Très Français

Simple touches transform French tabletops.

By Joan Marsan, Associate Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 10/1/2000

The French restaurant has long been a bastion

of fine dining. “It

sounds a little pretentious, but people strive to be at the level

of the French,” says Patrick Neyrolles, assistant general manager,

Hotel de la Cité, Carcassone, France. From an early age, French

children are taught table manners, food preparation and quality,

and even the history of porcelain, china glassware and silverware.

Among the French, there is an unusual appreciation for fine dining

and elegant table and food presentations. The best way for a restaurant

to achieve that French savoir faire? “Hire a French chef, and

you’ll get a French look,” Neyrolles says.

French Redefined

But know that the definition of the French

look is changing. In the 1970s and 1980s, French meant a maitre

d’ in tails

and a bow tie, crisp white cloth draped over one arm.

Fine china and silver would grace the table. But the Zen influence

that pervaded the 1990s altered even the French sense of style,

introducing a minimalist approach to many Gallic eateries. Just

as French cuisine has grown lighter, reducing the use of butter

and heavy creams in response to international trends favoring healthy

cuisine, French tabletop design has grown simpler, matching this

new flavor.

Still, elegance prevails. “From one restaurant to another

around the world, you’ll see the same [manufacturer] names,” Neyrolles

says, emphasizing that quality has not gone out of style. But in

many new restaurants, the presentation has been altered. Playful

accoutrements cue diners in to the fact that they’re about

to sample French cuisine reincarnated.

“We always try to find something original to use on the table,” says

Christophe-Bruno Marziale, corporate F&B director, Sofitel. At

the Sofitel Paris La Défense Grande Arche, colorful Bohemian

glassware takes center stage. At other Sofitel restaurants, the point

of interest may be distinctive salt and pepper shakers or floral

arrangements consisting of a single flower sunk in a crystal vase

filled with colorful marbles. Less formal linens, such as a simple

chemin d’table at the Grande Arche allowing the textured wood

tabletop itself to contribute to the design, have become

standard at these new-breed French restaurants. In some cases, silver

cutlery has been replaced with a stylish Italian stainless steel.

In the United States especially, simplified

permutations of French design abound. At the Paris Bar & Grill, Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia,

Christoph Zbinden, director of F&B, says American diners who

were intimidated by the air of pretension associated

with French establishments in past decades have been drawn into the

fold by more approachable, casual-looking bistros and toned-down

fine dining restaurants.

Everything about the Paris Bar & Grill aims to ease the guest’s

experience, from the “You eat what you read” philosophy

of menu presentation, wherein the menu accurately and succinctly

describes all dishes, to the white-on-white tableware. In fact, it

is the elegant Schott-Zwiesel glassware with 12- to 16-inch stems “screaming

to be filled,” as Zbinden says, that attract the most tabletop

attention. “Guests see them going out to other tables and think, ‘What

do I have to do to get one of those?’” he says, contributing

to wine sales that exceeded expectations during the first

six weeks of opening.

Detailed Design

Diners in other countries require less coddling

than Americans do, and a full-fledged formal atmosphere

appeals to their aesthetic senses. At the Phoenicia Inter-Continental

Beirut’s

rooftop French restaurant, Eau de Vie, full linens and silver decorate

the tabletop. But even here, simplicity reigns supreme, as demonstrated

by the omission of show plates. However, at Maxim’s in the

Inter-Continental, Mexico City, care has been taken to reproduce

precisely the belle epoque air of the Parisian Maxim’s, with

nothing sacrificed for simplicity’s sake. All details, from

the Bernardaud Limoges china to the Christofle cutlery,

have been faithfully replicated.

Attention to detail is apparent throughout

French restaurants—from

carefully selected ingredients through to the tabletop. Like La Barbacane,

the signature restaurant of the Hotel de la Cité, the hotel’s

private Wine Cellar dining room features china bedecked

with the fleur-de-lis, the same pattern that adorns the walls of

this former Episcopal church situated within the stone buttresses

of the medieval city of Carcassone. From flatware to salt and pepper

shakers, the silver items on the table feature a grape motif, as

do the hand-embroidered linens.

Such conscious care is apparent at the Paris

Bar & Grill, as

well. Non-essential items, such as flowers, are absent from the table.

The remaining pieces reiterate themes present in the restaurant and

hotel’s interior design, and set a subdued stage for the presentation

of stellar cuisine. The linear pattern of the white-on-white service

china looks stark and simple at first glance. But up close, it becomes

apparent that the pattern is reminiscent of the five Ionic columns

separating the restaurant from the rotunda of the 120-year-old former

bank building that houses the hotel. The décor on the base

plate integrates the ornate design of the restaurant’s carpet,

and the flatware reproduces an interlocking pattern used throughout

the hotel. In this way, the truly French eatery employs “value-added” tabletop

items, Zbinden says, without overcomplicating the experience

for the guest.

Sofitel Paris

La Défense Grande Arche,

Paris

Restaurant: L’Avant-Seine

Seats: 110

Covers: Unknown (September opening)

House specialties: Cuisine du marche, rotisserie items

Tabletop Sources

China: Bernardaud Limoges

Glassware: Oenologue and handblown, colored Bohemian

glass

Silverware: Sambonet

Linens: Not Available

Phoenicia Inter-Continental

Beirut, Lebanon

Restaurant: Eau de Vie

Seats: 160

Covers: 150

House specialties: Four season salad, tomato terrine,

sea bass, chocolate fondant

Tabletop Sources

China: Bernardaud Limoges

Glassware: Schott-Zwiesel

Silverware: Sant’ Andrea

Linens: Tablet Maison de Blanc

Hotel Meurice

Paris

Restaurant: Le Meurice

Seats: 50

Covers: 90

House specialties: Menu de degustations, dessert souffles

Tabletop Sources

China: Royal Limoges

Glassware: Christallerie de Hartzwiller

Silverware: Christofle

Linens: Elis

Hotel de la Cité

Carcassone, France

Restaurant: The Wine Cellar

Seats: 8

Covers: 8

House specialties: Dinners are specially prepared by

Chef Franck Putelat to center around particular products,

such as truffles, foie gras, lobster, a favorite wine

region (Bordeaux, Alsace, Côtes du Rhône), or a theme

selected by the guest.

Tabletop Sources

China: Pillivuyt

Glassware: Schott-Zwiesel

Silverware: Not Available

Linens: Handmade by local artists

Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Restaurant: Paris Bar & Grill

Seats: 100

Covers: Unknown (Opened July)

House specialties: Cuisine created with organic ingredients

Tabletop Sources

China: Eschenbach

Glassware: Riedel

Silverware: Hepp

Linens: Not available