Search
2019/20 Tablescaping Trends
The Spring/Summer 2019 fashion shows, architecture, color, and food reports, which happened towards the tail end of last year, were many, many things. While the majority of designers continued with the trend of ‘do your own thing’, what united them was their search for an expression of statements that empower.
From modernism through the bold, to the elegant with metallic appointments, to au natural here are five of the biggest trends in table setting seen coming out of 2019.
MOD POP
Mod Pop celebrates pops of modern style in the every (even mundane) day while stirring in spoonfuls of irony and wit, giving this collection the whimsey and fun that many Pop artists, including Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, brought awareness to in the ’50s and ’60s.
Black is the must-have accent color of 2019 setting the backdrop and creating a contrast to the bold, refined designs that create a sense of drama. Along with bold accents, this functional modern table creates festive inspirations that invite chefs to play with their food and serve guests a meal of EATertainment (experiential dining).
MENU
FRESH as in FUN is in, and as more chefs and farmers collaborate on the reintroduction of old varietals and the genetic modification of new ones, plates will explode with unusual coloring. If purple carrots and orange cauliflower were on menus in 2018, we will be tasting rainbows in 2019.
The LOOK
Investing in key statement pieces will add pops to the mod and make the mod pop. Metals and metallics are the NOW, elevating black to WOW through contrasts and juxtapositions! By using stark blacks and whites as the neutral backdrops, the stage is set to have the food take center stage with the sparkle of the hammered, polished, or wavy forged metals becoming the supporting cast.
Modern Pop Culture Raises the Bar…
This favorite brunch cocktail served in an American Metalcraft CAN, makes a WOW statement!
RECIPE for Warhol’s Bloody Mary: HERE
DESIGNER DINER:
Designer Dish is a trend that places great emphasis on witty details appealing to our inner youthful playfulness. These usually disposable vessels to hold festival foods, on the go dinners and carnival treats are crafted in materials made to be featured in fine dining scenarios. As eye-catching focal points, these elements transform tables in ways that encourage extremes, parodies, and juxtapositions on Haute Cuisine to emerge.
Eclectic use of materials such as white melamine, hammered copper, or bent and shaped metals helps elevate this trend into a realm of unconventional and strikingly imaginative and stylized displays.
THE MENU:
Instagrammable foods that poke a little fun at Haute Cuisine, and skilfully plated junk food that looks like fancy, high-end cuisine.
This is the world where truffles pair with fries, foie gras is an acknowledged topping for hot dogs, and a hired hostess needs to serve the cakes…
The LOOK:
The fabulous ’50s get a facelift and carnival foods take a ride into Haute Cuisine…
Designer Diner Raises the Bar… Boozy Sock-Hop MilkShakes
RECIPE for Banana Pie Milkshake: HERE
NATURAL FORCES:
Foraged and Reclaimed:
As the world seems to become more systemized and symmetric due to technology, the insight that the real world finds beauty in variety becomes more apparent. Rivers curve, rocks crumble, flowers bloom, and weathered patinas give unique characteristics to the natural world. The theme that bends and twists its way through this collection borrows from traditional Japanese aesthetics called “wabi-sabi,” which is the acceptance of the impermanence and imperfections that the simplistic integrity of natural objects and processes possess.
These pieces are hammered, molded, and crafted in materials that preserve the unique reflections of beauty found in nature.
Natural items from the collection will pair with reclaimed and rustic accents and neutrals meld with warm burnt tones and blue-greens. The look of untreated finishes with crackled textures and distressed surfaces are what will fuse this unfussy pairing. Furthermore, pairing natural found elements with the reclaimed transports the diner to far off regions in India, the Middle East, Mexico, or even an obscure beachside town creating a palette to explore many palates. [Text Wrapping Break]
THE MENU:
Conscious sustainable consumption will take center plate. Hand-made, locally sourced, veggie-centric, foraged, fermented, pickled, and brewed edibles will all feed our reducetarian needs.
Inspirations from the exotic and undiscovered will emerge, bridging culinary flavors and exotic spices from the Middle East, India, and the Pacific Rim. Ginger and turmeric will pave the saffron road and lead to spices such as cardamom and za’atar, tahini, and sesame.
THE LOOK:
Wild Gatherers and Urban Wanderers lust for nature’s whispers.
Craftsmen of the rough-hewn to the polished will be sought after and techniques perfected from the past, while items reclaimed or passed down through the generations will be featured and cherished.
Natural Forces Raise the Bar…It’s not all SMOKE and mirrors…you can get the real thing simply!
RECIPE for Up in Smoke Cocktail: HERE
Natural Forces Raise the Bar… Inspirations from the exotic and undiscovered will emerge bridging culinary flavors and exotic spices.
RECIPE for Indian Summer Milk Punch: HERE
CLASSIC ELEGANCE:
This look imbues classic elegance with a laid-back vibe. The Isabella Collection captures the timelessness of a Florentine farmhouse capturing the vibrant blues and whites echoed in the sea and sky of the Mediterranean. These pieces paired with the earthy vibrant look of natural wood, cut glass, and handcrafted metals create an eye appealing layering of textures that will invite gatherings.
MENU:
A Mezze Menu centered around an appetizer-centric meal is the perfect pairing for this collection which will add splashes of color and global refinement to a rustic farmhouse vibe.
The 2019 trend of “eating with the eyes” will be celebrated in this look inspiring a culinary sensory experience. Fresh flavors and colorful tapas will demand all of the senses while diners tear into bread, crumble cheese, and share in the pleasures of farmhouse fare. The goal is to share a memorable sensory experience with those who you break bread with.
LOOK:
Capture the timelessness of a Florentine farmhouse by combining the vibrant blues and whites echoed in the sea and sky of the Mediterranean layered with the earthy yet vibrant look that catches the eye when natural wood, glass, and hand-crafted metals are layered together. This allows the vibrancy of fresh food to be featured and rounds out the color palette.
Classic Elegance Raises the Bar on farmhouse fresh.
RECIPE for Carrot Tarragon Gin Shrub: HERE
ROARING 2020s:
Vintage classics trend-forward with new materials and NEW-stalgic design! Mid-century modern vibes shift into art deco. Like the roaring 1920s, the 2020s are finding modernization of old designs. Similar to century-old counterparts, there are smooth geometric designs adorning the table with an emphasis on the artful and crafted, with hammered metal vessels and serving utensils forged from new materials.
These handcrafted materials achieve dramatic effect through the glittering opalescence of cut glass, polished sheens of metallic bronze and gold surfaces, and ultra-glossy finishes from rock texture and marbling.
As in the 1920s, there is excitement for exploring and celebrating the flavors of other worlds full of party-time glitz and glamour, futuristic music, sparkly effects, and vibrant colors.
MENU:
The future is here, but there are two trends!
In a total juxtaposition, there is a need for the un-engineering of our food to a demand for technologically advanced food and food experiences. Customers want it all. They want natural, sustainable, and the holistic benefits that are found in nature AND they want technology to provide for everyone in need and improve food with added health benefits.
Regardless, food will tell a story with transparency. Food experiences that will surprise and delight the senses expressing the identity of the chef and/or tailored specifically to the diner.
LOOK:
Beneath the elegant, there are black and dark nuances mixed with striking metals creating a sense of drama. Changing metallic colors and shade gradations, with hammered and etched lines detailing the metals glamourous surfaces, are revealed.
The Roaring 2020s Raises the Bar… A remixed prohibition era cocktail gives a nod to the local.
RECIPE for Floridian Bee’s Knee Cocktail: HERE