The table is covered with a white damask cloth of the best quality. According to the present fashion, the centerpiece should be white. It may be of lace or embroidery, but never of a material that will not wash. A lace or lace-trimmed cloth showing the bare table around the edges is sometimes used for dinner. The arrangement and decoration are much the same as at a lunch-party. Since dinner is the most formal of all meals, the hostess uses her handsomest silver, glass, and china, as well as an abundance of beautiful flowers.
Bread-and-butter plates are banished from the table. At a formal dinner butter does not appear, the theory being that the flavoring and sauces make it unnecessary. If it is used it should be passed from the sideboard, and a small individual butter-plate set at the left of each place. Here also are two or three forks, with the tines turned up. At the right are laid a dinner-knife, a silver fish-knife (if one will be required), a tablespoon or soup-spoon, and a tumbler or goblet. The napkin, containing a roll or thick piece of bread, is put on the empty or “place” plate or at the right. The little fork for raw oysters is put here also instead of on the left with the other forks. If wine is to be served the glass or glasses are set beside the water-goblet.
The publication by the insurance companies of tables showing that even a moderate use of alcohol tends to shorten life has given additional impetus to the temperance movement. The great growth of this is damaging to the interests of the dealers in wine. It is amusing to find that certain Frenchmen regard it as a dark conspiracy formed in the interests of the dealers in mineral waters. Whether this charge is true or not, it is certain that the use of wine at dinners has greatly diminished in the United States. Cocktails are sometimes offered in the drawing-room as a substitute for wine at dinner. If ladies are among the guests, these should be made very mild. It is perfectly proper to decline them, or indeed wine in any form. Where this is not served, whiskey and water may be offered to the men. To foreigners who are accustomed to taking wine with their dinner, it is a privation to go without it. A host who is entertaining foreign guests should bear this in mind, even if he himself is a teetotaler. A nice question of ethics here arises. If a man thinks it wicked to offer wine to any one, should he feel obliged to place it on his table? Each person must answer this according to the dictates of his own conscience.
According to the old rule, sherry is the wine served with soup, claret and champagne with the roast. Some hosts offer their guests hock or sauterne with the soup, and champagne later in the meal. Others give claret or champagne alone. The last-named should be cooled on ice. A napkin is fastened around the neck of the bottle, since this is apt to be wet. Claret and Burgundy sometimes need to be warmed slightly, as their temperature should approximate that of the room. Sherry, Madeira, port are always, and claret usually, put into decanters. It was formerly the custom to set these on the table; but at ceremonious dinners wine is now served from the sideboard.
No menu-cards are used at private houses. A name-card is set at each place. According to present fashion, this should contain no ornament except the crest or initials of the hostess done in gold, with edges to match. At a recent dinner at the house of a bishop the device on the name-card was a miter. Decorative designs are reserved for anniversary dinners and other special occasions. Celery, olives, radishes, and other hors d’œuvres are usually relegated to the side-table at a formal dinner.
The bill of fare for a dinner or a luncheon is much shorter than formerly. It is no longer thought in good taste to emulate the heavy feasts of the ancient Romans. Many people now hesitate to eat raw oysters, since they sometimes convey typhoid-fever germs. Canapés may replace them as a first course, or Little Neck clams, grape-fruit, or other fruit in its season may be used. If oysters are served, five or six are arranged in each plate, with a piece of lemon in the center. It is now thought best to bring these in fresh from the ice-chest, after the company have sat down to table. The oyster-plate is set on the place-plate—i.e., on the one already in place—when the guests sit down at table. The latter is not taken away at the conclusion of the course, but remains as a basis for the soup-plate. Tureens are no longer used, the soup being served from the pantry. The plates should be only partly filled. A careful servant can manage one in each hand, but it is thought more elegant to have them brought to the table one at a time. After the removal of the soup the place-plates remain, and are used for the hors d’œuvres. These sometimes precede the soup course. The fish comes next, hot plates being used for this as for all the hot courses. Since fish is rather tasteless, it is often accompanied by a sauce or by cucumbers or tomatoes with French dressing. Potatoes also are served with fish. An entrée now follows, and is succeeded by the pièce de résistance, or principal meat course. With the lightening of the bill of fare, filet of beef is less used for this than formerly, saddle of mutton, spring lamb, or turkey being favorite dishes. According to modern custom, only one or at the utmost two vegetables are served with one course.
Roman punch is now reserved for public dinners. The game course with salad comes next; but here again we see a change, since lettuce, celery, or other vegetable salad may now be served with cheese and crackers or bread-and-butter, the game being omitted. After the salad the table is cleared off, the salt-cellars and pepper-pots being removed on a tray covered with a napkin. The crumbs are brushed off with a folded napkin, or on less formal occasions with a silver crumb-scraper.
The dessert now follows, for which the handsomest plates are reserved. These are protected by pretty ornamental doilies, on which are placed finger-bowls partly filled with lukewarm water. A flower or a fragrant leaf or two may float on its surface. A glass plate is often set under the finger-bowl. The latter should be promptly removed and set on one side in order not to delay the service. Some authorities say that the silver knife, fork, and spoon should not be placed on the dessert-plate when the servant hands this, but should be laid on the table at either side of it. If they are put on the plate each person removes them at the same time as the finger-bowl. The ices are then passed, the molds being sufficiently cut through beforehand to enable the guest to help himself readily. If the individual form is used, one is set before each person. Cake accompanies the ice-cream, which is eaten from the glass plate. The latter is then removed by the servant, while the guest takes off the doilies, leaving the china plate in readiness for the fruit course. Few persons take any of this at a long dinner, unless it be three or four grapes. Bonbons also are handed at this time.
The lady at the right hand of the host must now be on the lookout for the signal to rise, which the hostess will convey to her by a look or slight nod. At a formal dinner the gentlemen sometimes escort the ladies back to the drawing-room, the couples going arm-in-arm. After seeing their partners comfortably seated, the men excuse themselves by a bow and return to the dining-room or repair to the smoking-room, where coffee, cigars, and liqueurs are served. Sometimes the men simply rise from the table when the ladies do, and remain standing until the latter have passed out. A servant opens the door or holds back the portière, or, if none is in the room at the moment, the gentleman nearest the entrance performs this duty.
Tiny cups of strong black coffee accompanied by sugar, and sometimes by cream, are handed on a tray to the ladies in the drawing-room. Sometimes the servant takes in the silver coffee-pot and asks each person if she will have a cup, filling it for her if she desires. One or two kinds of cordial are offered, the servant asking the ladies in turn which kind they prefer, and then pouring it into tiny liqueur-glasses. Cigarettes are offered to the women at some houses, although the custom is by no means general. Many American hostesses dislike very much to see members of their own sex use tobacco, considering this in bad taste.