Many of us learn how to set a table as children.
(A knight guarding a princess, a shepherd watching his sheep.)
Yet, for some, setting a table transcends from a childhood chore into a fully-fledged art form.
Photographed by Adrianna Glaviano
Tanner Fletcher
Instead of candles, Tanner Fletcher used five assorted lamps to add light.
Its all English countryside vibes, Fletcher Kasell says of his and Tanner Richies holiday table.
In fact,everythingon their table is vintage: from the silver trays down to the napkin rings.
Instead of candles, Tanner Fletcher used five assorted lamps to add light.
(1960s Italian, in case you were wondering.)
Even the fooda homey apple pieexudes a warm, sentimental fuzziness.
Deeda Blair
I don’t do holiday tables, says society doyenne Deeda Blair.
Fletcher Kasell, one half of Tanner Fletcher, places an apple pie on a vintage cakestand on their holiday table.
Here, a setting for four at her Sutton Place apartment.
The 92-year-old Deeda Blairone of New Yorks last society swansdoesnt do holiday decorating.
And I have a house that I don’t want any red in, so there you are.
“You should feel like you’re in this nostalgic world, but it’s still modern at the same time,” Kasell says of their table setting.
Blair has a penchant for painted botanical sculptures, which she has placed around her apartment.
Flowers are fresh from Zeze, the famous florist on New York’s Upper East Side.
(Blairs husband, William Bill Blair, was the ambassador to Denmark and later the Philippines.)
“I don’t do holiday tables,” says society doyenne Deeda Blair. Here, a setting for four at her Sutton Place apartment.
By a window overlooking the East River is a round table set for four.
Id rather give three dinners for four than one dinner for 24, she notes.
Id rather give three dinners for four than one dinner for 24, Blair says.
Blair has a penchant for painted botanical sculptures, which she has placed around her apartment.
Then, she goes to her dining-room-turned-library to smoke.
Anyone is welcome to join her.
Clare de Boer
Im always thinking about the food.
Flowers are fresh from Zeze, the famous florist on New York’s Upper East Side.
Clare de Boer answers the door to her Park Slope townhouse wearing a button-down and no makeup.
White dinner plates sit on woven placemats by Rush Matters and are flanked by classic David Mellor sterling silverware.
At the head of the table sits an arrangement of winter greens.
“I’d rather give three dinners for four than one dinner for 24,” Blair says. “It’s more interesting.”
Whatever is growing and abundant in December should be what were eating and were cutting.
There are no flowers in December except for poinsettias, de Boer says.
Then, she gestures toward a basket of red onions.
“I’m always thinking about the food. I don’t like busy tables that get in the way of conversational eating,” Clare de Boer says of the table she set at her Park Slope townhouse.
I think of red onions as a Christmas ball of December.
White plateware sits on woven placemats by Rush Matters.
De Boer has a penchant for shiny silver accentslike a shell-shaped salt dish.
White plateware sits on woven placemats by Rush Matters.
(You could throw one against the wall and it wouldnt break, she notes.)
Abraham eagerly shows me how it covers his entire head.
Thats not to say her table is monastic.
De Boer has a penchant for shiny silver accents—like a shell-shaped salt dish.
De Boer admits shes a bit of a magpieatop the butter plate is an eye-catching vintage shell-shaped salt dish.
I dont like busy tables that get in the way of conversational eating.
I want it to feel balanced and fun and festive, he says.
“I want it to feel balanced and fun and festive,” DeVonn Francis says of his holiday seating where a black tahini cake takes center stage.
Francis says he took inspiration from Flemish paintings as well as his own Jamacian heritage.
Putting the final touches on his cake, which is adorned in pink buttercream frosting.
Francis always aspires to achieve informal elegance when he entertains.
Francis says he took inspiration from Flemish paintings as well as his own Jamacian heritage.
I love a family-style moment, he says, smiling.
Frequently, she arranges them all at different heights.
Is really about how the setting evolves over the night, Newman says of entertaining.
Putting the final touches on his cake, which is adorned in pink buttercream frosting.
Glace fruits from Fortnum and Mason add an edible and extravagant touch.
As a culinary stylist, flowers and food are always the focus of her table.
Newman admits that, at first glance, her table might seem restrained.
“I wanted to still have that romance and watch the candles drip and deteriorate as the night goes on,” Romilly Newman says of her candles.
Yet, its really about how the setting evolves over the night, she adds.
I love the little stain on the tablecloth.
I love the way that the food looks when youre just serving yourself mountains of beautiful dishes.
“I’s really about how the setting evolves over the night,” Newman says of entertaining.
I love the way that people look around the table.
Glacé fruits from Fortnum and Mason add an edible and extravagant touch.
