Recipes - Food Displays

Written By: Cherie Hensdill Source: Hotels, Oct 1997		French Garden Hotel With it's soft colors conjures up images of wheat fields and green meadows to transport you to the peace of the countryside. Featuring fruits ripened in the summer sun. leaf or wicker borders, the collection has three lovely designs: Dam Pierre, Chiosy & Maintenon. Villeroy & Boch , Luxemborg Symmetry Plays a graceful note in Capello Each spoon and fork features a beveled a crown that tapers to a stylish concave bowl. The 18% chrome provides superior protection against corrosion, while the 8% nickel adds to this protection, giving it a warm, silver-like luster. Oneida Foodservice, New York, USA
	A guest’s first tactile interaction with a restaurant takes place at the dining room table. The phone reservation, the welcome at the front door, the escort to the table all preface a sensory experience that does not begin until the guest sits down, opens the menu, unfurls the napkin and reaches for that first sip from the water glass. Capturing the guest’s attention in those first few moments is often the result of a well-designed tabletop. “Things you touch on the table are becoming more important because they enhance the overall dining experience,” says Walter Staib, President of Concepts By Staib Ltd., a Philadelphia-based restaurant consulting firm. " “ well co-ordinate restaurant says to the guest that someone really thought through the concept, and the guest expects this to translate to the cuisine. If you have that say about the food?” Chefs and the F&B directors who realize the power of tabletop ware are incorporating today’s hottest design trends to help establish theme and personality in their restaurants. Brightly colored plate-and glass ware, and signature flourishes such as logo embossed base plates, custom –designed tablecloths and hand crafted table art heighten the culinary experience and can provide the competitive advantage that separates an ordinary, hotel meal from a destination dining event. Here Hotels delves into the art of table top design by showcasing some of the trendiest place settings at hotels around the globe.
	“Tabletop now is being integrated into the total design of a concept,” says Mark Tell, president of Sam Tell & Son, a New York-based restaurant constancy firm that specializes in tabletop design. “Restaurants are big business, and they want to draw in everyone. One way they are doing this is by offering more than just food. Tabletop is a part of the design and part of the fun.” Part of the fun at Yi-Yuan Cantonese Restaurant in the 350 room Sherwood Taipei hotel, Taiwan, is its Nouvelle Cantonese Cuisine. Public Relations manager Gloria Chen describes Nouvelle Cantonese as a perfect mélange of Chinese and western food combined with dramatic Western food presentation. The resulting menu suggests a theme of quality, simplicity and elegance. The interior maintains this theme by blending natural wood in a black-and –white environment interspersed with Chinese works of art.
	On the table, quality, simplicity and elegance translate into a variety of well coordinated pieces, Black –and –gold show plates tie the table to the décor with an intricate pattern that conveys a sense of elegance, simple white bone china plates show-off the food presentations, while crystal glass ware affirms the overall quality of the place setting. Delicate black-and –gold accessories such as chopstick holders, napkin rings and tea warmers add touches of elegance to the simple white tablecloth and napkin backgrounds and round out the tabletop design. The trend here lies in the close co-ordinate of Yi-Yuan’s tabletops with its cuisine and décor. The success of such an integrated concept has attracted the likes of former U.S. President George Bush and his wife Barbara. The couple even have their own personal set of chopsticks in reserve at the restaurant.
	Although such attention to the art of tabletop design always has played a part in upscale establishments, the idea is starting to trickle down to more moderately price outlets. The colorful, eye popping tabletop displays at Harley’s Bistro in the 413 room Princess hotel in Hamilton, Bermuda, demonstrate that even casual dining can benefit from a well thought-out tabletop design. The restaurant that was in place at the hotel prior to Harley’s Bistro is described by F&B director Kelly Lewis as a Mediterranean concept with no cohesion or design whatsoever.” The new 148 seat concept, which debuted in April, focuses on fusing Italian and Asian cuisine “presented with artistic and creative flair.” The emphasis on presentation translates into integrated tabletops that has helped increase cover counts by 21%. Lewi’s mission in designing the tabletops was to match the plate ware with the colors in the food to boost the visual impact of the presentation. For instance an appetizer of king prawns fried in tempura batter and served with apricot horseradish sauce consists mainly of yellows and reds. Lewis presents the dish on a white plate with a complimentary blue and red border. Dishes with yellow sauces are served on blue plates. As a result, Kelly uses a variety of colorful plate designs for his food presentations, but adds stability to the table with coordinated bread plates and multi-colored salt and pepper shakers. The impact is one of vibrance and vitality.
	“With the white tablecloth as a base and the colors in the food matching the plate, when you set the food on the table, it’s like a light bulb going off,” Kelly says. “The more fun the presentation, the more interesting it is for the guest. The industry is in a creative surge, and to get that creativity you need color.” Color currently is one of the hottest trends in tabletop design. And although some tabletop designers believe the trend toward color is starting to fade, both Walter Staib and mark tell agree that color should remain vital for at least another three to five years. Color predominantly manifests in plate ware. However, Staib says color areas of tableware, such as in glassware and table cloths. Staib’s latest concept, Chirstino’s features blue and green stemware in its tabletop design.
	Using unique pieces of art on the table is yet one more trend that is helping restaurants set themselves apart from the competition. The tabletops at the Atlantic Grill Room in the 329-room Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, shows case base plates, wine coasters and napkin rings designed by a local artist used a maritime theme to marry the restaurant’s seaside location with its regional cuisine. At the Blue Crab Bar & grill in the Coast Victoria Harbor side in Victoria British Columbia, a local artist was commissioned to hand-design tablecloths. Because the 329-room Coast Victoria Harbor side showcases a collection of original art, the general manager felt the new restaurant should continue that tradition. Thus, the artist was commissioned to paint three different tablecloth designs on screens, which the hotel then transfers to off-white, brushed-cotton tablecloths as needed. Mc Cauley says the tablecloths have a life expectancy of up to five months and have replacement cost of C$70 (US$50) a piece. However, McCauley says that tablecloths are worth the investment because” they are exciting and different and exhibit a flair that goes along with the restaurant’s cutting edge, electric cooking style.” And above all, McCauley says, the investment demonstrates the hotel’s dedication to quality.
	The greater emphasis being placed on the art of tabletop design has resulted in a growth spurt of new and creative table-top ware that includes a broad use of color and a bevy of custom-design possibilities. Another trend that seems to be surfacing is the use of restaurant an hotel logos in plate and glass-ware.. Other trends to watch for are geometric shapes in plate ware, more unique colors and shapes in glass ware and oversized silverware. Staib also says more restaurants are starting to consolidate their use of plate ware by serving multiple courses on the same piece. And when it comes to advice on designing your own tabletops, the experts agree that you should closely examine the competition, decide what you like and don’t like., determine how the food will be plated, and then don’t be afraid to be daring.