IF YOUR TABLE COULD TALK, IT WOULD ASK FOR THESE WARES

Summer has finally arrived. Well, it’s actually on annual leave for the next week or so, because, y’know, that scorching five day stint really wiped it out. Poor thing is on the brink of burnout. But its absence provides a window to get things ready for its return. Like outdoor furniture for those surely scorching July days, and tableware for all the long and languid dinners they’ll spawn. Imagine it now. Streams of double vaxxed friends dinging on your doorbell, thrusting a bottle of pale plonk in your hand, before heading out to the garden, where the table looks like it’s been plucked from Pinterest.

Platters piled high with egg glazed, pancetta studded pasta, and salads topped with jewelled pomegranate seeds. Murano tumblers that whizz with colour, fizz with something strong, and are decorated with sprigs of rosemary or cubes of crystallised ginger. (Don’t forget the ice). The sun is, yes, a little too fiery, but no-one is blasphemous enough to say so. Instead, guests take turns to sit under the parasol, prodding at their pink patches as they go.

But back to the table, which is blanketed in an unfiltered, floral tablecloth. And because there’s no need (like at all) to match, napkins come in a myriad of patterns, colours and textures. That said, they should generally riff off the colours in the cloth. Cutlery wise, despite the aforementioned fare, there’s merit to seeming like you haven’t tried too hard. Like, oh, this fork here is antique, it was my Granny’s or I picked this up in Paris, after lunching one time in the Marais. If you’re not that way inclined, your best bet is Sabre, which coincidentally, are also from Paris. Plates should be a bit more uniform, to bring the scheme together. Plus, you want everyone to feel like they’re getting the same portion sizes or all hell will break loose.