I probably wouldn't serve wine in that colored glassware, but I do like that pinky/amber colored goblet.






A red lacquered dining room decorated by Joseph Braswell. The table was set with "Medici" flatware, "Chinoiserie" china, and "King Richard" crystal, all by Gorham. The centerpiece was made of plums and white and lavender freesia.

Lee Bailey at Henri Bendel

I used to find it odd that there are people who buy cookbooks solely for the purpose of reading them. Actually preparing the recipes is beside the point. Strangely enough, I have now found myself as one of "those people." It's not that I don't want to cook, but I truly have no time! If there were 27 hours in a day, well, then maybe.

Some of my favorite cookbooks to read are those by the late, great Lee Bailey. His recipes look delicious, and I'm even planning to take a stab at his Rigodon soon. (It's a chicken custard with brioche topping.) But what really gives me great pleasure are the books' photos of Bailey's marvelously chic tablesettings. By the looks of the photographs, Bailey obviously preferred china, glassware, and linen that was minimal, slightly casual, not fussy, and enormously stylish. For someone with a background in design, Bailey knew the importance of creating atmosphere for one's dinner parties. He also knew that food looks its best against a simple setting.

Bailey once had a noted food and accessories shop within Bendel's (back before it was bought by The Limited) that later moved to Saks. People still talk and write about his boutique today- almost twenty-five years after it closed! It must have really been something, and I regret that childhood was what kept me from knowing anything at the time about Lee Bailey or his shop.

In the book Lee Bailey's Good Parties, Bailey included photos of some of his favorite china, glassware, flatware, and kitchen tools and gadgets, some of which were available for purchase at his Bendel's shop. Below, I'm showing just some of the items that were sold at Bailey's shop. Even if many of us never got the chance to see it in person, perhaps we can get a little taste of what the magic must have been like.





Stainless steel all-purpose pots by Opa.




A Perfect Fish measure.




Left, a 12 1/4" Stainless Steel buffet plate by Bailey-Bannett Inc. At right, an 11" khaki porcelain dinner plate by Taitu for Lee Bailey.




Matte white Japanese flatware.




Chef Master plastic-handled flatware with nonstick Chefcoat.




Bailey-Bannett Inc. stainless steel dessert bowl and saucer.




Lee Bailey all-purpose bistro glass.




Taitu burgundy/brown porcelain dinner plate.


All images from Lee Bailey's Good Parties.