Even though the old stainless steel cutlery and the white tablecloth are pretty insistent tablefellows, Danish restaurants are now tending to shake off their “surgical” look. Table setting is increasingly finding favour as part and parcel of the overall dining experience. And anyone who might be thinking of replacing their own dinner service will find plenty of inspiration in Denmark’s restaurants. Two main trends reign supreme: Danish Design and good, old-fashioned homely tradition.

In the exclusive Restaurant Saison in Hellerup, Master Chef Erwin Lauterbach takes care of the superior gourmet dishes that go on the tables. Inside the restaurant, spring blooms eternal - a seasonal touch accentuated not least by the tableware. The dishes are arranged on pieces designed by the well-known Danish ceramicist Ursula Munch-Petersen. The tableware comes in many shades: cream, verdant green, sea blue and sun yellow. Restaurant Saison has the whole palette and in the kitchens the shades are picked to complement each particular dish so that the food is presented for maximum aesthetic appeal.

The tableware at Alberto K at the top of Radisson SAS Royal Hotel is also Danish Design and some of the hippest around. Here we have pure 60’s style – right from Arne Jacobsen cutlery, salt & pepper sets to the plates by Grethe Meyer. And in a unique venture all of this is on sale at the restaurant.

Any motifs on the china found in Danish restaurants are usually confined to the edging. When the waiter at Restaurant PS, say, places a terrine of Hungarian foie gras with roasted figs in front of the diners, it will be on a cream coloured plate with a romantic and old-fashioned border of fruit and flowers. The very name of the china, “Golden Summer”, evokes a bygone age and rustic charm. The cutlery too has been given some thought. Ordinary knives have a habit of sliding into the sauce when you rest them against the edge of the huge plates currently in vogue. This spurred the restaurant to commission Georg Jensen to design knives with flat handles to ensure they stay put. Design innovation – now also featuring at a restaurant near you.