Party Guide: a Salon
A la Natalie Clifford Barney
In response to popular demand, and to the fact that people need to be getting together more with their beloveds, in real life, no excuses! complete with clinking glasses, and conversations while the kids play make-believe under the table, and singing together, and having little dance parties in the kitchen…We are bringing our party guides back. We’ll give you ideas for food and drink and themes, but the important thing to remember is this: what makes a party fun is that it is personal. Don’t try to make it too perfect or polished. You can be fancy and messy at the same time - in fact that’s the best kind of fancy, the kind that isn’t stuffy, the kind that’s extra beautiful because it’s also real. Don’t worry if there is still dust along your baseboards or that you had to shove papers into a pile at the far end of your table to make room for lots of candles, or that you have to use a mismatched array of serving dishes to put out food. That makes it feel more cozy and fun and inviting. Also remember, parties don’t have to be big or wild affairs. They don’t even have to take much planning. Inviting 3-4 friends over, ordering a pizza, and playing board games totally counts as a party, if that is joyful to you. So does a 6 course meal with a bottle of champagne to share with your pals, if that is joyful to you. The point is to be together.
We’re starting our party guides off kind of hardcore with a salon night (or, even better, nights! The great salons through history were hosted regularly to inspire ongoing thought and conversation.). Salons date back at least as far as ancient Greece, and were popular throughout Europe on and off from the 1400s through the early 1900s. Most salons were hosted by educated women (who came to be known as salonnieres) in their homes, who used them as a means to engage with and to further intellectual exploration, publishing, and political influence, even though they were generally excluded from formal academia and politics.
For our salon night inspiration, we are turning our gaze toward a particular salonniere, Natalie Clifford Barney. Barney was an American poet and expat to Paris in the early 1900s (and beyond - she lived and entertained well into her 90s). She began to host regular literary salons at her apartment, which she dubbed Le Temple d’Amitié (the temple of friendship) and continued to hold them weekly on Fridays for 60 years (with a brief hiatus during WWII). Her guest list is inspirational enough, including the likes of Gertrude Stein, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgeral, Isadore Duncan, Rainer Maria Rilke, Auguste Rodin, T.S. Eliot, Truman Capote, Ernest Hemingway, and Sinclair Lewis, Marcel Proust to name just a few. BUT, the main reason we are drawing inspiration from her is because of of her menu. She was recounted to have reliably included chocolate cakes and stiff drinks in addition to excellent conversation. And that right there is enough for a party for me! (I am highly motivated by cake. But only good cake.)
The Vibe
A thoughtful blend of ethereal and luxe. What does that mean? I’m thinking, light and airy whites for napkins, platters, candles, but then accented with deep emerald and/or burgundy moments through velvety ribbons, runners, bold and dark flower arrangements, antique cocktail glasses, and such. Same for clothing! Channel your inner early 1900s painter/poet/novelist.. Do you have a smoking jacket or a velvet robe or a white lace frock? Wear it! But, also remember! ***Vibes and themes are only fun if they inspire your creativity, not if they stress you out or make you feel like you need to buy a bunch of new things that you might never use again. Eclectic and personality-filled is always the best approach. And is very salon host anyway!***
The Drinks
Given that Natalie Clifford Barney was renowned for always having chocolate cake and stiff drinks at her salons, let’s follow suit with two fantastic cocktails - a French 75 for effervescent conversation and a Bijou for thinking deeply.
French 75
1 oz. Vikre Spruce Gin
1/2 oz. simple syrup
1/2 oz. lemon juice
2 oz. champagne (or other dry sparkling wine)
Shake the gin, simple syrup, and lemon juice with ice to chill. Strain into a champagne flute or coupe glass and top with the champagne.
Bijou (which, BTW, is the French word for jewels)
1.5 oz. Vikre Juniper Gin
3/4 oz. sweet vermouth
1/2 oz. Vikre Herbal Liqueur
2 dashes orange bitters (optional)
Stir all the ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. This drink also works well to batch! to make 8 servings, just replace the word ounce with the word cup for each of the ingredients and you’ll have the right amounts. Combine all the ingredients in a pretty carafe, add a cup of ice and stir until the ice is melted, then divide between 8 glasses!
NA “French 75”
Make a citrus and herb shrub by combining the peels of two oranges and two grapefruits with 1 cup sugar (keep the fruit), rub together and let stand overnight so the sugar can pull the flavor out of the peels. The next day, juice the oranges and grapefruit and add the juice to the sugar mixture along with 2 bay leaves, a sprig of thyme, and 1/2 tsp black peppercorns and 1 cup of apple cider or red wine vinegar. Place this mixture in a saucepan, and heat very gently until it is steaming but not bubbling, stirring to make sure everything is well combined. Once warm, remove from the heat and steep for 2 hours, then strain the herbs, peppercorns, and peels out and reserve the liquid as a shrub. Top 1-2 oz of the shrub with soda water per serving to serve!
Also have bubbly water, tea, and whatever else suits your fancy of course!
The Food
Because chocolate cake is mission critical for our salon, we are working through our menu planning backward and starting from dessert! As lovely as chocolate layer cake sounds in principle, in practice it rarely ever lives up. So, I always opt for chocolate cakes that are more along the lines of a squidgy flourless or snacking cake. This one is my tried and true, make it all the time and it’s good every time: almost flourless chocolate cake. (For our gluten free friends, the tablespoonful of flour in that recipe can easily be replaced by the same amount of gluten free all-purpose flour.) Another one that I adore is this loaf cake by Nigella Lawson. It doesn’t look like much, but the flavor and texture are soooo satisfying. Both of these are best served accompanied by sweetened whipped cream that has a few spoonfuls of sour cream folded in to give it just a bit of tang.
For the remainder of the food, I recommend creating a spread of heavy snackable options rather than a full sit down meal. Why? Because for a salon, the option to migrate with your plate to an assembly of couches and chairs is important for promoting lively and comfy! discourse. A generous spread of good cheeses, cured meats, olives, and some fruit with crackers and sliced baguette will never, ever go amiss. Add a fun homemade dip or two like smoked trout dip and/or this labneh dip. For vegetables, I am a person who does not like crudité platters. I just don’t. But I love interesting salads. So have one or two of those. Currently I’ve been very into making a salad with radicchio or purple endive leaves, sliced pears, crumbled blue cheese, toasted pistachios or pecans and a vinaigrette made by whisking sherry vinegar, olive oil, a small amount of grated shallot or garlic, a spoonful of honey, and a spoonful of mustard. I also like a nice shaved vegetable salad like this one. Or, this pasta salad is one of the best things I’ve ever made for a party (I make it with pecans instead of almonds, just because I can’t eat almonds).
The conversation
Usually my party philosophy is invite good people, make good food and drinks, and have a weird theme or some festive activities and the conversation will take care of itself. But, for a salon, a little erudition and a focused topic of conversation is the whole point. If you have a topic that interests you that you’ve been longing to discuss, prepare some materials and some remarks about that and then guide the conversation. Otherwise, ask a friend or two who you know have an interesting job, or passion, or artistic pursuit to present about it and then guide the conversation from there. Ask friends who are musicians or singers to perform for your. As the host, take some time in advance to tap into your innate curiosity and come up with a list of questions to begin with. Encourage people to share differing opinions, theories, and experiences, but always from the perspective of building an ever more rich and colorful set of ideas, not trying to prove someone else wrong. A salon gathering is best on the not too large side, I think around 16 is a good number, or it’s hard to really get into a group conversation.
