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Taking time to live well
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Taking Time to Live Well

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Photograph: Cathy Pyle

Photograph: Cathy Pyle

How to host a salon

Lottie Storey April 7, 2018

A salon supper, dotted with informal talks, brings the promise of knowledge to the table, and good food, too

We all know a bit about something – whether from work or study, travel or a hobby. These pearls of wisdom, however, are unlikely to come up in conversation. Yet, with the right setting, good food and willing friends, you can create a memorable evening, peppered with stories shared (see how on page 29). A modern salon calls for dishes that impress without stealing the show – a menu that needs only the lightest of last-minute prep. The result? Appetites sated and minds broadened.

How to host your own salon

Think about space
How much room have you got for people to sit comfortably? A nice full room creates a buzz, but too many people makes the space seem squashed. Where will you position food and drink? It needs to be accessible without disrupting speakers.

Check, one, two
If you’re not meeting in a house or flat, but in a pub or another borrowed venue, it’s worth checking your speakers can be heard without a microphone.

Be the curator
What do you want your salon to look like and who speaks? It could be that you’re
a group of friends and you all share, or that each of you brings an interesting person to speak.

Choose a theme
This will help an evening hang together. Keep it broad to allow for interpretation and creativity. You can either go abstract – new or lost, for example – or concrete – topics such as holidays or school.

Play the host
Beyond serving food and drink, you’ll need to introduce the event (or ask someone else to): thank people for coming, set out the theme of talks, and describe the shape of the evening – how many speakers there are, when breaks will be – so that guests know what to expect. Then just see where the night takes you.
 

Turn to page 22 of the April issue for more from our salon Gathering, including Beetroot & horseradish dip, Mixed olives with lemon zest, Asparagus spears with parma ham & toasted almonds, Spring lemon & cardamom chicken, Rainbow roasted carrots with cumin and Jewelled couscous with watercress, peppers & pomegranate.

  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here.

 

More from the April issue:

Featured
SIM71.MAKES_IMG_2891.png
May 6, 2018
Make | Herbal tea bags
May 6, 2018
Read More →
May 6, 2018
SIM71.NEST_DSC_1598.png
May 5, 2018
Nest | Lily of the Valley
May 5, 2018
Read More →
May 5, 2018
shutterstock_93713581 (1).png
Apr 24, 2018
Being boring
Apr 24, 2018
Read More →
Apr 24, 2018

More Gatherings:

Featured
Streetcorn.JPG
Mar 5, 2022
Recipe | Street corn (Elotes)
Mar 5, 2022
Mar 5, 2022
Book Club new Emma Croman.jpg
Feb 12, 2022
Food | Fictional Feasts
Feb 12, 2022
Feb 12, 2022
Prawn Toasts Catherine Frawley.JPG
Feb 9, 2021
Recipe | Sesame Prawn Toasts
Feb 9, 2021
Feb 9, 2021
InEating Tagsissue 70, april, gathering, salon, how to
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Featured
  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well
Feb 27, 2025
Feb 27, 2025

Buy, download or subscribe

See the sample of our latest issue here

Buy a copy of our latest anthology: A Year of Celebrations

Buy a copy of Flourish 2, our wellbeing bookazine

Listen to our podcast - Small Ways to Live Well

Feb 27, 2025
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The Simple Things is published by Iceberg Press

The Simple Things

Taking time to live well

We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

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