For the July issue of ELLE DECOR, Charlotte worked with photographer Pieter Estersohn and curator Susan Stein to produce a story on dining in the newly redecorated dining room at Monticello.  After doing several tablesettings, we realized that there were countless options.  We couldn’t help ourselves – so here are some others for you to consider…

There are always more options in your pantry than you think.  Take the time to experiment, to explore, and create combinations.  Photograph them so you won’t forget them, it will make setting the table that much easier.

Create a scrapbook for yourself of ideas and success stories – you will be glad you did.

Dining at Monticello: In Good Taste and Abundance, Edited by Damon Lee Fowler.

Dining with Jefferson, by Frances Carnahan

Thomas Jefferson’s Cookbook, by Marie Goebel Kimball

Check out Mitch Owens’ article on Monticello, Inspiration: Golden Age, in the July/August issue of ELLE DECOR!

“Thomas Jefferson’s table, ‘genteely and plentifully spread’ with a great array of foods and his ‘immense and costly variety of French and Italian wines,’ impressed his visitors and no doubt played a large part in establishing Monticello’s culinary distinction.  The ceremony of dining and the cosmopolitan menu helped to establish Jefferson as a member of an international community of educated and worldly people.  But in addition to cultivating the palates of family, friends, and visitors, the twice-daily meals were a purposeful social experience designed both to entertain and to edify.  With Jefferson as host, the dining room was a stage for engaged discussion, or as his granddaughter recalled, Monticello was ‘completely the feast of reason.’” – Susan Stein, from Dining at Monticello: In Good taste and Abundance

June 21st, 2010