At Fontenelle's table, one does not eat in successive courses as today: all the dishes of a single service cover the table at the same time, arranged with symmetry. The meal unfolds in services: soups and entrées, then the roast (roasted meats) accompanied by salads and vegetables, finally the entremets and sweet dessert. Each person helps themselves to what is within reach. Drinks and cordial waters accompany or close the meal, separately.

French cuisine of the Grand Siècle, codified by La Varenne, turned away from the heavy spices of the Middle Ages to celebrate butter, clear stocks, and garden herbs. At Fontenelle's table, this spirit of moderation and delicacy is found even in his famous asparagus debate: butter or oil? A whole school of taste.