TRENDING NOW - L'Art de La Table

We are so thrilled about today’s blog feature since it correlates tightly with Patine’s main inventory of available articles to shop through.

A big trend we are seeing right now is the return on the dinning table of the ‘charger plate’, essentially a larger plate that is placed first on the dinning table and frames the actual serving dinner plate. Those charger plates define the guest’s allocated dinning table space and can be removed (or not) once dinner starts. During the 1800’s it constituted a must-have element when dressing the perfect dinning table, which brings us to today’s topic: L’art de la table (translated from the French language as “the art of dressing the dinner table”).

Since UNESCO added French gastronomy to its World Heritage list in 2010, there has been a widespread misunderstanding that French cuisine had finally received official acknowledgment as being the best in the world. In fact, the UNESCO panel determined that French gastronomy, with its rituals and presentation, fulfills the conditions to be included on the prestigious list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Therefore, this recognition was not for the food itself, but for what’s called L’art de la table, the dining staging rituals & expressions that define the French art de vivre (lifestyle).

So, what is exactly L'art de la table?

Whether you are preparing a fine dining event, or are simply hosting a more casual and relaxed affair, using some creativity when it comes to setting your table will make the dining experience infinitely better. From the opening aperitif to closing digestives, artfully chosen and arranged china, bespoken crystal glass ware, antique decanters and other delightfully presented tabletop ware is what makes a table, regardless of how simple the meal has been cooked, so special.

Setting the table is an art and giving your full attention to the process should be equally as important as it should be fun. It is about expressing your creativity, making your guests feel special.In our humble opinion, creating a wonderful and elegant table setting is like painting a canvas: first, you feel inspired and gradually, you select the size of the painting, the color paint palette and the various paint brushes that will assist you in creating that extraordinary and personal masterpiece. The planning that gets into setting that perfect dinning table is very similar: the final effect will obviously depend on the menu, number of courses, the choice of wines and the available china you might own but there are also other basic elements that shall assist you in elevating your dinning table setting to that special place: tabletop accessories.These accent pieces are the key to making a truly unique table and at Patine we certainly have plenty: functional accessories like salt and pepper cellars can be quirky as well as luxurious, sparkling crystal ware will add shine and elegant, antique Limoges porcelain bread plates on the side are just a few examples of effortless touches that can render the table presentation even more exquisite. Purely decorative pieces like a glass vase or antique silver centerpieces can equally find their place on the dinning table, just be careful not to block your guests from seeing each other with too much height structure on the table!

And certainly don’t despair if you do not own (or can't afford) a sumptuous and matching - heirloom quality - china set. Layering is these days well accepted and actually very popular. Feel free to mix china patterns and styles you might have at home with antique tabletop accent ware to create a setting that reflects once again you and your personality. At the end, it is the little details that make all the difference… it is through those exquisite & fine antique tabletop accents, that your table setting becomes that bit extra special and that friends and family will certainly be compelled to notice and admire.

Since our blog postings aim to be as bit as informative as well as enjoyable, we didn’t want to end this feature without giving you a few interesting & fun facts relating to our todays’ topic:

1) Since many aristocrats’ heads rolled (a reference to the Guillotine) during the time of the French Revolution, L’Art de la Table was lost during this period. However, Napoleon revived the art of the table as he felt that this tradition of etiquette and elegance was also a statement of power.

2) English and French have been known to repeatedly disagree. This is also perceived when it comes to engraving personalized monograms on silver flatware: the English engraved their silver flatware in the front since their silverware was placed on the table face up. The French way is to engrave their monograms on the back since they would to place the silverware upside down. Oh, these Europeans :-).

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