Delicious UK - (01)January 2020

Let’sbehonest:if

it’sjustmeandmy

husbandweeatin

frontofthetelly

I

fyouwatchasmuchschlocky
televisionasI do(sometimes
whileeatingdinner,ssshhhh),
youknowhowessentialthedining
room,specificallythediningtable,
is totautfamilydramas.Butinan
eraofhighpropertyprices,dining
roomsareheadingthewayofthe
bootroomandthebutler’spantry.
Theywillsoonbethepreserve
oftheultra-rich,somewhereto
polishyourcanaryyellowdiamond
collectionandentertainthe
dowagergrandmafromwhom
youhopetoinheriteverything.
ApparentlyonlyhalfofBritsnow
considera diningrooma necessity,
andamongthoseofuswhohave
one, 65 percentusethemforother
purposesaswellasdining(which
makesmewonderwhatkindof
la-di-Downtonlivestheother
35 percentareleading).Weuse
diningroomsashomeoffices,for
schoolwork,craftprojectsand– not
youandme,obviously,butSOME
PEOPLE– asdumpinggrounds.
Inthepast,weadmiredsmall,
efficientgalleykitchenswherethe
cook could prepare food easily and

everythingwaswithineasyreach.

Communicationwiththedining

roommayormaynothavetaken

placethrougha hatch.Today,many

ofuswillhappilytradea dining

roomfora bigkitchen,wherethe

cookcanpreparedinner,supervise

homework,chatwithguestslolling

onsofasandkeepaneyeonthe

dressagecompetitiontakingplace

onthetellyina farcorner.

I am just retro (and lucky) enough

tohavea diningroomthatI use

a lot.It’swheremyhusbandsetsup

hiscomputerwhenheworksfrom

homeandwhereI seworlayout

mybooks,notesandtearsheets

whenI begina newproject.It is

alsowhereI havespentsomeof

thehappiesttimesofmylifesitting

attheheadofa raucoustable

offriendsandfamily,everyone

clamouring to be heard, and

finishingeachother’ssentences

andtoppingeachother’sjokes.

InhisbookTheTableComesFirst,

AmericanwriterAdamGopnik

describesspeakingtochefFergus

HendersonofLondon’sfabled

StJohnrestaurant:“‘Idon’t

understandhowa youngcouple

canbeginlifebybuyinga sofaor

a television,’hesaidindignantlyto

me.‘Don’ttheyknowthetable

comesfirst?’Thetablecomesfirst. The

tablecomesfirst,beforethemeal

andevenbeforethekitchenwhere

it’smade.It precedeseverythingin

remainingtheoneplausiblehearth

offamilylife,therafttoridedown

theriverofourexistence, even in

thehardesttimes.”

Well,yes,butlet’sbehonest.If

it’sjustmyhusbandandme,we

aremorelikelytoeatatthekitchen

island,orcosilyonourlapsin

frontofthetelly.Weliveinan

eat-on-our-kneesculture.A recent

surveyrevealed 45 percentofus

eatinfrontofa screensomeorall

ofthetime,and 20 percentofus

don’thavea diningtableatall.

We are the Goggleboxgeneration

The dining room

is dead. Long live

the dining table!

Onceupona time,layingthetableinitsownseparateroom

andgatheringarounditwasa dailyritual.Buttimeshave

changed.It’snottheendoftheworldthough,saysDebora

Robertson, as long as we can still make time to eat together