8 Ways to Add Spring to Your Brunch:
Lenox Celebrates the Launch of its Alice Drew Collage Collections
With Fresh Entertaining Ideas fromInterior Designer Bella Mancini
NEW YORK, NY, April 2013 – If there’s one season that lends itself best to brunch, it is spring. Made-for-brunch menu items such as asparagus and strawberries are at their peak, and with days getting longer and so many trees and flowers blooming, this is the perfect time to entertain friends and family with a lovely brunch. Lenox, America’s leading brand of fine and casual china, celebrated the launch of its new Alice Drew Collage collections by asking top interior designer Bella Mancini how she would create a springtime brunch starring this charming, decoupage-esque earthenware. Here, Ms. Mancini offers up 8 tips for putting some spring in your brunch:
1. START BY LAYERING TEXTURES
“Whenever I entertain buffet-style I love to mix textures and create a little tension between materials,” says
Mancini. The designer layered contrasting linens; a shimmery silk shantung base cloth with a linen runner
embellished with an organic pattern of tiny appliqué ruffles. American artist Alice Drew employs a similar play with patterns and color in her new Collage collections for Lenox. Ms. Drew mixed the patterns of brocade and damask fabrics with a mix of architectural details from Georgian homes and Turkish mosques. The collection encompasses three patterns, which may be mixed and matched: Collage Hummingbird, Collage Peony and Collage Butterfly.
2. USE ACCESSORIES FOR TABLE-SCAPING
Lenox offers a generous collection of coordinating Collage Hummingbird serving pieces. Mancini decided to
use them in unexpected ways. “I created a distinct area for food and drinks by using the large platter as a tray to create a foundation for the wine and water bottles, and for the food I used the tiered platters, footed bowls and tidbit plates to add varying height, silhouette and scale to the table-scape.” It is a fun way to invite guests to sample all of the many savory and sweet brunch treats and it creates an intentional, finished look.
3. EMBRACE CONTRASTS
Mancini thought it would be too obvious to choose a blue tablecloth to sit beneath the mainly blue
dinnerware, so instead she chose a happy salmon pink. The warm color had the effect of making the
dinnerware really pop. Also, you never need to feel your table linens have to match exactly from one table to
the next. For the dining table Mancini used a white vintage jacquard linen cloth and napkins and accented the
clean, fresh look with classic blue hydrangeas set into Lenox’s Adorn Crystal Rose Bowls.
4. ADD THEMATIC ACCENTS
“I try to add small, unexpected details to each party I throw,” notes the designer, who peppered in hand painted silk butterflies throughout. Adding three-dimensional winged creatures played up the hummingbirds
and butterflies on the Collage pattern. Ideas such as these make all the difference in bringing a theme to life.
Bella placed the butterflies on serving platters, tied them to blossoming quince branches, scattered them on
the tables, and topped off each of the party favor boxes. Butterflies are a huge trend this year, so you may
find many ways to add these beauties to your décor.
5. BRING IN SPRING WITH FRESH DETAILS
Another spring theme was carried through to cocktails. “To me pansies scream ‘spring’, and champagne
screams ‘a party,’” Bella laughs. She decided to marry the two by adding edible flowers to the Lenox Tuscany Classics Champagne Saucers. The graceful, vintage-style “coupe” shape of these glasses allows for a lush garnish. If you can’t find edible flowers at your market, try adding a fresh raspberry or blackberry to each glass.
6. DO SOMETHING SURPRISING
People may expect to see decorative bowls of fruit, or pitchers of drinks, but not pitchers of fruit. “I love the
elegant yet simple shape of these Lenox Tuscany Classics glass pitchers, but rather than use them for serving
drinks, I filled them with lively color via citrus fruits – lemons, clementines and limes,” says Mancini. Arranging these along with Lenox rose bowls filled with salmon tulips and blue hydrangeas brought intense color and life to the buffet.
7. OFFER TONS OF CHOICES
One of the best aspects of casual entertaining is that guests can make their own choices. Letting the menu
itself assist with the look of the buffet, Mancini chose Lenox Organics crystal pitchers to hold gorgeously
colored fresh squeezed juices. She achieved lively colors by choosing some more exotic flavors such as guava and passion fruit. Arranging all the beverage offerings together allows for guests to experiment with different combinations of juices, champagne, wine and sparking water – so you're really offering dozens of beverage choices.
8. PROVIDE THOUGHTFUL TOUCHES
Often with a buffet people graze rather than have just one plate, so you'll still want to offer additional clean
forks and spoons. Bella Mancini loved the shape of the Butterfly Collage coffee mugs, so she simply put forks in one and spoons in another alongside the plates on the buffet. The Lenox Portola flatware looked perfect with this dinnerware.
The Spring Brunch Menu:
Savories:
Individual Spinach Quiches
Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus Tips
Salmon and Cream Cheese Pinwheels
Spring Greens Salad Vinaigrette
Grape Tomatoes on-the-stem
Mini Croissants
Sweets:
Assorted French Almond Macarons
Mini Pains Au Chocolate
Petits Fours, Meringues
Fresh Strawberries and Vanilla Whipped Cream
Beverages:
Fresh Juices: Guava, Passion Fruit, Orange
Wines: Champagne, Sauvignon Blanc
Waters: Still and Sparkling
Coffee, Tea
About Bella Mancini: Named one of New York’s top 100 designers by several esteemed shelter publications; Bella says she creates “real spaces for real people living real lives.” Known for imparting rooms with both clean lines and elegance, she says her main focus is “to give clients their dream homes, and to create a total experience that is joyful and rewarding.” Obviously, Bella feels the same way about entertaining, as she demonstrates with her Springtime Bridal Brunch featuring Lenox’s delightful Alice Drew Collage Hummingbird dinnerware and serving pieces.
About Alice Drew: A full time studio potter, Alice Drew enjoys making pottery that can beautify one’s home
and enrich one’s life. Her highly decorative surfaces are illustrative, but contain only an implied narrative. The
perching and flying birds represent not only changes of season, but also the idea of freedom and adventure.
The colors are reminiscent of fabrics and furniture found in the Trianons at Versailles, and Schonbrun Palace.
Throughout the work playful words and bold graphic numbers that represent memories and time.
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