This December, for our annual holiday dinner, we gathered at Jonathan’s house at a table inspired by the glittering veil of fresh snowfall–although we haven’t had any yet. We set chrome iittala Piano Workshop flatware and light-scattering Kosta Boda Limelight plates on slightly wrinkled white Libeco Home table linen and white Chilewich lattice placemats that sparkle like snow crystals. Like a blanket of fresh snow, the setting was simple and clean, with candlelight from iittala Kivi votives reflecting off the etched patterns in the Kosta Boda plates and the iittala Ultima highballs, with feet like beads of ice. And like the setting, the food provided by JJ Gonson of Cuisine en Locale represented a return to the essentials, with a focus of delicious ingredients and simple, hearty preparation. Continue Reading

This holiday season, the Dinner Series sat down to a table inspired by the sparkling blankets of snow we get in New England–although we haven’t seen any yet. Last year, we enjoyed a feast put on by Robert Harris of Season to Taste Catering for Dinner 7: A Farm to Table Holiday. For our second holiday dinner, we joined with JJ Gonson and Cuisine en Locale, her team of “gypsy” cooks that are a fixture in the Cambridge pop-up dining scene and operate ONCE a Week, a weekly meal delivery service that’s halfway between a CSA and a private chef. (In our opinion it’s the best of both worlds; you get fresh meals from locally sourced ingredients, without having to figure our what you’re going to do with all those beets from your CSA or have your kitchen occupied for the day by a private chef.) Continue Reading

Contributed by Hairee Lee

For our fifth dinner, Didriks joined up with European Country Antiques and Season to Taste Catering for an eight-person dinner party in the antique-filled showroom of European Country Antiques. See photos from the event on our Flickr.

The main players: Robert Harris, a Boston chef and owner of Season to Taste Catering, recently awarded Best of Boston 2010, who catered the meal; Ed Stuart, owner of European Country Antiques and host of the dinner in his sumptuous store; Jonathan Henke, owner of Didriks, who provided the tableware; Hi-Rise that provided the bread and the wine; and Renée McLeod from Petsi Pies, who baked the dessert.

All local businesses located in Cambridge, they came together to create a memorable dining experience, and by dining I mean the wine, the cuisine, the conversation and laughter, the ambiance, the service all combined to create a wonderful affair that was more than the sum of its parts.

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Contributed by Hairee Lee

On a perfect summer day, it’s hard to think of a greater pleasure than sitting down with friends for dinner and enjoying good conversation al fresco. But as my friend’s mother once said, “Fun is a lot of work.” Setting the atmosphere and preparing the food takes planning, shopping, cooking, and good taste, the last of which can often be the hardest to come by.

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