At the table of Coppet as in the salon on the Rue du Bac, the meal was not served in successive courses but in grand "services": the table was covered with several dishes at once (soups and hors d'oeuvres in the first service, roasts and entremets in the second, then dessert of fruits and sweets), and each guest helped themselves or passed the dishes. Conversation, queen of these gatherings, mattered more than the food itself.

Emblematic drink of the philosophical salons of the 18th century, coffee awakened the mind and sustained long intellectual jousts. At Madame de Staël's table, it sealed the alliance of food and thought.