Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1907-11-21
Dinners Costing 500 a Plate
Are Not Uncommon.
THAT SWELL THE BILL.
Artistic and Scenic Effects and Lux
urious Surroundings Help to Pile Up
the Priee-Methods of the Manager
of a Modern Dining Palace.

49,
not uncommon among the Four Hun.
dred. and $40. $50 and $50 a plate are
quite ordinary charges for twentieth
century banquets. To the ordinary
mind. however, it is not easy to imag-
inc a list of d%elicacies expensive
enough to foot up such an amount or
an appetite so expensive as to desire
them. Nightingales' tongues and hum
ming birds wings. washed down with
the costliest wines, would not satisfy
the up to date diner. however. The
caterer does not depend entirely upon
his chef and his steward for the sue
cess of great functions" Artists and
mechanical genuises are his chief as
sistants. He must be able to trans
form a New York banquet hall into a
plaza In Venice, a corner Of old Japan
or an ancient Greek or Roman palace.
as his guests taste or within may die
tate.
Fads of millionaires and the fancies
Of clubs and societies always seeking
the unusual have brought to pass the
500 a plate dinner. The production
of the surroundings they demand ne
cessitates the outlay of thousands of
dollars for each separate banquet. 1t
would never do to have two banquets
alike. as goes without saying.
There was recently given in a new
hotel in New York a bachelor dinner
at which the guests were seated in a
corner Of Venice. The effect was a
masterpiece of scenic art and electrical
ingenuity. and that. quite as much as
the rich viands, was what the host
wanted and was paying for. The
doors along the corridor at the sides of
the great banquet hall were removed,
and in their places balustrades were
set to give the appearance Of Vene-
tan balconies. Beyond stretched a
transparency $50 feet long and twenty
feet high, showing most realistically a
street in the city of canals. Between
this and the dining room was a wa
terway on which piled a gondola with
a party of t~roubadours, who played
and sang as they passed to and fro.
The tables were set about the room,
at one end of which a beautiful gar
den of growing palms and flowers had
been laid out, in it's center a fountain
which tossed it's light spray almost to
the ceiling. Thousands of tinted cleo
trio lights shed a soft blue illumination
over the whole. giving the effect of
italian twilight. One could scarcely
realize that shut out only by the stur-
dy walls of the hotel and thick hang
ings were the glare and rumble of
Longacre square.
But there is an endless variety of
elaborate and picturesque effects Gre
ated for the twentieth century diner.
New York furnishes the most striking
examples and the most numerous,
though London and Paris vie with her
for the honors of extravaganza. Nine.
Madeleine Lemaire's dinners are per-
haps the most notable Of Paris. She
has a special fondness for the an
cient in effects, and in a Grecian court
her guests sit at a Greek feast and
I'LL the room with their singing. An
other striking effect followed n supper
to a notable visitor from abroad. The
guests were led to a room which had
been arranged to represent a pastoral
scene. with growing turf and foliage,
and running about among the trees
were several little lambs. Overhead
was suspended a huge ball which sud-
denly burst and showered American
Beauty roses on those beneath it.
The banquet itself is a gigantic un-
dertaking. for under the managers su-
pervision comes the selection of dish
es, their cooking. the silver. glass and
china. the mode Of service and the
hundred and one other details. A great
dining palace seats from 1900 to 2.O0C
persons. all of whom must be served
simultaneously and each of whom
must he served as if he alone were to
be considered. This gives some idea
perhaps of the banquet managers task.
The Office of this modern magician
suggests. with it's roll top desk. its
typewriter and its telephone. the Office
Of any manager of large enterprises
11ClC NC L1GCSS IdC pCOPiS pay LIE SuC
part of hosts and goes over the details
of the entertainment with them. he
suggests. consults. advises and decides
on each item not only of the menu,
but of decorations and Of service. Ere
quently and particularly in the case OF
clubs and societies he is offered q
fixed figure and must lay out a scheme
to come within its limits.
When the commercial arrangements
SO to speak, have been made he sits
down to map out his campaign. A
typewriter plan is sent to the steward
showing just what his department may
be required to do. another to the deco
rator. another to the electrician. n tc
the head waiter. one to the chef. one
to the wine keeper and one to the
~''confectioner Of souvenirs" These
are the banquet managers trusted
lieutenants. without whom his success
es would be little more than frantic
endeavors New York Letter in What
To Eat.
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