The art of receiving: how to create a perfect mise en place.

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Planning a dinner is never so simple: food, menu, wine and… How to properly set the table for the occasion? Do we need a formal mise en place? An informal one? How many forks? And how many glasses?

Let me start saying that the mise en place is an art, an art hidden – with its rules – in the art of receiving. And no, it is not only for event designers!

I did my first official dinner in the new house 2 weeks ago: Tuscany style with an informal mise en place. So, if you are about to plan an informal dinner, here is the idea and the scheme to copy…

The good mise en place: the tablecloth.

Once upon a time, on a very rainy day, there were two friends in a store…And all of sudden, one of those found the tablecloth of her dreams: Rectangular, white background with lemons: Lemons j’adore, by Villeroy and Boch.

mise en place - euroceramica service tray
Tablecloth by Villeroy and Boch; service tray: Ceramica Cuore

Although i had immediately fell in love with the tablecloth, I had a little doubt about the size: the chart reported table for 8, while my table is for 6. In these cases, the best thing we can do, is going back home and trying. Worst case, we go back to the store and we change it!

But it was perfect!

Usually and by rule, the tablecloth must cover the legs of the table, even if i would not recommend a long-til-floor tablecloth: a short tablecloth is absolutely inelegant, but a long one can create problems to the guests (they can easily stumble on it, for example).

My lemon j’adore, instead, was perfect, covering over 25 inches in length.

Plates…Mon amour!

I grew up looking at the Deruta ceramic collection my grandparents used to have, so well kept in their china cabinet, and i love those items very much: the color, the fine material…And, yes because they are also part of my childhood.

Unfortunately i have (not yet) no Deruta plates, just the little tray.

However, while wandering on Wayfair, i saw a gorgeous dinnerware set: Tuscany style, 4 pieces – pasta bowls, charger plates, salad plates and mug – great ceramic, amazing colors, dishwasher and microwave safe.

mise en place of the table - includes trays and mugs centerpieces

Collection Duomo by Euroceramica is definitely what i needed to complete the set up of my summer Tuscany table.

Hot to set up the table: the seating space.

Step 1: calculate the seating space

I never invite anybody without calculating the seating space: for a rectangular table i assume a length of 40 cm along the perimeter.

That is the minimum space that allows the guest to eat, move, and get up, with no problem.

Step2: Spread the tablecloth!

For a perfect and correct mise en place, the tablecloth is always well ironed.

Before your tablecloth, i recommend to spread another one first, maybe an old one you don’t use anymore for example. Why? Because this tablecloth works as a support for your set up; in fact:

  1. it make the set up smooth.
  2. it dampens the noise of plates and glasses.
  3. Prevent glassware and dinnerware from slipping.

Step 3: Time to set your mise en place

The napkin.

According to the Anglo-Saxon mise en place, I placed the napkin on the left. Perfectly ironed and folded in a rectangular shape. (The formal Italian mise en place wants the napkins on the right).

If your napkins has a decoration, it would be nice to fold and put in on the plate, or even under, so the decoration can be easily seen.

Ps. No, no shells or any other shapes allowed for your napkins and…NEVER IN THE GLASS!

Simplicity is elegance!

Silverware

From the left to the right. Always.

Remember that the silverware follows the order of the courses.

In my case, since a i had two main courses: a fork for first course and a fork for second course.

If you are planning an appetizer, you just add another fork at the beginning, exactly after the napkin.

After the plate, as you can see, the knife. No spoon, since i had no soup.

mise en place - single seat

Again, according to the rule, the knife blade faces inwards, towards the plates, and it is pointed to the red wine glass (wine glass, if you will serve one wine only).

Ps. forks are facing up. Only in a French mise en place you will turn the forks.

Glasses.

In the classic mise en place, you will follow a descending curve in this order.

  1. water
  2. red wine (a little bit up)
  3. white wine (going down)

Flute is usually not included in the classic mise en place, since it is used only for the toast.

mise en place

I decided to use a tall tumbler for water and a Borgogna glass for wine (red). I would say that the choice about the glasses is personal and it depends on what we have and what type of wine we will serve.

My wine was a well structured red, so i opted for a Borgogne. But if you are going to serve a light not structured white one, better to use a Tulip glass, for example….

Tuscany details, summer vibes and mise en place!

The set i bought on Wayfair, Euroceramica Duomo collection included, as i had said before, a set of 4 mugs. I did not use the mug in this mise en place, since it was an informal dinner (that means informal mise en place), so i used two of those as centerpieces for flowers!

Since it was a Tuscany style dinner, i enriched my composition with my small tray Deruta and with a big one by Ceramica Cuore, although colors and decorations are a little bit diverse.

Mixing and matching color and motif is very important to have always new table sets! Let yourself be inspired by the seasons, which helps for food, decorations and color and…Have fun!

Tonight i have French guests….Mise en place a la Français!

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