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| Santos=Dumont sitting at his high tables with guests |
There are reports that when he lived in Paris, in the early 1910s, Santos=Dumont had tables two meters high made, accompanied by small stairs, so that the guests could climb on the high chairs, as well as, so that the waiters could serve them. He placed these tables in his apartment on the Champs Élysées and hosted some meals for very special guests.
leia essa matéria em Português
Unfortunately, we do not have many references to how, when, and why Santos=Dumont promoted these "Dinners in the Heights", the few that come to us end up being distorted, incomplete, biased and pejorative.
Other reports say that only a table set with four chairs was made.
leia essa matéria em Português
Unfortunately, we do not have many references to how, when, and why Santos=Dumont promoted these "Dinners in the Heights", the few that come to us end up being distorted, incomplete, biased and pejorative.
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| Reconstitution of the dining room in the heights based on photos from the time. |
But I have no doubt that they must have been very extravagant, sophisticated and therefore unforgettable events.
Santos=Dumont's appreciation of experiencing unique meals, and living a life-style worthy of what he use to read in the adventures of Jules Verne, came to be known later when he frequently stopped his dirigible#9 in the restaurant 'La Grande Cascade' , or in front of his elegant apartment in Paris, just to have a coffee with friends, and return to his flights.
But it was with the Aereial Dinner Parties (eventually called "L'incroyable diner dans le ciel" or "diner aérien" by the Parisians) that Santos=Dumont won the heart of the elegant dandies of his time.
Among the best articles that I’ve found about these and other dinners parties promoted by him, I begin by quoting Jorge Henrique Dodsworth, Santos=Dumont’s nephew: "Head in the heights, dinner in the heights. He had dinner tables and special chairs arranged in order to give to the aristocratic guests the feeling of being in the air. "
Yolanda Penteado describes her "Tio Alberto, ("Uncle Alberto, in Portuguese" as she affectionately called him) and little bit about who these guests might be: "Santos-Dumont was extremely elegant and refined. Impeccable, he was a fashion influencer of his time: Santos-Dumont collar, Santos-Dumont hats, ... eccentric and vain. Because he was small in size, he wore elevated boots. Or as they will be called later, platform shoes (...) in the early years of the twentieth century, Santos-Dumont was, indeed, the number one figure of Paris. He was, sort to speak, star in time when fabulous people like, Marcel Proust, Guy de Moupassant, Toulouse-Lautrec, glowed on boulevards, cafes and halls. (...) The famous caricaturist SEM registered him in a cafe next to Lautrec ".
Yolanda also talks about other eccentricities and sophistications of Dumont in relation to the meals he was serving, "Once [Santos-Dumont] invited us to go to Petrópolis ... we were invited to lunch, and it was, not to my astonishment, when we saw the table lined with folded violets of Parma, very pretty Royal Dalton pottery, in red. A huge black guy brought a tray with a huge turkey. The black guy was so big that almost did not fit into the room (A Encantada - the Enchanted in Portuguese, was house of Santos=Dumont in Petrópolis, with very small dimensions) it was really a scene, when he tried to cut the turkey. Mr Alberto served only champagne. There was also a violet inside the champagne glasses.
As for the aviator's life in Paris, and the privacy of him in his apartment, we have the reference of the New York Mail and Express reporter, who had once been sent to Paris to describe his personality. It is important to note that this descriptions may be somewhat biased, since Santos=Dumont was a close friend of James Gordon Bennett, a celebrity and millionaire living in Paris, owner of the competing newspaper, The New York Herald.
Paul Hoffman in his book, Wings of Madness, painstakingly describes the decoration of Santos=Dumont's apartment, described by a reporter: “in a profusion of pastel, blue and white, pink, golden, silk-lined walls, large bowls. He also says that it was Dumont himself who knit, he was very knowledgeable in the art of tapestry, and he had embroidered his own towels and napkins”.
It is also possible that Dumont made his own tablecloth, since the embroiderers of the Dumont family in northwestern Minas Gerais (Estate located in southeast region of Brazil) have tradition in this sort of art, making Irish lace towels, lace sheets, cross stitch pillowcases, using centuries old techniques, among many others in Brazil.
The knitting, crocheting and embroidering are part of the feminine tradition in Brazil, nevertheless it is known that the mathematics skills and the art behind such task, was learned in family, very often by men who, of course, did not publish that sort of feat, to avoid prejudice among male community, and it is currently practiced by many men and women now days in order to develop mental abilities, control stress and obviously, for its beauty.
In the book "La Demoiselle et la Mort", Michel Bénichou describes the inventor, and his life in his apartment, practicing this art: "In the white room, where the setting sun shines in golden reflexions, Alberto Santos-Dumont turns his back on the window. Standing in a golden armchair in front of a pink curtain under an embroidered veil, he faces his world, a bundle of trinkets over some collection of little ‘guéridon’ tables, he is gazing into nothingness. From his little hieratic body, only the hands are shaken in a regular fashion. He is knitting. The ticking of their needles competes with the faint ticking of a clock. When the time comes, he looks at it, counts the meshes with the tip of his thumb, folds and arranges them, rises and walks with sudden vivacity up to the room"*.
I also know that many readers of our culture tend to have such ‘macho impulses’ with regard to his abilities with needles, and with respect to his sexuality, which is caused by pure ignorance, but in France this ability is well known and respected. In this sense, I strive to address such subject, in a spirit of journalistic investigation and free of prejudice.
Being invited to such an event, having a meal at the home of one of the greatest personalities of the early twentieth century, promoted by the genius of the air, the Brazilian father of aviation, and still experience his unique gastronomic experiences on the heights, in such luxurious and exotic atmosphere, happened more than a hundred years ago, and nothing to this day could match it - if you, who are reading this blog wants to invest in such format of restaurants, you should count on me to be your business partner :).
* original article in French - « Dans le salon blanc, où le soleil couchant fait étinceler les dorures, Alberto Santos-Dumont tourne le dos à la fenêtre. Immobile, assis bien droit sur une fine chaise dorée, devant un voile de guipure drapé et son rideau de soi rose, il fait face à son monde, théorie de bibelots sur collection de guéridons, les yeux fixés sur le néant. De son petit corps hiératique, seules les mains sont agitées de saccades régulières. Il tricote. Ses aiguilles opposent un tic-tic affaire au langoureux tic-tic d’une pendule. Quand sonne l’heure, il abaisse le regard vers elles, compte les mailles du bout du pouce, replie l ouvrage, le range, se lève et marche avec une vivacité soudaine vers la chambre ».
Santos=Dumont's appreciation of experiencing unique meals, and living a life-style worthy of what he use to read in the adventures of Jules Verne, came to be known later when he frequently stopped his dirigible#9 in the restaurant 'La Grande Cascade' , or in front of his elegant apartment in Paris, just to have a coffee with friends, and return to his flights.
But it was with the Aereial Dinner Parties (eventually called "L'incroyable diner dans le ciel" or "diner aérien" by the Parisians) that Santos=Dumont won the heart of the elegant dandies of his time.
Among the best articles that I’ve found about these and other dinners parties promoted by him, I begin by quoting Jorge Henrique Dodsworth, Santos=Dumont’s nephew: "Head in the heights, dinner in the heights. He had dinner tables and special chairs arranged in order to give to the aristocratic guests the feeling of being in the air. "
Yolanda Penteado describes her "Tio Alberto, ("Uncle Alberto, in Portuguese" as she affectionately called him) and little bit about who these guests might be: "Santos-Dumont was extremely elegant and refined. Impeccable, he was a fashion influencer of his time: Santos-Dumont collar, Santos-Dumont hats, ... eccentric and vain. Because he was small in size, he wore elevated boots. Or as they will be called later, platform shoes (...) in the early years of the twentieth century, Santos-Dumont was, indeed, the number one figure of Paris. He was, sort to speak, star in time when fabulous people like, Marcel Proust, Guy de Moupassant, Toulouse-Lautrec, glowed on boulevards, cafes and halls. (...) The famous caricaturist SEM registered him in a cafe next to Lautrec ".
Yolanda also talks about other eccentricities and sophistications of Dumont in relation to the meals he was serving, "Once [Santos-Dumont] invited us to go to Petrópolis ... we were invited to lunch, and it was, not to my astonishment, when we saw the table lined with folded violets of Parma, very pretty Royal Dalton pottery, in red. A huge black guy brought a tray with a huge turkey. The black guy was so big that almost did not fit into the room (A Encantada - the Enchanted in Portuguese, was house of Santos=Dumont in Petrópolis, with very small dimensions) it was really a scene, when he tried to cut the turkey. Mr Alberto served only champagne. There was also a violet inside the champagne glasses.
As for the aviator's life in Paris, and the privacy of him in his apartment, we have the reference of the New York Mail and Express reporter, who had once been sent to Paris to describe his personality. It is important to note that this descriptions may be somewhat biased, since Santos=Dumont was a close friend of James Gordon Bennett, a celebrity and millionaire living in Paris, owner of the competing newspaper, The New York Herald.
Paul Hoffman in his book, Wings of Madness, painstakingly describes the decoration of Santos=Dumont's apartment, described by a reporter: “in a profusion of pastel, blue and white, pink, golden, silk-lined walls, large bowls. He also says that it was Dumont himself who knit, he was very knowledgeable in the art of tapestry, and he had embroidered his own towels and napkins”.
It is also possible that Dumont made his own tablecloth, since the embroiderers of the Dumont family in northwestern Minas Gerais (Estate located in southeast region of Brazil) have tradition in this sort of art, making Irish lace towels, lace sheets, cross stitch pillowcases, using centuries old techniques, among many others in Brazil.
The knitting, crocheting and embroidering are part of the feminine tradition in Brazil, nevertheless it is known that the mathematics skills and the art behind such task, was learned in family, very often by men who, of course, did not publish that sort of feat, to avoid prejudice among male community, and it is currently practiced by many men and women now days in order to develop mental abilities, control stress and obviously, for its beauty.
In the book "La Demoiselle et la Mort", Michel Bénichou describes the inventor, and his life in his apartment, practicing this art: "In the white room, where the setting sun shines in golden reflexions, Alberto Santos-Dumont turns his back on the window. Standing in a golden armchair in front of a pink curtain under an embroidered veil, he faces his world, a bundle of trinkets over some collection of little ‘guéridon’ tables, he is gazing into nothingness. From his little hieratic body, only the hands are shaken in a regular fashion. He is knitting. The ticking of their needles competes with the faint ticking of a clock. When the time comes, he looks at it, counts the meshes with the tip of his thumb, folds and arranges them, rises and walks with sudden vivacity up to the room"*.
I also know that many readers of our culture tend to have such ‘macho impulses’ with regard to his abilities with needles, and with respect to his sexuality, which is caused by pure ignorance, but in France this ability is well known and respected. In this sense, I strive to address such subject, in a spirit of journalistic investigation and free of prejudice.
Being invited to such an event, having a meal at the home of one of the greatest personalities of the early twentieth century, promoted by the genius of the air, the Brazilian father of aviation, and still experience his unique gastronomic experiences on the heights, in such luxurious and exotic atmosphere, happened more than a hundred years ago, and nothing to this day could match it - if you, who are reading this blog wants to invest in such format of restaurants, you should count on me to be your business partner :).
* original article in French - « Dans le salon blanc, où le soleil couchant fait étinceler les dorures, Alberto Santos-Dumont tourne le dos à la fenêtre. Immobile, assis bien droit sur une fine chaise dorée, devant un voile de guipure drapé et son rideau de soi rose, il fait face à son monde, théorie de bibelots sur collection de guéridons, les yeux fixés sur le néant. De son petit corps hiératique, seules les mains sont agitées de saccades régulières. Il tricote. Ses aiguilles opposent un tic-tic affaire au langoureux tic-tic d’une pendule. Quand sonne l’heure, il abaisse le regard vers elles, compte les mailles du bout du pouce, replie l ouvrage, le range, se lève et marche avec une vivacité soudaine vers la chambre ».
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