DIY Network

Royal Road Trip: Maisonette Restaurant Royal Road Trip: Maisonette Restaurant From "Talking Dirty With the Queen of Clean" episode DQOC-116

Fine table linens at a restaurant may start out crisp and white, but by the end of the evening they have soaked up any food or wine someone's mouth may have missed. But with the right cleaning and care, they'll soon be back to the rescue of other dining disasters. And as we all know, accidents do happen, even in the finest restaurants.

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	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C

Maisonette Restaurant is a legendary Cincinnati, Ohio, establishment known for its award-winning cuisine and impeccable service (figure A). This includes the classic white linen table attire. The restaurant goes through 270 dozen napkins and 90 dozen tablecloths in the dining room alone every year. That adds up to lots of dirty laundry!

After every meal the wait staff gathers the dirty linens and tosses them into a hamper, stains and all. By 6:30 the next morning the linens are wheeled upstairs to the fifth floor laundry room, where housekeepers Shirley Edwards and Maggie Turnbow sort and separate the laundry into loads weighing no more than 20 pounds each (figure B).

Spots and stains are given no pretreating. A scoop of industrial detergent is the first step to getting everything bright and white; then computerized commercial washing machines pump in just the right amount of bleach and cleaners to get the linens spotless. (The floors have even been reinforced to support these massive cleaning machines.)

After tumbling dry, the linens are put through pressing machines capable of steaming and pressing up to five napkins in as little as 90 seconds. They are now ready for the waiters to whisk them away to the main floor, where kitchen waiters will neatly crease and fold them before they take their place back on the plates. And if by chance a stubborn stain such as lipstick is discovered still clinging to a napkin after the first wash, a little scrub with an industrial stain-buster and an overnight soak usually takes care of the problem.

Linens aren't the only things the ladies keep clean: the kitchen crew's uniforms can get awfully dirty working around food. Jackets, pants and aprons receive a thorough washing daily. Edwards and Turnbow also inspect the linens for holes and any dirt that just won't let go. Edwards has been on the job for 13 years, and her sharp eyes never miss a spot or worn place. These distressed linens become side towels, often used in the kitchen to clean the edges of the plates because they are virtually lint free. They are also used to clean the sconces and chandeliers -- the chandelier crystals sparkle brilliantly after a cleaning with a soft linen napkin and a solution of vinegar and water.

From sconces to silverware, these linens, along with a special burnishing machine, help another part of the restaurant to shine. Tarnished silver is put into a vibrating burnisher, which is then filled with ceramic beads and a polishing solution. The silver is taken under and through this bead bath and comes up completely free of tarnish. Servers then use the less-than-perfect linens to give the silverware one last polish before it takes its place at the table.

It's the dressed tables, however, that give the restaurant its clean and bright look (figure C). At both lunch and dinner, these tables are meticulously set with the neatly cleaned and pressed tablecloths and napkins. And if an accident happens, the fifth-floor laundry room is always open and waiting for their customers -- no reservation needed.

Tip:When storing linens at home, don't starch them beforehand, since the starch will cause them to yellow. Just fold the linens lengthwise a couple of times and roll up the cloth. They will take up less storage space and have fewer wrinkles.