Out of all the restaurants I've been to lately (sometimes visiting 3 a day), I have never been offered a black napkin - until LA. I thought it was really strange, maybe just an LA phenomenon. But then it happened again in Chicago.
Chris and I were eating dinner at Blackbird restaurant. After being seated at our table, our hostess gracefully swooped up our white napkins and said, "I'll be back with black napkins for you."
I looked over at Chris smartly and said, "did you see what just happened?" He didn't. I gave him a knowing nod as if to say, just you wait. A moment later, our black napkins arrived. They were beautiful. Crisp, clean, black and very lint free.
The highlight of the evening wasn't the black napkins though, it was Mike Sheerin's cooking. Sheerin, formerly Wylie Dufresne's sous-chef at wd-50, and his team cooked a great meal for us that evening. The menu has some hints of wd-50 - like an octopus dish we were served. We saw some Blackbird signature dishes come out of the kitchen that were not meant for our table. We had a menu which really showed off what the restaurant can do.
So what about black napkins in NYC? The hunt for the black napkin has begun. Perhaps it already lives in restaurants here and I just need to wear my black dress to dinner more often. If you come accross a black napkin - let us know when and where!
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16 Comments
my wife & i received the black napkin at Joel in Atlanta but not yet in NYC
Black napkins are offered at The Capital Grille in Boston.
Black napkins are offered at Capital Grille in New York (42 St and Third Ave.)
Black napkins are offered at Blue Moon Fish Company Tradewinds Drive(off Commercial Blvd) Fort Lauderdale FL
Bistro Boudin in San Francisco offers black napkins.
My wife was offered a black napkin at the Chart House on Long Wharf in Boston.
A black napkin was offered to me at the Pahu i'a restaurant on the island of Hawaii at the Four Seasons Resort.
I received a black napkin at Morton's Steak House in Denver.
Black napkins were offered at the Ocean and Vine restaurant at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica last night. That was the first time I knew about it, and this post informed me that it's common at these restaurants.
I am in the wholesale linen business and our sales for Black napkins are nearly as much as our sales for White napkins in 2007. Five years ago Black would have been 5% of what White was.
I was offered a black napkin at Cafe Pacific and the Captial Grille in Dallas, Texas.
This is a great post! We had such a funny incident happen at dinner tonight, relating to this... I wrote about it on our blog:
http://www.foodmayhem.com/2008/01/black-napkins.php
The black napkin is a cop out for quality. Good white linen napkins don't have lint. It's another sad trend that sacrifices quality, being spun as hip and "being in the know." The truth is, quality and traditions of fine dining and original meaning are being lost to accomodate laziness and poor quality. Just wait for the day you wipe something with an oil or tomato base on your black napkin and somewhere thorugh the night your black napkin ends up being turned upside down on your lap. When you get home, there will be this mysterious black "shadow" on your black dress that the dry cleaners can't get out. Or how about if something with paprika or other bright coloured spice drops in your lap and at some point you go to wipe the corners of your mouth and you blot bright orange all over your face. But that's okay, you were told a black napkin was a good thing and had deep meaning!
A white napkin ontop of a black background, often gives the impression(in the case of men)that the patron is wearing an apron in other words you are sharing the table with the Maitre'D.
My husband attends a lot of business lunches at places like the Capital Grill and Morton's. He has also been asked if he would like a black napkin but we have no idea why. The lint theory sounds plausible but I'm wondering if there isn't another reason behind a black vs a white napkin. I haven't had any luck finding this out on the internet.
I was offered a black napkin at The Spiced Pear restaurant in Newport, RI. I thought it was because they didn't want lipstick on their very high qaulity white napkins.