À Table: A Minimalist Communal Table With Imogen Kwok

’Tis the season for holiday entertaining, and we’ve enlisted the help of the most stylish hosts we know to serve up their party tricks for a holiday hosting mini-series. Dress code festive, RSVP requested. À Table!

In the right hands, food can be art—and when Imogen Kwok is involved, it usually is. The chef and food stylist has a way of spinning even tiny details into visual gold: Martinis topped up with shards of sugar pressed with dried flowers; slices of saucisson arranged like dominoes; verdant ravioli crescents shaped to look like pea pods. That’s not to say she’s too precious with food, though; in fact, for her end-of-season holiday party, her low-key approach involves shared plates and lots of interactive participation.

“Encouraging a tactile connection with food is an integral part of my cooking, both for work and at home,” she says. “I love creating a shared moment when people are making their own plates or passing dishes to one another.” She chose a classic Korean menu (with a few twists) as that’s both her go-to craving and the cuisine she grew up with around the holidays. The visual spark comes through in the considered way she assembles everything: neon pink radicchio and purple radish, arranged on plates to resemble miniature gardens, with tiny bowls heaping with colorful ingredients peppered throughout to fill the gaps on the clean white table.

The whole setting is a lesson in delicate balance: “The tableware pieces are elegant and refined, but it’s the type of holiday party where you’re using your hands and adding condiments to dishes, so it’s not stiff,” explains Kwok. “It’s very representative of how I cook at home.”

Ahead, Kwok shares the behind-the-scenes of her hosting philosophy, her dinner party outfit rules, and the unexpected hostess gift idea that’ll secure you a second invitation.

Set the Scene

“I am very sensitive to different materials and textures. This actually stems from both my Chinese and Korean sides, as both cuisines pay a lot of attention to food texture and a distinct ‘mouthfeel’ in their dishes. Growing up with those cuisines gives me quite an intimate, visceral understanding of our relationship with food. So I instinctively apply this understanding to the menu and ingredient choices—but it also translates to the way I carefully source tableware.