At Diane's table in Paris
It's Diane's turn to talk with us about the art of hosting around her table dressed as a Tomète.
We are really happy to have been able to spend time with Diane, to discover her universe and her sunny personality.
It must be said that Diane is the busy type, between her activity as a lawyer, her discoveries and passions that she shares on her Instagram account ( @Dianousssh ), the work she is undertaking to rehabilitate a beautiful house in Normandy ( @Maisonquiber ) and his no less full social life.
Diane copes with this busy schedule and loves bringing family and friends together at home, around good products that her neighborhood - the 9th arrondissement of Paris - abounds.
We have dressed Diane's table with our white rectangular scalloped placemats and our thick linen tablecloth and napkins in our brand new Olive Green color.
Welcome to Diane's table.
Tomète: What type of host are you? Team “I think about the menu and the decoration weeks before” or team “last minute”?
Diane: Team "lawyer-I-don't-know-my-schedules-in-advance" and therefore always last minute J. I love to cook (Indian recipes from my grandmother or simpler dishes like the Ottolenghi recipes that we all have in our kitchens) but unfortunately I don't often have time to anticipate shopping and cooking. Fortunately, I live close to Rue des Martyrs in the 9th arrondissement in Paris, so it often ends in a seafood platter and small salads made from Rose Bakery, or even roast chicken, Greek caterer, Italian caterer , etc.
What is your ideal number of guests?
I have 6 chairs at home, I feel like saying that's ideal, but a few weeks ago we managed to squeeze in 14 for a Sunday roast chicken, and it was brilliant. The crazier we are…
If you could invite just one guest to your next dinner party, alive or dead, who would it be?
Impossible to choose! We will say that there is nothing cooler than receiving artists, cooks, business leaders, globetrotters and more generally passionate people at your table, and I am lucky to have plenty around me.
A piece that we will listen to for sure if we are invited to your house:
Paolo Conte, Stan Getz & João Gilberto, Buena Vista Social Club, Devendra Banhart, Al Green, etc.
The cocktail or the drink that we can hope to taste when arriving at your place:
I've had a passion for Spritz since the first time I set foot in Venice in 2008 or 2009, for an internship, when my uncle was living there. Since then, I systematically use it as an aperitif, that or an orange wine at the moment (yes it's cliché J). As for Sunday lunch, we often serve Bloody Marys, my lover makes them really well.
Your dream menu includes :
Oysters, oysters, oysters. Apart from that, if there are two recipes (from my Indian grandmother and my mother) that I master quite well, it's monkfish curry and strawberry tiramisu.
What gift do you usually give to your hosts when you are invited?
A pretty bouquet of flowers from Debeaulieu or Hoy Paris and a good bottle.
What place does the art of the table have in your family? A memorable memory or a specificity to share on your family meals?
My mum is the eldest daughter of an Indian family of 6 children who arrived in France at the end of the 70s, my dad the eldest of a Franco-Italian family. Family gatherings around a meal have always been central to me. I think I spent almost all of my Sunday afternoons at the table surrounded by more than a dozen uncles, aunts and cousins. My parents also always loved entertaining, and I remember very early on spending hours helping my mother to set a pretty table on weekends or Friday evenings with foliage from the garden, small vases of flowers, pearls , silverware.
A book of recipes or decoration to recommend to help our readers prepare their next receptions?
Ottolenghi's recipe books are incredibly simple and divine, I also really like Angèle's Guinguette book, Miss Maggie's Kitchen or Anais Delon's Oysters, for passionate oysters like me.
Share an anecdote about your worst (or best) experience around the table when you received at home?
One of the worst was the first time I took my boyfriend to my house for lunch (disclaimer, I was 19) - I made spaghetti (gluten free, hadn't looked at the wrapper ) with tuna bottarga. "Pasta all Bottarga di Tonno", I told him proudly with an Italian accent, not knowing that gluten-free pasta took a thousand times longer to cook. The spaghetti was… crunchy since it was uncooked, and the tuna bottarga for snogging afterwards, it's a bad idea. 11 ½ years later, he still insists that I can't cook pasta.
Your favorite at Tomète:
Tomète napkin rings, real gems! Besides, I'm never quite sure how to fold or spread a napkin nicely on the table, so napkin rings make it easier.
Who would you like to see on our timeline for our next Home Tour?
The first one I immediately think of is Fanny Morel ( @cheesymagazine ) who seems to be as passionate about the art of hosting as I am.
