The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-04-15
MODERN BANQUET IS
 4 LAVISH AFFAIR Marvellous Schemes of Decora-
 ton Carried Out DINNERS AT $100 A PLATE Spreads That Cost $40 and s6o Plate Are Quite Common in This
 cOuntry-some Maenif-
 cent Examples.
DINNERS AT $1OO A PLATE

us rather extravagant dinner bill, yet | it Is by no means a rare one. Forty, fifty and sixty dollars a plate are quite ordinary charges for twentieth century banquets. Even the widest imaginati tion. of course. could hardly conjure up list of delicacies expensive enough to foot up such an amount and it would be diff foult to conceive of an appetite so eX- pensive to satiate.
 Nghtingales tongues and humming birds wings, washed down with the cost Hest of wines. would not satisfy the up- to-date diner, however. The caterer does not depend entirely upon his chef and his steward for the success of great '.func- tlons" Artists and mechanical geniuses are his chief assistants; he must be able to transform New York banquet hall
 into a plaza in Venice corner of old Japan. or an ancient Greek or Roman palace as his guests tastes or whims may dictate
 The fads of millionaires and the fan cies of clubs and societies. always seek ing the unusual have brought to pass the hundred dollar a plate dinner The | production of the surroundings they de- mand necessitates the outlay of thou- 1 sands of dollars for each separate ban i quet-it would never do to have two i banquets alike, as goes without saying. There was recently given in the new 1 Hotel Astor bachelor dinner at which ] the guests were seated in a corner of Venice; the effect was masterpiece of scenic art and electrical ingenuity and that, quite as much as the rich viands, was what the host wanted and was pay 1 ing for.
 Scene In Venice. The doors along the corridor at the sides of the great banquet hall were re- moved and in their places balustrades were set to give the appearance of Ven etian balconies Beyond stretched a transparency 15O feet long and 20 feet high, showing most realistically street 1 in the city of canals. Between this and the dining room was waterway on which piled a gondola with party of troubadors who played and sang as they passed to and fro. The tables were set about the room at one end of which q beautiful garden of growing palms and | flowers had been laid out, in it's center a fountain which tossed its light spray al most to the ceiling. Thousands of tinted electric lights shed soft, blue illumina- tion over the whole, giving the effect of Italian twilight. One could scarcely real ize that shut out only by the sturdy walls of the hotel and thick hangings were the glare and their rumble of Longacre Square.
 Of elaborate schemes and picturesque effects created for the twentieth century diner there is an endless variety. New York furnishes the most striking exam ples, and the most numerous, though London and Paris vie with her for the honors of extravaganza. Madam Made leine Lemaires dinners are perhaps the most notable of Paris She has a special l fondness for the ancient in effects and | in a Grecian court her guests sit at a | Greek feast carried out with faithful lit- | eralness in every detail even to the | service of rose leaves They wear Gre 1 clan costumes and are attended by wait | CTS arrayed in flowing robes of Athens | who serve the dishes in the old Athenian | fashion.
 The dinner which most stirred Lon don was given in honor of Barney Bar nato, the African millionaire. The hail | was arranged to represent South Afri- can mining camp and the dinner was served in tents by kaffir walters. An | other London feast which was unique | in some ways was the Kesser dinner. | at which the guests were on gondola floating in a typical Venetian scene.
 ExampIes at sherrys.
 To come back to Broadway again. the famous Sherry's supplies numerous ex- amples of elaborate display and novel ar rangement. notable supper given here some little time ago was one where In the middle of the table was a miniature tropical forest. with birds of every tint of brilliant plumage fitting from branch to branch and filling the room with their singing Another striking effect followed a supper to notable visitor from abroad. The guests were led to a room which had been arranged to represent pastoral scene with growing turf and foliage, and running about among the trees were sev- eral little lambs. Overhead was sus- pended a huge ball which suddenly burst and showered American Beauty roses on those beneath it.
 For theatrical effect in transformation and color design the college girls dinner at the Astor n short time ago was note worthy The big banquet hall was fash toned to represent a Japanese garden. The tables were fin three long rows, and at each table four guests sat in the shade of a brilliantly colored Japanese umbrella around the edge of which were hung tiny lanterns. When dinner had been served there came the startling transformation At signal, every lm- brella as if by magic, rose to the ceiling and remained there, forming wonderful ly pretty canopy. Then, before the guests had ceased gazing upwards and wondering "how 1t all done the tables had been cleared away and In place of the dining room they round themselves In a beautifully appointed re- ception room The whole secret Of the
 
 which were completely hidden from view by the daintily coored wide-spreading umbrellas suspended from them.
 Is Great Undertakings
 The vast amount of study required for the production of such displays, the hours and hours of labor necessary to bring them to fulflment, but part of the banauet managers work The banquet itself is a gigantic undertaking, for under his supervision comes the selection of dishes. their cooking. the table decora tions and appointments, the silver. glass and china the mode of service and the hun dred and one other details. great din ing palace like that in the Astor seats from fifteen hundred to two thousand persons all of whom must be served simultaneously and each of whom must be served as if he alone were to be con sidered. This gives some idea, perhaps, of the banquet manager task.
 The office of this modern magician sug- gests, with its roltop desk, it's typewriter and its telephone. the office of any man. ager of large enterprises Here he meets the people who, playing the part of hosts have charge of dinner arrange ments and goes over the details of the entertainment with them He suggests,