Courtesy of Ecco Domani
He designs collections for his own two labels, Zac Posen and Zac Zac Posen, as well as Brooks Brothers women’s and David’s Bridal. He serves as a Project Runway judge. And he’s in the middle of authoring his first cookbook. (Follow him on Instagram for mouth-watering pics.) As if Zac Posen doesn’t already have enough on his plate—pun intended—he also recently designed his second limited-edition bottle for Ecco Domani in celebration of its 20th anniversary.
So, in the spirit of summer, we popped open a bottle of the Pinot Grigio and grilled Zac for his best warm-weather entertaining tips—from wining and dining to setting an Insta-perfect table. Read on for his tips.
Jane Keltner de Valle: First things first. How do you curate a guest list?
Zac Posen: If you're cooking dinner yourself, I think the guest list should be limited to around eight people. That's a great amount and it's intimate. Larger than that, it becomes a personal catering endeavor. I like to carefully mix up a guest list, and include people that I've wanted to meet each other, but I also try to make sure it's going to be a group where everybody will be comfortable with each other. Discretion and political comfort zone are all things that are important! For larger entertaining, you can be more adventurous because it’s a group. But you never want to have somebody feel uncomfortable at a dinner in your home.
JKDV: How do you typically seat people? Do you break couples up, seat strangers next to each other, or leave it open plan?
ZP: I love place cards. They set it up so you don’t have that weird sitting-down confusion. Sometimes you have clingy couples, but in general it's nice to mix up couples, mix up ages, and mix up backgrounds. I definitely try to put an eclectic group of people together.
Instagram/@zacposen
JKDV: How do you set a perfect table?
ZP: Whatever flowers are in season, I say, go to town. You want flowers that aren't going to wilt; put a small ice cube in the water to help with that. I’m a fan of multiple small, low arrangements so people can see and talk over them. And I love a tablecloth in a print. Summer is a great time to play with prints. To me, summertime entertaining is most fun when it's less formal.
JKDV: What about plating? Any tips for how to make it look beautiful?
ZP: Have fun with china.
JKDV: Anyone who’s ever looked at your Instagram knows that you love to cook. What’s your secret to cooking for a group?
ZP: Always make more food in case surprise guests arrive at the last minute. That's a big tip. The most important thing is that you do not want to be a slave in your kitchen. Pre-prepare as much as you can. Chilled soups, like gazpacho, are great in the summertime. Hors d'oeuvres, soup, and salad can always be prepared in advance, which allows you time to enjoy your guests. That's really key to entertaining. Oh, and it's very important to have your wine pre-chilled.
JKDV: What are some of your signature summer menu ideas?
ZP: I've been doing stuffed zucchini flowers, because it just becomes abundant at this time of year. I stuff them with cheese, like a smoked mozzarella, and a leaf of basil is great in there. Then I do a chickpea flour, which balances out the fried bit with being gluten-free. I fry that in vegetable oil, sesame oil to give it some flavor, and a little bit of olive oil. A great trick for frying is to put a popcorn kernel in the oil, and when it pops, you're ready to fry. Those can be made an hour before you want to serve them.
I tend to make a lot of vegetable soups in the summer—chilled and warm—just because of my garden—onions, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini. For people who want to have pasta but don't want any type of wheat or grain, you can shave zucchini, blanch it, and make a zucchini pasta that's great. I do it simple with pesto.
JKDV: Are you gluten-free, or do you just have a lot of friends who are?
ZP: I eat everything. But I moderate; I try to be semiconscious. I don’t eat pasta every day, although people who follow my Instagram think I do.
Instagram/@zacposen
JKDV: What about main courses?
ZP: For a main course for summertime, it always comes down to seafood or the grill. With seafood, I like to serve poached salmon because that can be done ahead of time and in a matter of minutes. You use a low pan, a little bit of water, some sliced lemon, and just put it on a slow simmer for around 10 minutes. Then let it come back down to room temperature. I like to serve that with a cucumber salad or a beet salad. It's terrific, especially for outdoor dining. On the grill, you have to time it. That's a two-person entertaining job because one person has to hold court and monitor how the party's going, and one person has to be on the grill. So it depends how leisurely or speedy an affair you want to host. I personally love grilling, but it’s a 15- to 20-minute commitment in entertaining.
And I will give one tip: As much as I adore eating lobster, it can be quite intimidating. It has to be people that you're pretty comfortable with, and who are ready to get their hands down and dirty. Do some pre-cracking! A great way to serve lobster is to make a lobster salad on toast. You can do a clarified garlic butter, scallion butter, or chive flower butter.
It's a really wonderful, fun summer tradition, and quite decadent and luxurious.
JKDV: What about dessert?
ZP: My father recently threw mangos on the grill with a balsamic reduction, and those were delicious. Grilled peaches are really good. When it becomes stone fruit season, it's such a great way to do a tarte tatin. You put the fruit into the pastry dough beautifully sliced in half upside down, then lay the dough over it, and bake. That can be done ahead of time, and then warmed up when guests are there. I think it's really important to try to eat seasonally as much as possible. It helps put people in touch with what's happening locally and with nature.
JKDV: OK, we can’t talk about summer entertaining without talking about drinks. You designed the bottle for the 20th anniversary of Ecco Domani’s Pinot Grigio. First of all, what was the inspiration for the bottle design?
ZP: It came from a chiffon print that we did. You want a bottle that can sit on the table, and that has a playfulness to it, a non-precious quality. And you want something you can see through, and see the pattern three-dimensionally from all sides.
Courtesy of Ecco Domani
Posen's limited-edition 20th anniversary bottle for Ecco Domani hits shelves mid-July and costs around $12.
JKDV: I’m assuming you’re a fan of Pinot Grigio. What do you like to serve it with?
ZP: It pairs so well with all different kinds of fish. It also pairs great with fried foods. And it goes very well with dessert. It's a full, rounded wine. It has floral notes and it also has grassier, more green notes. I've had it with everything from St. Louis–style barbecue to a simple salad meal.
Instagram/@zacposen
JKDV: Do you ever mix cocktails with it?
ZP: I love it with cassis or elderflower syrup. I personally like slushy, icy drinks in the summer. But my note on that is: Beware, because they definitely hit you. I'm a one-glass kind of guy.
JKDV: Ha! Noted.
ZP: Also, if it's scorching hot outside, you can make fantastic exotic cocktail sorbets. You can make a Pinot Grigio sorbet with the wine and a simple syrup. I would serve that as a palate-cleanser or a dessert.
JKDV: Sounds delicious! How do you make Pinot Grigio sorbet?
ZP: You mix the wine and simple syrup, then a really simple way to do it is to put it in ice cube trays in the freezer, then put it in a blender, then put it back in the tray and let it chill. That can be made in advance, and it's easy. You can color it, too. You can do a Tiffany blue, or a rosé sorbet is really quite incredible. I would serve it with fresh mint. And it’s fun to serve with mounds of baked meringue on top.
JKDV: What kind of music do you like to play during dinner?
ZP: I'm constantly making different lists on my Spotify, and it's usually music that I'm collecting at the time to prepare for whatever I'm draping in my studio. There's always great Nina Simone playing at my parents' farm or John Coltrane. I think you can be quite romantic with the music and not keep it too serious. It's good to make a playlist that, as the music evolves, you can go into dance classics. But that has to happen towards the end. It's never fun when some booming song awkwardly comes on at the dinner table, and you have to rush to turn it off. I also like to keep the music low so it doesn’t interfere with conversation.
Instagram/@zacposen
JKDV: What about party games? Are you a fan?
ZP: No, unless it happens naturally. Like what, spin the bottle? No. I feel like I get enough party games on the set of Project Runway during the summer. I get my fill of being put on the spot. I mean, with Heidi and I, it’s like a full karaoke show between takes.
JKDV: OK, last question: What’s a favorite memory from a summer dinner party?
ZP: When I was a child, we'd go to my godmother's house in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. A family friend of ours hosted a big opening of an amazing estate there called Blantyre. Besides the fact that they had a hot air balloon, it was my first experience of anything Downton Abbey–like. They had a whole table of crudités on a large tablecloth, and it was arranged like a floral bouquet. I think the experience of seeing how entertaining worked there really set the hosting bug in me. They showed me the art to casual, large summer entertaining. They always made everybody feel at home and feel special—and you always had fun.
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Source: http://www.glamour.com/story/zac-posen-entertaining
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