A Table for Six

Hosting six people is the honest number. Four is a conversation; ten is an event with logistics. Six is the size at which a table still feels like a single room, and where the setting does most of the quiet work for you.

Begin with restraint. One serving bowl in the centre, not three. Plates that share a family rather than a set, so the table reads as gathered rather than bought. Linen that has been washed enough times to forget it was ever new.

The effortlessness is a trick of preparation. Lay everything an hour early, then leave the room. When your guests arrive, the table should look as though it simply happened, which is the most generous illusion a host can offer.