As we approach peak party season, some might argue that dressing a table is as important as dressing oneself. Perhaps even more so. Skye McAlpine, food columnist for The Times of London, author of three cookbooks, and founder of Skye McAlpine Tavola, a line of home goods, would certainly agree. Nearly every week, in London or in Venice, she entertains as an exercise in creativity and joy. Imagine—hosting a Sunday lunch for 20 without a single Xanax.
One of her recent ideas—a black-and-white-themed dinner held at her apartment in Venice—is almost criminally simple, and it applies to holiday celebrations of all persuasions. “I love a theme, but I’m also conscious that they can be annoying,” says McAlpine, who studied classics at the University of Oxford before turning her attention to the table. “Black and white felt like a loose one that would give a sense of coherence and glamour, and it’s relatively easy to work with.” Here’s how to master it:
Consider Linens Like a Frame, Rather than a Canvas
White tablecloths and napkins are usually the stuff of a banquet hall, but McAlpine wanted to train the eye on her centerpieces, so she kept textiles crisp and minimal. “All of the nicest restaurants use them for a reason,” she says.
Decorate with Fruit Instead of Flowers
“Especially in winter, flowers are so expensive, and the longer the table, the more of them you need,” says McAlpine. The fruit idea had been simmering for decades. “When I was three or four, my parents threw a big party, and I have a vivid memory of wearing a black trash bag and dipping pineapples into a vat of white paint,” she says.
Fruits with graphic shapes and thick skins—pineapples, lemons, apples, pears, and bananas—won’t rot overnight. The afternoon before the party, McAlpine hit both the greengrocer and hardware store and applied two coats of white spray-paint to several boxes of produce. She piled them onto the table without being too precious about the arrangement. The attitude: bacchanalian. The result: extremely stylish.
There’s No Such Thing as Too Many Candles
“The lighting in our apartment is horrible, so we lit the entire table by candlelight,” says McAlpine. “I’m always an inch away from setting the house on fire.” She avoids tealights, preferring the drama and scale afforded by tall tapers purchased at Flying Tiger, or on Etsy or Amazon by the dozen. To ensure that her guests didn’t wander into walls, she positioned two freestanding lamps (borrowed from the living room) at both ends of the dining room.
Find Unconventional Place Cards
McAlpine ordered white paper fans on Etsy and tied the handles with a black grosgrain ribbon. Her friend Alice Edwards, a stationer, handled the calligraphy, but any legible handwriting will do just fine.
Don’t Overthink the Menu
It seems contrarian, especially in such sumptuous settings, but McAlpine’s menus skew simple. In this case, she says, “If you’re quite over-the-top with the table, all everyone wants to eat is a version of comfort food, elegantly served,” she says. In this case, that meant vitello tonnato, saffron risotto, and tiramisu. As a nod to the theme, she served slices of white bread interspersed with thin black-bread crackers.
Ashley Baker is a Deputy Editor at AIR MAIL and a co-host of the Morning Meeting podcast
