Richard

I grew up in Mexico, where my grandmother laid Sunday lunch for twenty people with borrowed chairs and one embroidered white tablecloth. That table taught me what a table is for: telling people they are expected.

For the last twelve years I have worked in private service, running the dining rooms, pantries and silver rooms of large homes. I was trained by a senior butler who checked every table from the guest’s chair, never from where it was laid, and I still do the same.

Why the videos, and why the book

The quiet standards of a well-run house are almost never written down for people who don’t employ staff. My videos started as a way to share them. The Butler’s Table is the complete version: 355 pages on cutlery, glassware, linen, china, silver and service, with the reason behind every rule.

Richard