I have been fascinated by the Geneva Restaurant the entire
time I’ve lived in Seattle, though I’ve never been able to bring myself
to do anything more than peer curiously at it from across the street
when I attend an event at Town Hall. Located on the main floor of the
stately Lowell Emerson Apartments building, the gently buzzing neon
green sign spelling “Geneva” has always inspired wonder in me. My mind
wanders to T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” (colonnades, archdukes,
etc.); I imagine thin women with pointy noses and pearls sitting below
crystal chandeliers being tended to by tuxedo-clad waiters with white
linen cloths draped over their arms. Everything about Geneva, from its
menu (bunderfleisch, emince of veal bernoise, pan-fried calf’s liver,
jaeger schnitzel) to the names of the restaurant’s original owners,
Hanspeter and Margaret Aebersold, evokes an old-world European grandeur
that seems almost impenetrable to me.
But on Monday, April 21, Geneva will provide a special
opportunity for non-European-fancypants types like myself to experience
its grandeur, when it hosts a Fine Dining Etiquette Seminar with
maître d’ Dieter Schafer. Over a six-course dinner prepared by
chef/owner Sevala Kulovic, Schafer “will address questions of
etiquette, ordering, pairing food and wine, how to complain and
compliment, guest-server relationships, and tips for hosting a dinner.”
The lesson is pricey ($75 per person), but the chance to spend an
evening transported to Ye Olde World (while learning how to avoid
humiliation when dining with the modern-day richie-rich) is
priceless.
Fine Dining Etiquette and Wine Seminar, Mon April 21,, 6:30 pm, Geneva Restaurant, 1106 Eighth Ave, www.genevarestaurant
.com, 624-2222. $75 per person,
reservations required.
