At dinner tonight, Lily and Eugene told us a story about how recently in Orlando, their real estate broker became somewhat offended when, at Houston's, she was not offered a black linen napkin, and was rather given a white napkin. Our friends found this quite odd, especially when the next day, at another restaurant, the host made it a point to give Lily a black napkin.
Knowing that Jessica and I are into food, they asked us about the phenomenon. We hadn't heard of it, but I guessed it had to do with the fact that often white napkins leave white lint on your clothing, which, in fact, happened to me just today at lunch at Markt!
Thinking that it may be a Southern thing, perhaps with etiquette, I called my sister and brother-in-law because (a) they know tons of trivia; and (b) Stephen is from Texas. They hadn't heard of it.
But by the time I got home, Kasi had done a bit of research and found some interesting discussion about this at Savory Tidbits. Here's an excerpt (go read the whole thing):
A few weeks ago I ate dinner with some friends at The Grill on the Alley, in Beverly Hills, CA. After a drink at the bar (which is not optional, you will be made to wait at the bar even if you show up on time for your reservation), we were escorted to our table. When we were all seated, the hostess asked me and one of my friends if we would like a black napkin. I looked at my friend and back at the hostess and said, "black napkin?" as if I had mis-heard her. She said, very matter-of-factly, "Yes. A black napkin for your dress."
I finally got it. OH! A black napkin so the lint from the white napkin doesn't get all over my black dress - "No" I said, "Thank you, I'm ok." But then as soon as she left. I wanted the black napkin. I was curious about the black napkin. As she passed by our table, I leaned over and said, "You know, I will take a black napkin."
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I work for a linens manufacturer, and we find more and more upscale restaurants are interested in stocking black napkins. The funny thing is, if you have a high-quality cotton napkin, they won't pill on your clothing. It's when you have a lower-quality napkin (especially a blend of polyester and cotton) tha pilling/linting can occur. I guess it just makes people feel better though, knowing that if (by chance) the napkin does pill, the pills will blend into their dark clothing. |
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Jessica said:
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Hi Anonymous, Thanks for an expert update! |
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Melissa said:
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This just happened to my sister in Tunica, MS. She called from a nice restaurant to ask me what that was about? She was offered a black napkin, as she was wearing black slacks. We could only guess the exact same thing as has been stated here. Glad to know our hunch was spot on! You have to love the internet to get answers for anything you need to know! |
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Jessica@Foodmayhem said:
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Hi Melissa, glad we could confirm your hunch! |