Which room should I use for eating in? (Designing an archmages sanctum)

[Senko]

First off I hope this is the right forum, if not sorry.

I'm trying to build a sanctum for an archmage and I'm using a mixture of sources from games and RPG books to make an imposing space for people who are seeking their advice. This is the home of a mage who likes their luxury and power so its being built to be the kind of domain that makes even nobles who enter pause is awe (and adventures grab the thief).

Anyway I'm drawing a littler inspiration for the basics from the old 3rd ed stronghold builders guidebook and I'm tossing up between two areas for their dining area. The two options are dining hall and tavern outlined below. Right now I'm leaning towards the tavern as it takes up less space (I know I can just deisgn what I want and say "unique" but I prefer to work within the mechanics which are limited in the size of the place), the decoration/look is easily adjusted and it has a bar. I'm just wondering if I should go with the dining halls variable configuration and side tables? Any thoughts appreciated.

Dining Hall
Size
40 foot x 40 foot x 20 foot high.
Description
This well appointed room is dedicated specifically for hosting large meals. The tables are covered in the finest linens, and the guests use the finest silverware to eat off the rarest china. Fine artwork lines the walls and a beautfuil chanelier provides light. Serving tables line the walls while a marble or parquet floor adds to the beauty.
Occupancy
It can seat 16 people when set up with one large table or 30 with multiple smaller ones.

Tavern
Size
20 foot x 20 foot x 10 foot high.
Description
This room has a marble topped bar, upholstered chairs, and tables covered with the finest linens and the best place settings, Gorgeous decorations festoon the walls including art from the best known painters in the land.
Occupancy
It can seat up to 20 people.

[Val'bryn2]

I would go with the dining hall. A tavern would be more akin to having a McDonald's in your house, while the dining hall is grandeur to impress your guests.

Keep in mind, an archmage is only using it for formal meals, on his own he's likely grabbing a hot pocket on the way to the lab.

[Set]

Having a dining hall that looks like your archmage just transported / recreated their favorite tavern is a great visual, and really points to a quirky sort of person. (Or perhaps a strange and nostalgia-driven sort of person. Does that tavern have some historical significance? Is it their parents? The first place they worked? The place they met someone they loved and later, lost, a person now memorialized by one of the magical simulacra serving drinks? And that would be another barrel of 'this mage ain't right' if the servers in the dining hall are all simulacra of real or fictional people, but going through the motions of being real people, living fake scripted lives, full of intrigue and romance, hopes and dreams, petty feuds, etc. all carefully plotted by the archmage in idle moments, living a dozen vicarious fantasy lives, while having sublimated their own into their work...)

I also like the idea that this dining area is only used for company, and that the rest of the time they eat something quick, heated by cantrip and huddled in front of the crystal ball in the study.

[Val'bryn2]

Would there be a giant's crystal ball hung on a wall in the tavern, to watch the exploits of a Pathfinder team?

[Meirril]

Use the Dining Hall. Make the table a magic item. When the owner says "Let us dine!" A Heroe's Feast (as the spell) is summoned sufficient for every place setting on the table. Also some sort of light entertainment the Archmage finds pleasing happens. Something like mistrals singing ballads from the Mage's childhood, or elementals juggling, or even an illusion of a fancy ballroom dance around the room.

Or maybe the Archmage doesn't use a dinning room at all but casts Mage's Magnificent Mansion whenever he is feeling peckish.

[Senko]

I'm actually using the sanctum mythic ability so it functions as a magnificant mansion. There's a grassed central garden surrounded on all sides by the various rooms (bedroom, library, stables, etc).

Seems most people like the dining hall idea though I may need to give more thought to Set's suggestion of a tavern from their past that holds personal significance. Possibly with various well known fictional characters rather than historical ones imagine how you'd react if you got served dinner by an apparently real Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny while Batman glowered at you from by the door.