Dinners at Montpelier featured bountiful Virginia fare prepared and served in an elegant French style, garnering great praise for James and Dolley Madison. However, the success of these meals rested squarely on the shoulders of a team of efficient, highly trained enslaved workers who toiled long hours to prepare, set up, and serve the meals according to strict guidelines and protocols of the day. “Dinner for the Madisons,” a stunning new installation in Montpelier’s dining room, helps to bring the story of this complex, labor-intensive, praise-worthy process to life.