What we put on our table, and who we place around it, defines us as individuals. Family-focused or friends-first, formatted to serve a wider social or professional purpose, whatever the prompt, beyond its unerring ability to arrest time (particularly on a ‘school night’), entertaining – our urge to gather and share – attests to a basic need to commune with others. Which is another way of saying, we will brook no argument about the importance of throwing an impromptu bash now and again, and to hell with the neighbours.
That said, the theme of this year’s Entertaining Issue eschews the ersatz gaiety that pervades the usual seasonal shindig to offer a hearty dose of old-school glamour. Our entertaining director Melina Keays and head of interiors Olly Mason worked together with photographer Matthew Donaldson to execute their latest series of table-settings, exploring a stripped-back sophistication dripping in atmosphere and candlewax. Leave your coat and your preoccupations at the door and tuck in.
