Summer Entertaining… Blanch Style

“The luncheon tables of civilization are always calling us back,” wrote Lesley Blanch in Under A Lilac-Bleeding Star. And isn’t it true? She also wrote that, “if I could not get to the place, could I not, at least, recapture the rapture of some faraway place?” Summer is a time to recapture the rapture… to enjoy meals with family and friends. A good table is one where everyone laughs and lingers till the bitter end. Here is some inspiration from Lesley Blanch from House & Garden 1974, and some inspiration of our own for you to enjoy your Summer at the table.

Above, Blanch uses lemons as carafe stoppers for a Summer lunch.

See our selects here to get the look! Click on the image for more information.

Dining chair at Wayfair, Tumblers by William Yeoward at Bergdorf Goodman, Dinner plates at La Tuile a Loup and Wayfair, Linens at Leontine Linens, Tablecloth by Sferra and Villeroy & Boch at Perigold, Rattan bowl by Artifacts Trading Company at Wayfair, serving bowl by Vietri at Perigold, bue and white tablecloth at Simrane, Blue and white Indian tablecloth at William & Wayne.

“Surround yourself with the things you love and your house will make you happy…”

– Lesley Blanch

Lesley Blanch was an explorer, “I have always had a strong appetite for life and for loving.”

If Lesley Blanch was anything, she was an adventurer. “Get up and get on with it,” she proclaimed. Born in London in 1904, she seemed almost allergic to staying at home. Describing herself as a “scholarly romantic,” she did many things well—painting, socializing, and writing, even working as a features editor at British Vogue on the eve of the Second World War. A bestselling author, she wrote a book The Wilder Shores of Love that has been in print since its first publication in 1954.

It was her ability to travel beyond what was expected of her that made her reputation. She fell in love with the Middle East and explored Turkey, North Africa, Outer Mongolia, Egypt, Iran, Samarkand, Afghanistan, and the Sahara when most women—or men—barely left their hometowns. She never stopped exploring.

(Text from Charlotte Moss Entertains, Rizzoli 2018)

To learn more about Lesley Blanch, click here to shop Charlotte Moss Entertains or some of Lesley’s best sellers.