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Welcome to the second newsletter of Entertaining in Dallas, the ultimate source and to Dallas' best entertaining components, all in one easy to find location. If you are a first time reader, we encourage you to visit our Home Page to find our raison d'être and to read our first newsletter, now found in our Archive.
Join us as we progress through our steps of entertaining --
"Every good hostess has a sense of showmanship," so says style icon Dorothy Draper in her 1941 book, Entertaining is Fun! How to Be a Popular Hostess. The comment may be ageless and is only one of the many observations that rang a bell while we read the re-issue of Ms. Draper's highly regarded book. Entertaining is Fun is a look back in time, when uniformed maids and butlers were certainly more commonplace. (Think martinis and old fashions served in huge Y-shaped glasses with Cole Porter playing on the phonograph.) It is a manifesto on hosting a glamorous party at home, frequently on a budget. Much of what she has to say holds true today.
"Setting the Scene" offers the expectation of an outstanding party, whether for the glamorous dinner or a casual backyard picnic. This is the opportunity for the host and hostess to show off their creativity. Style can be achieved with imagination, perhaps helped along with an existing inventory of basics. We have always thought of entertaining as a time to take inventory. Kitchen and tableware acquisitions always seem to be made when there is an occasion or excuse for use. A consideration of that long-desired set of dessert plates or a cake stand at Madison, Neiman Marcus or Replacements might come to mind -- or the new table linens from Casa di Lino or the Linen Boutique to perk up the scene. We have succumbed in the past to having new table skirts made for a larger party. Or, one might need to take the plunge to add a few more wine glasses from Williams Sonoma. We were pleasantly surprised at the latest email from the Horchow Collection with such a broad offering of tableware available for the armchair shopper.
At the moment, we covet the fabulous napkins rings by the young company L'Objet for a new look. When you think of it, the napkin rings, and other of L'Objet's products, are jewelry for the table and are appearing everywhere as "must haves" for table dressing. (Incidentally, they would make a great Mother's Day gifts.) Our personal preference, seen at more than one of our favorite stores, is the pagoda. The same napkin ring design also comes in small salt and peppershakers, which are next on our wish list both for function and for eye appeal.
Thinking of Dorothy Draper's aforementioned manifesto, we would like to bring up another book, perhaps misleading in title, The Art of the Table, a Complete Guide to Table Setting, Table Manners and Tableware. Upon reading the title, we expected a Carolyn Roehm or Kim Whitman Schlegel photo-focused book, brimming with visual ideas. But instead, it is a compendium both of the present and of the past and a treasure for the hostess or reference for the newly wed. Written by Suzanne von Drachenfels, former consultant to Dallas' tableware manufacturer Fitz and Floyd, it goes through the styles and types of tableware, and history and differences of cutlery, and a fascinating history of manners related to use of implements. Did we really know that a knife tuned toward the plate is a medieval custom indicating good will?
Jumping forward to a contemporary style icon, we read Charlotte Moss' article last month in the New York Times suggesting updating table style with "a broader palette of color" now that spring is here. Hers was a suggestion of adding colorful napkins to the table décor or flower-patterned tablecloths. We will leave you with another of her quotes which speaks pointedly to the varied tablescape. "Life is short, can you imagine serving dinner on the same service every time you entertain? I would be bored stiff."
At this point, we recommend our Source Section for Kitchen and Tableware for excellent recommendations where you might find new drama to add to your home entertaining scene.
What's New
- Entertaining in Dallas, the ultimate source now includes Restaurants and Hotels as part of its Venues Source. The emphasis is on locations most congenial for private parties with separate room facilities and smaller ballrooms. Next month, we will complete our Alternative Venue Sites, such as exceptional community locations. The listings come in time for the spring rounds of graduation and wedding lunches and brunches.
- As soon as we completed the ever-changing restaurant scene, there was an announcement in Alan Peppard's Dallas Morning News recent column of the move of Top Chef Tre Wilcox to a new Highland Park Village restaurant, The Marquee, which will occupy part of the Village Theatre. The restaurant opens in October complete with al fresco dining over the movie theatre's to-be-enlarged sign.
- Since we are always looking for great books for inspiration (but limiting our choices to only the best), we have two to add this month. They would make great choices for Mother's Day gifts:
Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations: Entertaining at Home with New York's Savviest Hostesses. We have the early Park Avenue Cookbooks, which also emphasize down-to-earth recipes from parties hosted by veteran party-givers and fund-raisers. The emphasis is on élan and elegance, even for casual events. On the plus side, the book is authored by Florence Fabricant, frequent contributor to the New York Times, and the proceeds go to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Elegant Entertaining: Seasonal Recipes from the American Ambassador's Residence in Paris written by Dorothy Stapleton Walker, wife of the Ambassador, with recipes by Phillippe Escoffier. The photography is outstanding. Like the above book, charities benefit.
Our site will be a great reference tool for those who entertain or aspire to entertain with panache.
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