Authentication

Every piece is checked before it ever reaches the table. Authentication is not a step we add at the end; it is the reason a piece is selected at all. Here is how we know that what we sell is real.

Where our pieces come from

Our pieces come from sources we know and trust: private collections from our own circle, pieces bought first-hand from the maisons, and established dealers in Japan. We do not buy blindly from open marketplaces. The Japanese dealers we work with are all licensed under the country's Antique Dealer Act and members of the AACD, Japan's body for keeping counterfeits out of the pre-owned luxury trade. We source there for a reason: it is one of the most rigorously controlled markets in the world.

Verified at the source

Two things stand behind every piece we buy in Japan. The law: under the Antique Dealer Act, a licensed dealer must verify who they buy from and record every transaction, so a piece arrives with a traceable history rather than an anonymous one. And the AACD, the body that keeps counterfeits out of the Japanese trade. We buy from its members.

Before a piece enters a Menu, we confirm its provenance: where it came from, who handled it before us, and any proof that travels with it.

In-house expert inspection

Each piece is then inspected by hand. We look at:

• the materials, and the way the leather, canvas or hardware ages;
• the stitching, its regularity and placement;
• the weight, finish and engraving of the hardware;
• the markings, logos and fonts;
• the serial numbers and date codes, where they exist.

If a piece does not pass these checks, it does not make the Menu. We never knowingly offer anything we are not certain of.

What travels with it

When a piece still has its original cards or dust bag, they travel with it to you. When it does not, we say so honestly on the piece's page. We never invent provenance.

Our guarantee

We stand behind every piece we sell. In the exceptional event that a piece were ever found to be inauthentic, we take it back and refund it in full, with return shipping at our expense.

Independent by design

dinner is served is an independent selection house. We are not affiliated with, authorised or endorsed by any of the maisons whose pieces we offer. Their trademarks and names remain their own. Under the law, only a maison can declare its own product genuine; no reseller, and no authentication body, can speak in its place. What we stand behind is the integrity of our sourcing and our process.