Learn to COOK - The Art of the Table: A Complete Guide to Table Setting, Table Manners, and Tableware
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List Price: $40.00
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Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 642.7
EAN: 9780684847320
ISBN: 0684847329
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 592
Publication Date: 2000-11-08
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Studio: Simon & Schuster
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Editorial Reviews:
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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 the 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.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The definitive guide to tableware
Comment: The word COMPLETE is accurate. This is the definitive guide to the various pieces of china, flatware, stemware, serveware, and linens, as well as how they emerged from the mists of history, how they are made, what the terminology surrounding them means, and how to use them. This is far more than a guide to how to set a table and how to behave at a table. This is an important, authoritative reference work for anyone with a serious, ongoing interest in the topics that this book covers.
The book teaches much about history: "The evolution of pottery begins in Neolithic times" (21), and this book guides readers through Egyptian pottery, Greek pottery, etc., up through European, English, and American pottery and porcelain, not neglecting Chinese and Islamic contributions. (The author covers flatware, stemware, and serveware in a similar fashion, including methods of manufacturing and terminology.) This book would thus be helpful to anyone seriously interested in collecting any type of tableware (china, silverware, or stemware). Another result of the author's breadth of historical knowledge is the explanations of many expressions that survive to the present day, such as "to whet the appetite": "The medieval host did not supply dinner knives" to his guests. "A whetstone was often placed by the entrance hall so that guests could sharpen their knives before a feast. Hence the expression `to whet the appetite' in keen anticipation of food" (178-179).
The book covers various meals, including formal and informal dinners, buffets, formal and informal luncheons, afternoon tea, and high tea. The author provides much information about menus, both foods and beverages. She covers wine, tea, and coffee.
The beauty of this book lies not only in its thoroughness, but also its unexpected tidbits. People who pride themselves on knowing of the existence of the cream soup spoon, the ice cream fork, the strawberry fork, the lobster fork, and the pastry fork may be surprised to learn that these pieces would never properly be used as part of a formal dinner. (The author explains why.) Miss Manners brushes aside the distinction between a teacup and a coffee cup by saying that your guests won't notice the difference anyway unless you place them side by side, but this author defines pieces used at an individual place setting: eleven types of plates (including which are made as part of a dinnerware set, such as a dinner plate and a salad plate, and which are not, such as a fish plate and a dessert plate), nine types of bowls, seven types of cups, seven types of knives, fourteen types of spoon, thirteen types of forks, and eighteen types of stemware.
On a few points, this author seems more old-fashioned than Miss Manners (Judith Martin). Miss Manners rejects the traditional rule for formal dinners that the number of male and female guests must be equal, as the result is to exclude single women, widows, and divorcées. However, this book must, in most matters, be regarded as definitive.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Valuable but irritating
Comment: I was tempted to simply curl up on the sofa and read this substantial and well laid-out reference book, but the author's idiosyncrasies and the publisher's poor copyediting make me too uncomfortable to sit still.
Most sections start with a little rhyme or aphorism, many composed by the author herself. Unfortunately, her skill at coining a phrase does not rise to the level of her through research and fine organization. And since the editors can't even tell the difference between how to "lay" a table and what "lies" on it (for example), they apparently didn't consider reining her in. The sweetness of the information and the author's enthusiasm are made unpalatable by one cringe-inducing jingle after another and an endless, carbon-copied parade of etymology lessons. A few passages of text are so convoluted as to be indecipherable. Argh.
The good: Exhaustive information, drawings, and photographs of individual pieces of tableware (flatware and dishes), how to arrange them, how to select and purchase them, when and how to use them, and how to care for them; how to set for and serve formal and informal meals; how to select and drape tablecloths; how to decorate a table with flowers. Great information for collectors as well as hosts and guests. A handsomely set book that I've referred to again and again.
The bad: A publisher that didn't respect the author (or its customers) enough to edit her work with the same thoroughness she brought to the project.
The ugly: A book whose flaws keep it from rising to the author's vision of elegance, ease, and usefulness.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Art of the Table
Comment: Beautiful pictures illustrate everything you wanted to know about the graceful table. This is a wonderful party planner's guide providing inspiration and fun ways to set your table and mood for dinner.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mayra Calvani -- Curled Up With A Good Book
Comment: Do you love to entertain at home yet aren't sure of all the rules of etiquette? What is the correct place to put the butter knife? Is it necessary to put a different fork when serving fish? Should bread be buttered entirely or bite by bite? What is the difference between the various types of wine glasses?
Whether you're a beginner or an experienced host, you'll find The Art of the Table a complete, invaluable guide filled with all there is to know about table setting, table manners, and tableware.
In spite of its length, the book is easy to follow and written in reader-friendly language. It is filled with interesting facts, as well as fascinating quotes and proverbs from famous people throughout the ages. In the middle of the book the author includes beautiful color photographs of various styles of table settings--formal, informal, eclectic, European, American, Spanish colonial, rustic, contemporary, etc.. All though the book, however, there are detailed drawings used for demonstration, offering the reader a clear idea of the author's how-to explanations.
The book is divided into nine parts, each encompassing several topics:
One: Dining Fundamentals
Two: Dinnerware
Three: Flatware
Four: Stemware
Five: Table Linens
Six: Serving Techniques
Seven: Dining Finesse
Eight: Menu Plan
Nine: Table Manners
The best thing about the book is not only that it demonstrates the "how-to" of table setting, but that it offers a lot of information about tableware. For instance, in Part Four, Stemware, the author gives a historical background of glass and crystal, the different decorative methods and styles, the different categories, their shape and purpose, how to place stemware, how to purchase stemware, and even how to care for it. The same is done in the other parts with Dinnerware, Flatware, Table Linens, etc.. Thus this book is, in every sense of the word, a complete reference book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Complete A to Z Guide on Table Setting, Manners and Tableware.
Comment: At last a book that address's the who, what, when, where, how and why of table settings, tableware and manners. Very sadly over the years etiquette, especially table has been flushed down the proverbial toilet. This is a must have reference book for any home; and, makes for a great engagement, housewarming or new apartment gift. There are two (2) hope chests sitting within the walls of our home; both have a copy of The Art of the Table. Upon receiving this book, my girls and I sat down and started to skim through it,two (2) hours later found us taking out the fine china, stemware and silver. We set both a formal and informal table. A memory I shall forever treasure. Suzanne Von Drachenfels thank you, for this great book.
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