With all the focus on new and inventive restaurant cuisine, it’s easy to forget the tabletop also plays a critical role in a guest’s experience. However, Sims Foster — who serves as senior vice president of restaurants, bars and nightlife for Commune Hotels and Resorts as well as owner of The Arnold House in Livingston Manor, New York — knows tabletops convey critical details about a restaurant’s overall story, especially in the realm of fine dining.
“The care and artistry that has been associated with independent restaurants in their choices has carried into the hotel restaurant business now,” Foster said. “If you design and build a beautiful space and don’t put the same thought and care into what the guest is closest to, can touch and feel, then you’ve failed.”
As part of a broader story about fine-dining tabletops, HOTELS asked Foster about the evolution of the concept of “fine dining,” how that has changed tabletop philosophies and what the future might hold in this area.
HOTELS: What overall trends are you observing in terms of tabletops at fine-dining restaurants at hotels?
Sims Foster: I think in general the idea of “fine dining” has been completely altered. It’s not even a term we use anymore, as it conjures up an old image of white tablecloths, 12-inch toques and astronomical labor costs.
Interesting to that point is that the choice of tabletops has become much more important and critical in displaying the right message and delivering the concept. It’s about materials that aren’t just white china. Cast iron, wood and ceramic are now the mainstays.
HOTELS: How have you seen tabletops at fine-dining restaurants evolve — what has changed, and what has remained the same?
Foster: One of the results of the financial crisis is that the appetite to spend US$50 on each plate suddenly disappeared. It used to be about the quality of the china above all else. It was the weight of the flatware and how much copper in the kitchen was hanging in clear view of the guest. The last five to 10 years have seen a move to uniqueness above cost, design and feel above ostentation. It has made suppliers find new items inspired more by authenticity than by it being a variation on the same theme.
We’ve also moved into the world of local artisans, ceramicists and potters who are doing dedicated pieces designed for specific restaurants. It’s following the same path of how we emphasize the source of the food and wine and booze.
What’s remained the same? You have to have those one or two workhorse pieces of a tabletop that stand up to everything.
HOTELS: What strategies do you use in terms of assembling tabletop settings, particularly for fine dining, that are high-quality but also as cost-effective as possible?
Foster: At Commune we’re lucky to have some of the world’s best chef partners. So the strategy is to collaborate with them to make sure that we put care into picking the right items.
It’s also about being realistic about where you put the money. The biggest-impact pieces we might get custom-made, but there are some items that we can all agree we can go more mainline on. For our two Thompson hotels opening in Mexico this year, we are having a lot of stuff crafted in Guadalajara, which is a ton of fun. The chafing dishes? Those we can get off the shelf.
HOTELS: What one bold prediction would you make in terms of future trends with tabletops at fine-dining restaurants, particularly those at hotels?
Foster: Like everything our industry runs in cycles. I think the new version of the white-tablecloth restaurant is about to circle back. It won’t look or act like it used to, and it will incorporate some of the lessons of the last 10 years. But some of the refinement will start to be emphasized again. More and more you’ll start to hear the story of the craftsperson who handmade the pieces that your food and drink is sitting in. It will be personal, and it will have more thought to its significant part in your whole dining experience.