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How does the American Family eat? And how does it affect tabletop sales? Read ahead as tabletop experts chime in on the dinner habits of today’s American Family.
“We see a return of ‘family’ dinners, incorporating old traditions for 21st century living. The renewed passion for eating fresh food, shopping at farmer’s markets, and the availability of television cooking shows makes families want to experiment with food and create wonderful meals at home that they can feel good about. Even family holiday dinners will be less formal with tableware that has a casual but elegant style. One may layer ‘grandma’s salad plate’ with our oversized dinner plate to bring old and new together.”
—Marguerite Mazzitti, president, Tutto Mio Italian Ceramics & Glassware.
“While we’re not social scientists, we see a nation of families on the run, often with little time to sit down and enjoy food and each other’s company. In this environment, inviting table textiles become important. Obviously, they protect the table from the comings and goings of a busy family, but just as important, they warm, soften and enhance the home’s decor. When these families do sit down together, it becomes an occasion, an event to enjoy, with table textiles doing their part in creating a warm, casual and welcoming social setting.”
—The designers of Heritage Lace Inc.
“Formal does not exist any longer. It seems that all today’s hostess serves is chips and salsa or other casual snacks. There appears to be a lack of formal entertaining amongst today’s youth. This is impacting our business.”
— Scot Soodak, Home Essentials & Beyond.
“Dining is family style and very casual or buffet style in the kitchen and ‘on-location’: at the pool, on the patio, around the fireplace. There is a return to favorite family recipes, but it’s also about being quick without sacrificing high-quality ingredients and flavors. Our philosophy is the same. Why sacrifice style and luxury when you don’t have to? Everything looks fabulous served in Julia Knight with very little effort.”
—Julia Knight, owner Julia Knight.
“American family dining seems to be all over the block today. Much of it is still ‘catch as catch can’ given the varying time commitments each family experiences. But almost everyone still wants to feel the closeness of gathering around the dinner table to share news of the day. Sometimes that means sitting down to a home-cooked pot roast, and other times those meals draw from the increasing variety of gourmet take-out items.”
—Marilyn Myers, Juliska.
“Vietri’s purpose is to bring family and friends together to celebrate life, heritage and tradition with irresistible Italian style. We see the American family beginning to slow down and enjoy casual meals, preparing the meal together and sharing stories of the days’ happenings with each other. For many years, the fast-pace society that is America, caused society to focus on dashboard dining. We’ve seen a recent movement away from that mentality where families use mealtime to reconnect, relax and refresh.”
— Elisha Ficalora for Vietri.
“Dining in America varies dramatically by region. The South continues to entertain formally on a regular basis as entertainment and for social obligations. The West tends to be very casual with lots of outdoor dining, barbecues and infrequent formal occasions. The Northeast continues to entertain casually in the summer but more formal as the weather cools. The Midwest enjoys entertaining at home with a mix of casual buffet and special occasion sit-down dinners. Men like to grill and be informal and a woman would be wise to let him! Then entertain around that. Grilling is a trend that grows as more men learn to cook for themselves, their families and guests. Families with young children tend to get together very casually with other families with young children or close family. They prefer quick and easy food and dining simply and quickly. As children grow, outside activities cut into the dinner hour and make it difficult to coordinate sitting down together other than for special occasions. The Slow Food Movement has helped focus attention on getting back to the dining table all together. Annieglass has gained in popularity because of its versatility, durability and dishwasher safety which meets the demands of all families and ages.”
— Annie Morhauser, owner, Annieglass.
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