Monday, May 24, 2010

Sunday Suppers :: Rustic Italian + Martha Stewart Living !!!

You might remember in the beginning of the year we said we were working on exciting things. Well here is a big one : a special edition Sunday Suppers for our very favorite Martha Stewart Living, Styled and Photographed by Karen Mordechai ! You can check out the story in MSL’s June issue on stands now and online here + we’ll be blogging about all the great details and recipes for the coming weeks.






The Concept:
As with all of our suppers we started with a concept. This time we collaborated with Shira Bocar, our guest chef who works in the test kitchen at MSL. After choosing a rustic Italian cocktail party we set to work on our buffet table and vendors. As you all know, a buffet table is a bit unusual for our suppers as they are normally seated meals. This meant working on big serving dishes that aren’t usually a part of our repertoire. We decided on four tables: the main buffet, the bar, the favor table and a dessert/espresso table. For the buffet we chose a big heavy duty old farm table. We needed this piece to ground the room, showcase the theme, and comfortably house our yummy spread.

Our Menu ::
Pasta Frittata
Warm Robiola Cheese
Herbed Flatbreads
Asparagus with Frankie’s Olive Oil
Meatballs + fresh tomato sauce
Boozy fruit
Affogatos
Sandwich cookies
And of course martinis

Styling and Tips :

Once we chose our heavy knotted wood surface, we opted for lots of white dishes – both because they would pop on the dark surface, and because the colors of the food would pop in them. Easy pieces from Crate + Barrel and Sur La Table housed our asparagus, robiola, and fruit, while household staples like a Le Crueset Dutch oven, everyday glass jars, and a cutting board held our meatballs, tomato sauce, and frittata. In true Italian style, the flatbreads went right on the table. To keep up our rustic look we used vintage serving pieces, displayed a real olive branch garland and old stone vessel with beautiful flowers (more on that later).
When you’re trying this at home be sure to keep the table visually interesting: it’s important to vary heights (just a tall pepper grinder, or a block under a pot can make a huge difference!) and shapes, while keeping it in a somewhat uniform palette. We have pops of color (mostly edible) that keep it from being dull, but the display is largely white + neutral. Our favorite part about this is how many objects you probably already have in your home—none of it is fussy. Even our menu board is just an old frame with black heavy cardboard cut to size (frame from brook farm). The very talented Brynn from Paperfinger wrote the menu is casual and playful calligraphy.

Guest List :

Our guest list at this event was a bit closer to home than most Sunday Suppers. You probably realize this class was never opened to you all to join. Instead this one was invite only (not because we don’t love all of you) and filled with local Brooklyn vendors, and New York friends we find inspiring and creative. Some guests you’ll hear about later in the week, because they also had a hand in the creating—Laura O’Neill, Ben Van Leeuwen of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, + Sarah Ryhen of Saipua Flowers. In addition, Camille Becerra, Vincent Rotolo, Joanna Goddard, and Alex Williams joined us. Camille is an amazing Chef who created our picnic menu, is a former restaurant owner, food blogger, and most recently pop-up restaurant curator/chef, and her boyfriend Vincent is a pizza connoisseur and debt analyst. Joanna Goddard is the famous writer/blogger behind the Cup of Jo Blog and a magazine writer, while her husband Alex is a reporter for the New York Times. And of course, Karen’s very helpful husband and gaming expert, Ken Rivera was on board.

We hope you enjoy the article in MSL, as well as all of the posts to come as much as we enjoyed creating and hosting it. You can look forward to more décor (three tables !), some super talented vendor highlights, and some delicious recipes in the weeks to come. We also have a second very exciting announcement for you later this week—also a project that has long been in the works we’re giddy to share so stay tuned…






Credits:
Food Styling by Shira Bocar/Martha Stewart Living
Decor Styling and Photography by Karen Mordechai
Styling Assistant: Lizzy Sall

20 comments:

  1. so wonderful! congrats the pictures and styling is so wonderful karen, beautiful work as always! all your guessed are dresses are dreamy too!

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  2. How wonderful!! A gorgeous spread as always and beautiful images.

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  3. Absolutely beautiful, colorful and just truly stunning!

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  4. This is SO amazing. Incredible. I'm dying :)

    I received my June issue probably 10 days ago, but I haven't had a moment to sit down with it yet. This is just the motivation I need!

    Congratulations!

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  5. congratulations--that is huge! looking forward to seeing the piece in the magazine.

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  6. this is SO incredible! congratulations! absolutely wonderful images and menu... sunday suppers - you are by far my favourite food blog!

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  7. I really love those aprons the girls are wearing, and the high heels for cooking!!!! Viva glamourous cooking!

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  8. This is great. I love how clean everything looks.


    LOVE!

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  9. Absolutely love this. Just discovered your blog and MSL article via A Cup of Jo - and I'm so glad I did. Love everything about your blog, and I should tell you that its my dream and goal to one day teach my own private cooking classes. Can't wait to see what else is to come! xxSAS

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  10. Absolutely beautiful, classy, innovative and stunning! Thank you for sharing! You provide so much inspiration.

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  11. Hardly surprised at how lovely this looks! Thanks for giving us this view into your MSL adventure. Kudos on yet another stunning spread, photographed with such a great eye.

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  12. It all looks amazing but what I must know is where Karen M's dress came from? I have an event coming up and it would be perfect! (So pretty).

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  13. This was really beautiful!

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  14. What a beautiful spread! Love it

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  15. thanks anonymous, you are very sweet! the dress is actually super comfortable too,it's by 12th street by cynthia vincent- i found it at bloomingdale's but in case they don't have it anymore, here's a similar one online http://bit.ly/cprR3W, hope this helps ! - k.

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  16. perfect pictures... beautiful styling. love it. wish i could join you guys, i bet it's a lovely ambiance.

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  17. i'm drooling here. insanely gorgeous pics!! love your blog and just became a follower. congrats on your big ol' MSL land!!!

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