In the not-so-distant past, dining at an upscale restaurant meant a tie and jacket for men, and a dress with high heels for women. Those dress codes have been progressively eroding over the years, and now it is not uncommon to see restaurants serving high-end food to patrons in jeans and t-shirts. The
Huffington Post recently took a look at 11 restaurants throughout the country that still require men to wear a jacket - and have accompanying rules for women's dress as well - while dining. While the list is by no means comprehensive, the fact that there only 11 notable restaurants made the cut indicates to us that casual is taking over as the new formal when it comes to dining out.
The list includes well known restaurants such as
Bar 21 in New York City, which up until recently, also required men to wear a tie while enjoying their food and drink. Other's include
Galatoire in Louisiana, which has required men to wear jackets while dining for over
100 years. While most of the restaurants on the list are located in the eastern part of the country, Thomas Keller's notable California restaurant,
the French Laundry, also required jackets while dining (with some exceptions made on notoriously hot Napa Valley summer days).
While there is no precise explanation for the trend towards increasingly casual wear in upscale joints, the Huffington article notes that it could be a simple attempt by chef's and restauranteurs to separate high-end, quality food from the traditional pretentiousness that accompanies fine dining. This creates a much larger demographic for restaurants, and also, possibly, gives establishments a chance to focus on making the food stand out, rather than having patrons visit for the bourgeois atmosphere.
What is the dress code at your restaurant? Do you think that dressing up with a tie and jacket is an integral part of fine dining, or is foie gras a dish better served casual? Let us know your opinion via Facebook, Google +, LinkedIn and Twitter!
Source:
Huffington Post,
Image Credit (Flickr)
Tablebases.com
