Bench seating stylish, popular and practical

Chicago Tribune (MCT) - It was Easter Sunday, circa 1995, and my mother had tolerated her dining table situation for the last time. The rectangular, drop-leaf, six-capacity table where we had eaten so many meals was no longer practical for our family of eight. Seven-year-old Hayley, the youngest of her six daughters, was making do squeezing around corners every night, but it wouldn't be long before her string-bean stature _ and appetite _ would require more seating space, more table room, and more time at the table.

The time had come to ditch this sorry excuse for a table and replace it with something much bigger. Mom had just the table in mind too. Out at Forty Legends, the summer camp in Washington, Mo., run by my dad's aunt and uncle for so many years, there was a clearance sale in the works. On the sale list: a mess hall full of 3-by-8 knotty pine harvest tables and matching benches. They were huge, heavy and decorated with scars and pock marks left by decades of campers pounding their knives and forks. After a day's worth of prodding and pleading, mom convinced dad to borrow my uncle's truck (and my uncle), drive out to Forty Legends, and "Get that table!"

From that Easter, the table and benches became a sort of trademark for our home and family. Mom and Dad took their places at opposite ends, and we girls divided ourselves among the benches, three on each side. The benches had a way of holding us hostage, a characteristic I think my parents quite appreciated. The table and benches also became ground zero for all family parties, of which we were known to hold a few. Dust bunnies might have thrived in our formal dining room, but that harvest table and benches were smothered for hours in aunts, uncles, babies, cakes and brown bottles.

As an adult, I've discovered this seating situation was a common one among many large families. In most cases, the bench was first a product of practicality. But my mom also appreciated the bench's country-casual aesthetic. And in that sense, she was ahead of her time. While 14-member families may be a diminishing demographic, benches appear to be rising in popularity. Whether it's the higher priced, handcrafted versions sold at places like Room & Board _ whose bench inventory continues to build year after year _ or the more affordable finds from antique malls and Target, benches are big.

"Today more than ever, the kitchen and dining room are where all the action is _ homework, gathering for meals, paying bills, reading the paper," says Betsy Kershaw, brand experience director for Room & Board. "Benches bring flexibility and intimacy to those spaces. Benches offer the value of a single piece instead of a handful of chairs and often are more space-friendly."

These days, with five of the six girls grown and living on their own and only my mom, dad and Hayley sitting around it, the table takes on highway-like proportions. Their requests for butter and iced tea nearly require a megaphone and conveyor belt. But all it takes is one holiday, one birthday or one spontaneous reunion for it to be packed around the perimeter.

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Never will I look at a bench or harvest table without thinking of those evenings spent throwing elbows, trying to scoot in and out without flashing my underpants or kicking someone in the face, and avoiding that dreaded middle spot, where once you sat you were marooned for the night.

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BONDING ON THE BENCH

When it comes to good bench manners, your mother's "stop elbowing your sister" mandates still hold true.

Slightly more sophisticated advice can be gleaned beyond the home, via example, in communal dining restaurants. Award-winning Chicago restaurant Avec's cedar-lined interior room seats only 48 diners, approximately half of which sit at a long built-in bench along the room's far wall. Up to four people per table can fit on the bench, with tables spaced apart just far enough to allow diners to excuse themselves mid-meal.

"At the host's discretion, we may attempt to seat pregnant women, or diners who may otherwise need to use the restrooms more often than most, on the outer ends of the bench," says Liz VanLeuwen, Avec host. "If one benched person has to excuse herself from the table, the other diners will stand to allow the person to pass."

New restaurant Urban Belly incorporated into their dining room custom-made Chinese elmwood benches from local shop Golden Triangle. The idea was to foster a sense of community among diners.

"Communal dining is something new to the Chicago market," says Yvonne Cadiz-Kim, co-owner with husband Bill Kim and the restaurant's designer. "You're going to be sitting next to a stranger, so you have to be open to passing condiments and napkins, and you have to be open to moving yourself around if another party comes in and needs the space.

"At first, people thought we were crazy to try this, but been pleasantly surprised of the bonding that has been going on between strangers."

_ Shaila Wunderlich

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© 2008, Chicago Tribune.