entertaining
Ever wondered how your favourite design names dress the table for Christmas dinner? What songs they play to ring in the new year? Where they shop for gifts? We asked all the most pressing of festive questions to inform your planning, from Hanukkah to Hogmanay…
Jaime Hayon designer
‘Travelling is how I celebrate. I love to go alone to a deserted beach with an empty sketchbook and draw. My favourite spot is in Chiang Mai, Thailand – it’s perfect for winter.’
Bryan O’Sullivan founder of Bryan O’Sullivan Studio
‘Every year we bring the team to The Pale Blue Door in Hackney; it’s our number one Christmas tradition. It’s a wild, surreal, subversive and insanely fun pantomime and dinner hosted by drag performer A Man to Pet, in what looks like Mrs Havisham’s knicker drawer! It wouldn’t be the holidays without it.’
Alex Holloway co-founder of Holloway Li
‘When hosting on a grand scale one of the first things my partner and I consider is making sure the food is piping hot and the drinks are chilled – we like to use the bathtub, conveniently positioned in the centre of our living room, as an ice bucket that counteracts the bottleneck for fridge space while creating a talking point for guests. Next, we maximise the room available in our one-bed apartment by creating little “pockets” of seating for conversation: a table setting near the kitchen, the sofa area in the centre of the room and two crescents of chairs that frame the windows. It essentially grants us four different areas for guests to gather in. We also bring out our portable countertop rotisserie spit for parties. Not only does it alleviate the pressure on oven space, but it adds to the “kebab shop” theme that the kitchen was designed around and brings a playful sense of theatre to the process of cooking for a crowd.’
Aaron Probyn designer
‘My favourite spirit for festive parties is a little untraditional: mezcal. Its smoky flavour adds a unique touch to any cocktail, and a mezcal negroni is my go-to drink. The spirit’s complex, earthy tones blend perfectly with the bitter Campari and the sweetness of vermouth. Lately, I have been enjoying sipping it from my “Rye” short tumbler in “Smoke’, which enhances the beautiful colour of the drink. A well-stocked bar at this time of year is essential, too, and my tip is to remember to include a good serrated knife and a small chopping board. These might not be the first things that come to mind, but they are indispensable for cutting garnishes.’
Henry Holland founder of Henry Holland Studio
‘Our family has rediscovered ‘UNO’ recently, thanks to my seven-year-old niece, and the new ‘Create Your Own Rules’ cards have resulted in the adults appropriating it as a bit mo
