3 Tips for a Mediterranean Table Setting
Bring Europe to the table 🌿
When you can’t live your best #Eurosummer life, bring it to the table. Back in Singapore, whilst we were in semi-lockdown, I partnered with KRA Sanctuary for a Mediterranean lunch.
Breezy table linen, delicate casual flowers and fresh seafood, this dreamy lunch was definitely one of my favourites to style and cook. A Mediterranean styled table and menu instantly transports you. The whole atmosphere from the colours, vibrant dishes, table linen to flowers feel like you’re dining at a real Nonna’s house in Greece (or shall I say γιαγιά).
Here’s my 3 tips to recreate this setting at home. Enjoy!
Sea Breeze Colour Palette
Eucalyptus Branches & White Fillers
The 3 S’s Menu: Seafood, Shareable Platters & Salads.
Sea Breeze Colour Palette
With any theme, I start with the mood and colour palette in mind. For this lunch, my inspiration was to bring to life the feeling of a Mediterranean sea breeze. Then I think of a colour palette to suit; ie. sky blue, sage, grey blue and white.
This is purely to give you a direction, so you know what colours to look for in your home, flower market or at the shops. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go out and buy everything in these colours. You can start with one item such as a chiffon table runner, or add some white flowers with green foliage.
My Mediterranean sea breeze colour palette.
If you want to incorporate these colours here are some items to think about:
Chiffon or gauze table runner
Linen napkins (or any cotton fabric, just not tissue paper)
Plates or serving platters
Small decorative vases
Flowers.
It was a luxury for me to feature KRA Sanctuary’s Sii Faa range, which fit perfectly in the colour scheme. But even if you have white plates (which lets face it, most of us have), you can still add small coloured accents with the list above.
A final thought on colours for flowers, stick to white and green, nothing too bright and colourful. The calmer the better -at least that’s what I prefer when I think of a Mediterranean the sea breeze.
Sky blue ceramics by KRA Sanctuary.
Tip: Use a light weight fabric (eg. chiffon or gauze) for the table runner, nothing too heavy. You can also head to the local fabric store and by 2-3m. It’s cheaper, but be weary of the frays. You can tuck it under, however I would recommend to bring it to a seamstress and get the edges finished.
Click to view products:
2. Eucalyptus Branches & White Fillers.
Adding aromatic foliage and flowers is a great sensory addition to the table. For this design, I focused on using eucalyptus branches for the garland, as well as white fillers such as baby’s breath and small chrysanthemums and daisies.
Eucalyptus comes in many different variants. From ‘fluffy’ looking leaves (ie. Silver dollar) to resembling olive branches (ie. Parvifolia). To me, they feel so Grecian, even though they are predominately grown in my home country of Australia!
To help you navigate through the world of Euycalytpus here’s a handy infographic:
Image by Bloom Culture Flowers.
For this garland, I could only find Baby Blue at the market (I normally use Silver Dollar or Seeded Eucalyptus as it has more volume). Here’s some general tips on creating a garland:
Leave the longer branches for the overhang on the side of the table. You can connect the branches together using green copper wire.
For the top of the table, group a few branches together at different lengths. This is to create volume and texture. Then lay the groups down and create an ‘S’ shape. Don’t go too overboard with the branches as you want to leave some space for the white filler flowers.
Always always always wash your branches before putting them on the table! Keep the little ants away from your precious food.
Mix of eucalyptus branches, white fillers and small flowers.
If there is one white flower to buy for this table setting, it would be Baby’s Breath! I love how fluffy, delicate and whimsical they are. It’s perfect for a Mediterranean table. You can add them to your garland and also into small mason jars.
Baby’s Breath flowers.
Add into the Eucalyptus garland and small jars.
Additionally, I incorporated small daises and chrysanthemums (only because they caught my eye at the market and were cheap). These are not ‘show stopper’ flowers, more like ‘peeping through the branches’ flowers. I find the Mediterranean style relaxed and not too showy. Hence the white flowers featured were subtle accents.
Whilst I recommend to use fresh flowers, here’s some ideas for artificial flowers.
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3. The Three S's Menu: Seafood, Shareable Platters & Salads.
Let’s talk about the menu! This is so important for a Mediterranean themed lunch.
Food is the source of conversation and joy around the table. Which is why your menu needs to be as important (if not more) than the decor. For this lunch I wanted vibrant and fresh dishes. I came up with this guideline of ‘The Three S’s’:
Seafood: eg. Octopus, grilled fish or prawns.
Shareable platters: eg. Mezze bites, chicken skewers and dessert (…does cake count?)
Salads: eg. Fresh vibrant vegetables, featuring cheese.
Some of my favourite dishes I made were:
Octopus with tomato salsa
Pear and walnut salad
Greek BBQ chicken skewers (actually Jeroen made this!)
Aperol Spritz of course!
Whilst this was quite an ‘elaborate’ home Mediterranean lunch, it was a lot of fun to research and experiment. Usually when I put these lunches together it starts with Pinterest research. But now I am starting to put together some method to my creative madness. I hope this helps and good luck with your own version of a Mediterranean lunch!
xx