Canapés, amuse-gueules and petits fours

Canapés may seem fancy but in fact they are practical. There is a time gap between when people arrive and when any food will be ready. At The Merchant House we have no bar for people to sit at, so customers go straight to the table and, rather than have them simply stare at each other, or eat two baskets of bread so that they’re not hungry anymore, we present a small plateful of snacks to assuage the intervening pangs without too much damage to overall appetite. Home cooks essentially do the same thing in offering olives and nuts.