Setting the Table: Distinguished Dishes and Foundational Footwear
Siamo veramente tornati. Nous sommes de retour.
We are SO back.
After a brief hiatus to attend to the joyous arrival of a young menswear chef, who is doing very well and up-skilling his father on innovative expressions of sprezztura—it turns out a little spit up adds just the right amount of je ne sais quoi to the paternal ensemble— we return to the matter at hand.
With a slate of summer posts on the way, let’s start with a bit of a palette cleanser.
Plates. And table-scapes.
Who knew they could be so evocative in helping the male homo sapien get dressed?
There’s nothing quite arriving to a dinner party with a well laid table.
Scouring the scenery for your place card, doing some light re-arranging when you realize you’ve been relegated to the conversational gulag at the very end with only a newly converted keto financier for company—always sets the mood just right.
Imagining what dishes might appear before you, what wines they might be paired with, what on earth you might be expected to eat with that fork—nothing heightens anticipation for the meal to come than an elegant setting.
Oddly enough, I feel just the same when I walk into a proper shoe store…
Both footwear and dishware share the distinction of being structural requirements for dining and dressing. When was the last time you walked through NYC barefoot or ate spaghetti bolognese right off the table? But more often than not, we tend to think of them as an afterthought, or at most an accent.
In the culinary world, the concept of plating has never been more relevant to captivate the attention of the diner and the double-tapping thumbs of their Instagram followers. Let’s dig in. “Plating” is the gerund/noun-ification of the transitive verb “to plate,” which itself is the denominalization—or the verb-ification—of the common noun and operative word here: “plate.” Isn’t grammar fun?
Please, I beg of you; keep reading.
How a dish looks and is presented, it seems, is almost as important as how it tastes these days. And while this culinary concept evokes AbEx streaks of brilliant sauces that would make Pollock proud, or the melodrama through which a certain Sultan of Sodium presents a gold leaf laden ribeye, let’s not overlook the impact of the actual plate itself and the power its context can wield.
Paper Plates x Summer Sneakers
On one end of the spectrum, let’s take two humble, ubiquitous examples from each category. Ye olde paper plate, and a white canvas sneaker.
About as basic as they come. I love to think of the former as the ultimate canvas for summer still lifes of burgers, hot dogs, and watermelon, with the latter not far behind as the natural compliment to a pair of broken in jeans and favorite tee. Nice and casual in both instances—with both pairings fitting perfectly into place.
In both examples, the dinner and foot wear fly beneath the radar, but the extent of these categories’ power emerges when used as a source of contrast and tension. Serve a schmancy A5 Wagyu Beef Wellington (let’s throw in some edible gold leaf for good measure) on said paper plate, and the chef is suddenly making a sarcastic statement on deformalizing such a decadent entrée. Throw a pair of Adidas Stan Smiths under a well tailored suit—demonstrated below by Stan the man himself—and the stiff upper lip of Savile Row tailoring melts into a wry smile with a wink.
In the wide world of the white sneaker there are many a fine choice, but here are a few personal favorites for keeping things casual below the ankle.
Moonstar Gym Shoe, $185. The rarified Japanese cousin to the Jack Purcell, this is 100% my go to sneaker for mucking around town and turf.
Adidas Stan Smith, $100. The grandfather of them all. If the Great Flood were to return and Noah could only bring one pair of white sneakers on the ark, these would be the one to make it aboard.
Tretorn Nylite, $65. Minimal Scandi paper plates at their finest. You are likely not Bjorn Borg, so please do not attempt to play tennis in these hyper stylish, but not exactly structurally supportive sneakers.
Seavees x Mr. Rogers, $120
Wilt though be my neighbor?
British Porcelain x “One’s and Twos”
(Those would be shoes, to the uninitiated in Cockney rhyming slang)
Having firmly established the unimpeachable connection between white sneaker and paper plate, we lace up a pair and amble to the other end of the aisle. Fine china, porcelain, and sterling silver serving trays. The crème de la crème.
England has a long and distinguished history for both dinnerware and footwear, each with their own geographic HQs. Just has Stoke-on-Trent has long been dishing out the premier pottery on the isle—Wedgwood, Duchess, and Burleigh all call this midlands town home—Northampton boasts the best British bench made boots. Crockett & Jones, Trickers, Church’s, Cheaney, Grenson, John Lobb, and George Cleverly are among the storied makes based in the city, but to this scribbler, one stands alone: Edward Green.
Founded in 1890, Edward Green’s combination of elegant lasts, hand made construction and beautifully tanned leathers that are finished in house earn it the pinnacle of the English footwear tradition. Just as caviar, lobster thermador, and chilled aspic all look right at home on a Wedgwood China plate, Edward Green’s oxfords and loafers set a solid foundation for tailored clothing. You truly can’t do much better than their Chelsea or iconic Dover.
While the white sneaker can put a fun twist on a suit, EG’s loafers are equally versatile and transformative sartorial seasoning. If we harken back to that paper-plated backyard bbq and transpose the feast onto a fine china platter, that perfectly charred burger now feels just a bit more formal. Similarly, the jeans and tee shirt that felt so at home with a pair of Stan Smith take on a new confidence with a pair of Piccadilly penny loafers of Belgravia tassels.
So the morals of the story:
Mix things up. High/low footwear contrasts on an ensemble is one the simplest and most effective ways to add some contrast and unique POV.
A quality casual shoe CAN stand up to a luxury or handmade item. All you have to do is choose wisely.
Don’t be too precious with investment pieces. The beauty of these impeccably made shoes and porcelain is that they are truly well made and with proper care, will last a lifetime. You really can use them every day, for every occasion.
