In New Orleans we are either eating, cooking, shopping for groceries, talking about restaurants, talking about eating, planning a party, or performing any combination of these at one time! When we entertain in New Orleans food is almost always a centerpiece for the action. The table can be a picnic table, the back end of your pick-up, on the patio, or in the most formal of dining rooms. We all have treasures of serving pieces that we have inherited, stolen from friends (hmm.....did I forget to return that crawfish tray you left at my house???), picked up from the side of the street, or found in a great shop we were browsing.

In our store we have accumulated some of the best pieces for serving, setting individual places, laying out a buffet table, or just enjoying our morning coffee and beignets or King Cake. Each visit to New York, Atlanta, or Dallas includes countless hours just walking the floors at market or cruising the streets looking in shop windows. We find great inspiration from each visit and bring back some of the best we see. Sometimes it takes a LONG TIME for the newest trends in color and design to reach us here in the Deep South, but we nevertheless bring them to our shelves.

One of the first things to consider when deciding what your story line will be in setting the stage for your next dining occasion is to look around and see what is going on locally, nationally, or globally. Holidays, trips, current events, gallery showings, stage performances, or just whatever you think is exciting are all perfect themes to inspire creativity on the table. Themes can be based on color palettes, musical compositions, movies, or something as near as the flowers in your garden. Let your imagination go and see what you can create!