Hotel or Club Banquet Buffet with Chef, United States, 1950s

Archive & AtlasEstablished · MMXXIII

Hotel or Club Banquet Buffet with Chef, United States, 1950s — Archive & Atlas

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Hotel or Club Banquet Buffet with Chef, United States, 1950s — Archive & Atlas

Unattributed 1950–1959

AA-2026-4E92F8

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A chef in whites and a tall toque stands at the end of a long banquet table and smiles for the camera with the quiet pride of a man who has been on his feet since five in the morning and is not about to let that show. The table stretches away from him in both directions under a white cloth, loaded with the full mid-century formal buffet arsenal: cold cuts fanned into overlapping crescents, whole roasted birds, molded salads tinted the particular optimistic green that the 1950s believed made food more festive, deviled eggs arranged in military rows, and enough garnish kale to carpet a small foyer. Twisted taper candles in turquoise stand among the platters, because no hotel banquet in this decade could begin without candlelight, even in a room with overhead lighting and a service shelf visible behind. The stack of plates at the far right signals that guests are expected imminently, which means this is the one moment all evening when everything will look exactly as planned. He knows this and is getting his photograph taken now, before the guests arrive and redistribute his arrangements into something that looks like a natural disaster.

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