|
Leah double-checks to make sure all six chairs align perfectly
and symmetrically with the place settings: chargers, cutlery, plates,
stemware and sparkly napkin rings. And on close inspection, there’s not even the
most microscopic smudge or fingerprint to be seen. The white napkins, however,
will have to be changed because there is an impromptu red sauce simmering in the
galley.
As stewardess on the 130-foot (39.6-meter) motor yacht
Sacajawea, Leah is the high priestess of a ritual about
to take place: a long and leisurely dinner with friends and family—an
all-too-rare occasion on land for most of her time-starved charter
clients. Indeed, for some, the exclamation, "I must have gained ten pounds on
board," is shorthand for just how pleasant these rituals are.
 Setting a yacht’s table is an art. (Click image to enlarge)
Once night falls and cocktail hour draws to a close, the first
guest descends from the sun deck and emerges on the candlelit scene. The lights
in the salon are dim. There’s just the candlelight and the harbor lights,
mirrored in the well-polished surfaces of the tablescape.
The napkins replaced, the lovely, Australian-born Leah and her staff await
the other guests as unobtrusively as possible. The challenge is before them. How
to set a great table with the limited space and restrictions of being at sea?
How to complement the menu’s theme while at the same time delivering all the charm and magic that
enhances the dining ritual? To find out, ShowBoats International
invited the Providence, Rhode Island–based designer Jay Wayne Luiz to team up
with Leah on board Sacajawea. We wanted
them to create a sort of test kitchen for successful tablescapes aboard yachts.
In addition, we checked out Paraffin,
Seven Sins, Crystal Sea and
Zoom Zoom Zoom to see how their enchanted evenings are
composed.
Color, fresh flowers and reflective surfaces help
create the visual interplay that makes a yacht meal a memorable
moment. Top photograph by Roy Zipstein. Bottom photograph by Dana Jinkins. (Click images to enlarge)
"Yachts are all about glamour, stepping onto a stage on the
water. At night there must be even more glamour, more glitter—and that’s why we
didn’t use a tablecloth. We wanted the bright reflections off the glass surface
of the table to add everything possible to the sense of glamour," says Luiz.
Luiz brought a sampling of items from his Wayland Square shop
Kyureo. "When I first came on board, the dining area was pretty much all beige
and gold. I wanted to bring in some color without overpowering it. You could
send it the wrong way, so I wanted to be subtle. Just pop some color—basically
pink and green pastels. In a tight space such as this, you want as much
reflection as possible to make the space look larger—the perfect opportunity to
employ candlesticks."
 Photograph by Dana Jinkins. (Click image to enlarge)
The candlesticks preside from high aloft the table’s surface,
pointed silver spires of art-deco extraction. Luiz chose their statuesque
quality for a reason. He was very conscious of the fact that there was no
chandelier hanging over the table. It was important for the candlesticks to
bring up the table height, to hold the dining space as a unified whole. The high
candlesticks created a virtual wall between the stairs and the salon, defining
the space as well as softening it. Without the candlesticks shining like
beacons, one’s eye would range all too quickly from the main salon past the
dining area to the hallway and staircase. The visual appeal of the dining ritual
would be over before it began. (Click image to enlarge)
|
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Email This
Printer Friendly Version
Reprints & Permissions
Most Popular Searches