Like many New Yorkers, tastemaker, author, and Eye-Swoon creator Athena Calderone trades a skyscraper-laden skyline for soothing water views come summer. Calderone and her family take up posts at their beautiful beach house in Amagansett, Long Island, and she always brings her impeccable hosting skills along with her, opening her doors to friends and family all season. The multi-hyphenate has mastered the art of entertaining while on vacation, which she says requires a shift in priorities in order to make everyone at ease, including herself, with a vacation home filled with loved ones.
"My hosting style in the summer is much more relaxed," says Calderone. "I love to loosen the reins and embrace the outdoors during summer. My family and a revolving door of guests will spend all day on the beach or riding our bike rides through our quiet town, stopping to hunt for clams, or watching the kids surf. Our days are long and relaxing, usually spent on the beach from morning until sunset. All my guests need is a comfy bed, a full belly, and a day in the sun, and they are happy!"
While it's easy to stay entertained in the coastal hamlet of East Hampton, the bulk of the legwork when entertaining at a second home revolves around mealtime. While breakfast and lunch are a bit more low-key, Calderone loves to gather everyone together to come during dinnertime. Her main priorities for an understated yet elegant dinner are: setting a beautiful table, creating a balanced menu driven by what's fresh at the moment, and ensuring everyone enjoy the sunset with a great cocktail in hand.
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Setting the Summer Table
"Summer is all about ease," says Calderone. "The neutral palette of the beach typically inspires the tone for my summer feasts. My go-to summer table has sand-colored dinnerware and foraged beach finds such as shells or wildflowers. At the peak of summer, there’s no competing with Mother Nature’s beauty and why would you want to?"
Whether dinner is set for the family or an extended group of friends, Calderone loves to make the table feel intimate with moody lighting, breezy table linens, and an elevated yet relaxed setting to keep everyone at ease, including herself.
Setting A Summer Table
Amanda Lindroth's island-inspired tableware collection is a favorite year-round, but it especially shines in the summertime.
Eleish Van Breems Home's 100 percent washed linen napkins are a perfect choice time and again for easy yet elevated entertaining.
Beloved chef Nancy Silverton teamed up with Madein Cookware to create their new line of beautiful bakeware that transitions seamlessly from oven to table. Made from a 200-year-old French porcelain recipe, these pieces are highly durable for baking and roasting all your summer favorites.
Set the mood with these beautiful marbled candles with colors reminiscent of seashells.
Curating the Summer Menu
The tastemaker and author of Cook Beautiful is known for her vibrant, seasonally driven dishes that rely on local ingredients for flavor and beauty. While Calderone enjoys firing up the grill at night to roast local fish or a ribeye and fresh veggies for dinner, she also mixes in cold, no-cook dishes to make prep easier and to prevent being stuck inside cooking on a summer's day while her friends are on the beach.
"I am all about cooking with the seasons and letting the fresh produce from the local markets be my guide," says Calderone. "In the summer, this looks like light and crisp raw summer salads that are bright and refreshing during the hottest time of the year. Also, when preparing a dinner party, consider starting a bit later, so you can catch the sunset and spare yourself from the blazing sun. If you hunt down the very best ingredients, all you really need to do is let them shine—there’s no need to spend hours hovering over a hot stove!"
Calderone says timing is everything when you're cooking and serving food for multiple people, and the pressure to get everything on the table beautifully can get the best of you, but that doesn't mean it has to be stressful. Create a loose plan of when to set the table, when to cook or assemble various dishes, and craft a cocktail ahead of time so everyone stays happy. Plus, if you're hosting a group of friends or family members at a summer house, that means you have more hands to help you get dinner on the table at just the right time. And if planning your menu gets overwhelming or you lingered by the water longer than planned, Calderone suggests ditching an open flame and serving quick-assemble dishes like bountiful salads, platters of seasonal veggies and dips, and cheese boards with nuts and fruit instead.
Crafting the Perfect Summer Cocktail
What better way to celebrate the sunset on a summer's night with your loved ones than a thoughtfully crafted cocktail? Calderone also leans into incorporating fresh, seasonal ingredients in her own cocktail recipes, and she's teamed up with Basil Hayden to create a fresh take on the whiskey sour to serve and sip through the summer.
"Both refreshing and unexpected, it has been a go-to and my guests love it," she says. "The cocktail embodies the summer season with a fresh, herbaceous simple syrup that compliments the light-bodied nature of Basil Hayden."
Just like with the rest of her dinner menus, Calderone suggests prepping as much of the cocktail ingredients as you can (in this case, the simple syrup and garnishes) so that you or your guests can craft their own just before sunset. Don't forget to keep your drinks cold and to ensure you're always well-stocked on ice.
While loosening the reins, ditching the extravagant tableware, and allowing your guests to help you get the meal together may not be your usual style of hosting, it's a great way to sneak in extra time with loved ones while still remaining an excellent hostess on vacation. There's plenty of time for four-course dinner parties and extravagant tables when you get back home in the fall.
Lauren Wicks is a Birmingham-based writer covering design trends, must-have products, travel inspiration, and entertaining. She’s obsessed with globally inspired textiles, hosting dinner parties, and French cocktails.
