DINING:Looking for some alternatives to the well-worn staples of the Christmas-Day table? CATHY O'CLERYmeets three people who are combining tradition with individual flourishes of style for the big day family feast
PUTTING ON THE GLITZ
It has been quite a year for Lisa Collins, helping to open the new family flagship store, Red Earth, in Mullingar. Based in an old warehouse, the 10,000 sq ft shop has brought some glitz and glamour to the midlands in the form of a lifestyle concept store, food hall and cafe.
It’s a brave move to open such a large-scale operation in a recession but the Collins family know what they are about; Lisa’s parents have been in the retail business for many years, dad Tony with Genesis Fine Art and mum Jackie with Mindy Browne’s Interiors. With less emphasis on big-ticket items and more focus on decorating accessories at good prices, Red Earth is doing a brisk trade in the few weeks it has been open.
Collins may be only 23 but she knows the retail business inside out. After studying media and journalism, she managed her parents’ concession in Arnotts for a year. She followed up with a masters in marketing. It coincided with her family’s new venture, and she has been involved from the concept stage, buying, branding and marketing, and now in the busy Christmas period, on the shop floor.
When the family do get to finally enjoy the festive season, by sitting down to eat around 5pm on Christmas Day, sparkle and shimmer set the tone for their fine-dining feast; a traditional fare with a contemporary twist.
Choosing a silver and white theme with a dash of purple, Collins’s table is full of layered glamour. It’s over-the-top, but not too serious. Like a gloriously wrapped Christmas present, the table is designed to bring festive cheer, with table runners placed over tablecloths, vases of Christmas baubles and silver-edged fine crockery.
The table is full of details: beaded napkin rings with organza napkins; silver birds atop butter dishes; and mother-of-pearl cutlery tied up in purple ribbons. There’s a great sense of enjoyment and generosity.
“I always spend Christmas at home with my family in Mullingar. We have a rule in our house; we all have to be home early Christmas Eve. Home is usually very busy throughout the year, my mum often refers to it as a train station – so at Christmas, it is nice to have some quality family time together.
“In our house, we exchange our gifts on Christmas Eve; the TV is usually turned off and traditional Christmas music tends to be turned on; it’s an intimate time to spend with one another. We always have our table setting prepared from the night before; we usually have one setting for Christmas breakfast, and then something more glamorous and rich for dinner at about five o’clock. After dinner, weather permitted, we usually like to get out of the house and bring the dogs for a walk, maybe to the lake. It feels great after a hearty Christmas dinner.”
On the menu? Dublin bay prawns stuffed with Atlantic crab. Free-range roast turkey breast, as opposed to a full turkey, covered in lemon and basil. Ham covered with Red Earth marmalade and nut crusted organic glaze. And, finally, Christmas day dinner isn’t Christmas without Red Earth’s pudding and mince pies served with Baileys-flavoured crème anglaise.
Wine? Terras Gauda Albarino, Hungerfond Hill Tumbarumba Pinot Noir and for dessert Sweet Anges Riesling.
Music? Michael Bublé and Katherine Jenkins.
Who would be your ideal Christmas guest? Graham Norton. I think he would keep the family entertained all day.
What are your style tips for a well-decorated table? Start of by coordinating your table setting with your room décor. This year vintage-inspired is really big, so I would advise using crystal glassware and vintage inspired teacups and delf. To add sophistication, use long elegant dinner candles, to reflect light off the crystal. Personalise the seating with creative nametags such as inscribing your guests’ names with gold felt pen on to holly. Wine charms are also an extra special touch and eliminate the problem of losing your glass of wine.
Red Earth, Mullingar, 044-939037
THE CREATIVE CHRISTMAS
The Swedes lead the way when it comes to homely Christmas traditions. Despite being a secular nation, the lead-up to the festivities, especially Advent, is celebrated much more than it is in modern-day Ireland. Families and friends typically come together, usually over a brunch on a Sunday, and mark a new Advent week with the lighting of a candle and the making of Christmas decorations or presents.
Being based in Dublin has not changed this for textile artist Liz Nilsson. She eagerly shares her homeland customs with her Irish husband and their teenage children, and their house is full of homemade decorations from twiggy Santas and gingerbread houses to beautiful printed table linen, all made by Nilsson. She also teaches others to make their own festive decorations and offers printmaking courses in her basement studio running up to Christmas.
Her decorations are made with ready-to-hand materials such as wool, twigs, fruit and pine cones, and are designed with very little fuss and oodles of charm. Sitting in the kitchen of her elegant Dublin home, beautifully decked out in a cool contemporary Scandinavian style, she says that the “making of things was very important to us – it is rooted in family tradition”.
Taking a break from her main work – the creation of fine-art installations (her pieces are being showcased in the Lost in Lace exhibition in Birmingham until February 2012) – Liz holds several three-day textile printing courses, open to anyone. Here her students learn how to make block prints applied to tea towels and table linen in a similar style to the Nilsson’s linen.
Her Advent table has been set for one particular highlight in the Swedish calendar, St Lucia’s Day, held on December 13th, which celebrates the life of a fourth-century Italian saint who is known as the bearer of lights in the dark. All over Sweden, young girls dressed in white, typically the eldest daughter, wear a crown of candles, while boys carry rods with stars on top, and sing in a procession.
The mid-winter feast, which is served during the festivities is appealingly modest but full of homely warmth; saffransbröd (saffron bread), curled in an “S” shape or curled crosses, is a must-have, and is served alongside ginger biscuits cut into hearts, stars and other Christmas motifs. They are traditionally taken with coffee or glögg (mulled wine).
The layout is typically Scandinavian – chic and simple, with small wooden boards replacing side plates, a beautiful basket filled with pine cones for the Advent candles, and a basket full of craft bits and pieces for everyone to get making some more decorations.
Who will you be sharing Christmas with?
My extended family in Dublin.
When do you celebrate the Christmas meal? Christmas Eve, with a Swedish-style smorgasbord. Christmas Day is brunch and dinner.
Do you dress up for Christmas or keep things relaxed? Very relaxed. There is sort of a routine, but we take it as it comes and improvise if needs be.
What is your favourite Christmas music? Home For Christmas, with Anne Sofie von Otter.
What drinks will you be serving? Whatever the guests would like to have.
Liz Nilsson holds regular printing courses throughout the year. Tel: 086-8307294, liznilsson.com
LATE NIGHT FESTIVITIES
Belfast artist, interior decorator and restaurateur Fleur Jackson’s elegant style is steeped in old-world glamour. One could imagine her in the clubs of 1920s Berlin or in the Café de Paris in wartime London. Flamboyant dress, a tussle of rich auburn hair and a ruby-lipped smile make her a memorable and welcoming hostess in the party atmosphere of her 30-seater cabaret restaurant, Teatro on Botanic Avenue.
Frequented mainly by the late-night crowd, theatre-goers and after-play actors, Teatro has been pulling in Belfast’s bohemia for more than a year. Plush decor and eclectic table settings set the scene, with live chilled-out jazz – mostly provided by her partner Kyron Bourke – played softly beside the candlelit tables. It’s no wonder the likes of Kenneth Branagh have enjoyed the intimate venue.
And intimate is how Jackson likes her Christmas, especially after a busy season catering to late-night revellers. Essential elements are a roaring fire, lots of candlelight from gilt candelabra and bubbles served in vintage martini glasses. Music is spontaneous and provided by whoever is on hand – a variety of instruments are always on standby.
Jackson’s round table is set close to the fire with an assorted seating arrangement of old balloon-back chairs and a love seat from Boston given to her by Bourke. She has chosen shocking pink candles to punch up her otherwise traditionally dressed table, which she buys in bulk from Ancient Wisdom (ancientwisdom.biz). Like a lot of her house, the table setting is made up from a combination of auction finds, market bargains and inherited pieces.
Jackson is a decorating magpie who draws her inspiration from a variety of sources, a trait she picked up from living for many years off London’s Portobello Road when she attended Central St Martins College of Art and Design. A fine artist by training, Jackson reckons she has “always been doing interior decorating, even as a child”.
Her first foray into professional decorating came when she made cushions from vintage fabrics sourced from Portobello Market that were sold in the Notting Hill emporium Graham and Green.
The colour of her dining room walls is a lilac copied from the drawing-room walls of the late fashionista Isabella Blow, while fabrics found on Ebay inspired the making of voluminous curtains.
The entire scene is framed by a gilt screen found at her favourite antique shop, Agar Antiques in Saintfield, Co Down. Mercury glass acorn baubles from TK Maxx and vintage glass and gilt birds provide just the right amount of festive decoration.
What’s on the menu? A ham glazed in Grand Marnier. Chicken rather than turkey with bread sauce and two stuffings. Celery in white sauce and roast parsnips in chilli and honey. Mince pies over pudding.
Wine? We always start the day with bubbly – my favourite is Pol Roger. For dinner, a good French Pinot Noir or French Chardonnay.
Dream guest, living or dead? Without a doubt, Oscar Wilde would be top of my list, or alive – Bill Bailey.
When do you eat? After a day spent in our pyjamas watching It’s a Wonderful Life and a musical chosen by my mum, we dress up for a late-night dinner around 9pm.
What’s your favourite Christmas song? Silent Night
Teatro Restaurant, Belfast, 048-90244090
