Luxury Purse Stools Are Grabbing More Real Estate in Restaurants

In the opening episode of Season 2 of And Just Like That …, there’s a scene stealer, and it’s not a dress or a celebrity: It’s a purse stool. “Oh, thank you, my bag was exhausted,” says Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie, setting her Chanel purse down on the little white stool that’s pulled up to the fancy restaurant table. The miniature seats also add comic relief in Emily in Paris: The show’s star mistakenly sits on the little stand meant for her handbag at a Provence dining spot, revealing her naiveté.

Fine diners will recognize the purse stool as a familiar sight in high-end dining rooms. They are the kind of amenity you see in three Michelin-star French spots, where an army of waiters escort a woman to the bathroom and there are several courses of amuse-bouche—or starters—before a meal actually starts.