Tomète at Valentine in Paris
At Tomète, we celebrate the art of hosting.
Inviting guests, choosing the menu, shopping, cooking, setting the table, arranging flowers, selecting good wine and music, and finally sitting down to enjoy the evening with loved ones.
Tomète collections are designed for women and men who love to entertain and appreciate the aesthetics and quality of the objects in their home.
We decided to meet inspiring people who share our sensibilities.
Now, it’s Valentine Negroni’s turn to open the doors of her apartment, where she lives with her husband Townley and their little one, Orso.
Valentine divides her time between Paris, where she works, and Brittany and Corsica, where she escapes whenever possible to breathe and reconnect with her family roots.
These different geographical influences are reflected in her fashion style and interior decor, which are a subtle blend of sophistication and natural elements.
Valentine hosts in her own image: a beautifully refined table and convivial dishes that tell the story of her roots. With style and Corsican or Breton specialties, it’s sure to be a successful evening!
Welcome to Valentine’s home.
Tomète: What type of host are you? Do you plan and prepare weeks in advance or are you more of a “last minute” person?
Valentine: Completely last minute – but super organized. My husband and I love hosting and we divide the tasks: I choose the menu and set a beautiful table, while he handles the shopping and cooking.
What is your ideal number of guests?
During the week, I love dinners for four; it’s perfect for really enjoying our guests. On weekends and during holidays, we prefer larger gatherings, 6, 8, 10... we mainly aim to create a group that works well together.
If you could invite just one guest to your next dinner, living or dead, who would it be?
Julia Roberts!
A piece that we will listen to for sure if we are invited to your house:
Your song by Billy Joel! And also a lot of Paolo Conte, Cesaria Evora… hard to choose!
The cocktail or the drink that we can hope to taste when arriving at your place :
I would like to say a Negroni… but rather a good bottle of white Burgundy.
Your dream menu includes...
I have two, impossible to choose. Linguine with langoustines or beef-carrot/coquillettes. Very different but I have a passion for both dishes.
What gift do you usually give to your hosts when you are invited?
Flowers without hesitation, it is done less and less and personally I love to receive them, or the Tomète jewelry napkin rings – which have their effect every time.
What place does the art of the table have in your family? A memorable memory or a specificity to share on your family meals?
Large tables have a central place in our family life. I have a very large family, and my oldest memories go back to my childhood, when we arrived in Brittany at my grandparents' and there were so many of us that there was the adult table and the children's table. My grandmother spent her days in the kitchen preparing lunches and dinners for 25 people, all that for 1 month! the tradition: 1 different cake every evening! Her cookbook that we got back is a real gold mine and each recipe is a Proust madeleine that we have in common with all my cousins.
My mom is also a wonderful cook, and setting a nice table is, for her as for me, just as important as the recipe. We spend time choosing our dishes, tablecloths, table decoration. It is a whole that contributes to the happiness of receiving.
A book of recipes or decoration to recommend to help our readers prepare their next receptions?
The book "Chez Miss Maggie's kitchen: recipes and art of living" I really like the vintage chic atmosphere of Héloise and her super friendly and easy to reproduce recipes.
Share an anecdote about the worst experience you've had at a party?
A dinner that turned into a fiasco. We received two couples of friends for dinner and I decided to cook one of my favorite recipes, cannelloni with brocciu, a typical Corsican dish. At the time of going to the table, moment of embarrassment, my first guest reminds me that he is allergic to goat cheese, while the other asks me if the sauce is vegetarian. The sauce is veal and the brocciu is goat cheese… My two guests ended up with spaghetti in olive oil, because I didn't even have a spare sauce and an empty fridge. It made the others happy, who were able to finish the dish.
Your favorite at Tomète:
The scalloped round placemats from the LE FESTIN collection. On a raw wooden tray or over a tablecloth, they give a table a crazy look.
Who would you like to see on our newspaper?
Maria de la Orden, a Spanish designer who loves the art of the table and whose world is incredibly elegant.
