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You don’t need many excuses to dine al fresco on a beautiful summer day, especially if you have a garden, patio or deck surrounded by greenery.
“You’re more relaxed when you’re outside, so your entertainment tends to be more casual,” says New York-based interior designer Young Huh. “It’s a little more fun and a little less hassle-free. I’m more about bright colors and a sense of joy.”
Ms. Huh and her lawyer husband, Joon-Yeung Huh, entertain guests almost every weekend at their 19th-century house in Hyde Park, New York, in the summer, and setting the table for these al fresco meals is “part of what I look forward to.” Ms. Xu said.
While preparing lunch for friends on a recent sunny Friday, she invited a reporter to see how she did it.
select settings
“My first thought is who is coming and what might be interesting for them,” Ms Hu said. This determines the menu – and the settings.
On Ms. Hsu’s eight-acre property, she can serve meals in many places: on the patio, around the pond, on the grass under the trees.
When she needs to prepare food near the kitchen, she usually chooses the patio. But moving the table into the landscape, or even just spreading out a picnic blanket, “sets an instant romantic mood,” she says. “There’s an idyllic quality that we don’t get on the terrace.”
prepare the table
Madam Hsu uses a few tables for al fresco dining. When she anticipates a large crowd, she chooses a long wooden table that can accommodate everyone. If she and her husband entertain another couple, having a small round iron table feels more intimate.
Either way, she starts defining the palette by decorating the table with a tablecloth, giving it a clean, crisp surface. For a recent lunch, Ms. Hsu opted for a white cotton tablecloth from Fete Home, printed with a red and blue floral print—colors she plans to reuse in flowers and accessories.
now: flower
Some might think flowers are the finishing touch, but when Ms. Hui sets her outdoor table, she focuses on them from the start: “It’s about drama and excitement.”
Instead of using one large flower arrangement, she prefers several flowers in multiple small vases. “Then everyone gets some flowers at their place,” she said. “I like to use different styles of clear glass vases to mix things up.”
She arranges purple cornflowers, blue delphiniums and pink peonies in a series of low glass vases and Delft earthenware tulips, without arranging them too carefully.
“It’s easy,” she said. “I like how flowers give off a wild vibe.”
set location
When setting your outdoor table, don’t just focus on everyday dishes.
“If you have the same friends at different times, it’s good to have different tablescapes,” said Ms Hsu, who prepared a variety of tableware for the occasion.
On this day, she chose a black and white floral plate from the Ralph Lauren collaboration with Burleigh to mirror the pattern of the tablecloth. Then, for colour, she added purple and pink glasses from Bitossi Home and red-rimmed wine glasses from OKA.
“I like to use colored glasses outdoors,” she says. “But nothing too precious – because when you’re eating out, the breakage rate is high.”
For the flatware, she considered mismatched antique silverware, but settled on Blue Pheasant’s flatware with bamboo-shaped acrylic handles because of their outdoor appeal.
Finally, she pulled out simple folded napkins to match the tablecloth. “I don’t use napkin rings outside,” she says. “They tend to fly around.”
Add place cards and candles
Although Ms. Huh prefers casual al fresco dining, she still prefers to use meal cards, which she often buys from Mr. P’s meal card company.
“It’s easy to do,” she said. “It makes people feel really special,”
She also lights candles to set the mood—even when it’s not dark yet.
“I always light candles outside, usually in lanterns,” she says, for a romantic twinkle that the wind won’t blow out.
Plan ahead for cleanup
One surefire way to spoil the enjoyment of a meal is to do a massive cleanup after a meal. That’s why Madam Hsu considers the aftermath of the party when she plans it.
She uses large, sturdy trays to quickly and easily move dishes between the yard and kitchen. Whenever possible, she chooses dishes that are dishwasher safe so she doesn’t have to hand wash them after everyone gets home.
“You need to take all these extra steps to bring things outside for guests,” Ms. Hu said. “But in the end, you want the cleanup to be smooth and easy.”
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