A Day with Designer and Entertainer Extraordinaire Michael Devine
It should hardly come as a surprise that many of our favorite designers are also excellent entertainers; after all, much of interior design is, in essence, creating a lifestyle and environment, the same thing one does on a micro scale when hosting (and of course, an eye for style and attention to detail never hurt a tabletop). In the case of Michael Devine, design and entertaining truly go hand-in-hand; the designer lends his eye to collections of fabric and wallpaper as well as china and other tabletop accessories. To get a peek behind the scenes at his process, AD PRO shadowed Devine the day of a dinner party at his New York City apartment.
4:00 A.M. I wake up and start my to-do list. It’s an annoying habit, but every morning I wake up and for about an hour do my to-do list and plan my day and then go back to bed to sleep a bit more until a more reasonable hour.
6:15 A.M. Up and at ‘em. The first thing that happens is that I head to the kitchen and turn on my Breville teapot for my first pot of tea of the day. Every morning I start the day with Mariage Frères tea. Today it’s the beautiful Pondicherry tea which is a black tea with rose petals. My breakfast is always the same: La Fermière vanilla yogurt. I used to buy this only in Paris, but now it’s available here in the U.S., which makes me very happy.
6:45 A.M. After breakfast, I get dressed and ready to go for the day. First thing on my to-do list today is to make dessert for tonight‘s dinner party. I always make dessert first—preferably the day before. Tonight, I am serving one of my favorite recipes from my book, An Invitation to the Garden (Rizzoli, $40): salted caramel vacherin with dark chocolate sauce. Today, I cheated a little and bought pre-made meringue to save time.
7:15 A.M. I pop the dessert in the freezer. Next, I start to respond to emails from clients in Europe that came in overnight. This morning, I am particularly pleased to see the confirmation of shipment for a large fabric order from Paris. A perfect email to start off the day. While I check my inbox I often take a quick break to check Instagram for the first time of the day.
8:00 A.M. Off to the Flower Market for flowers for tonight’s dinner table. The Flower Market in New York City is one of the many joys of living in Manhattan—so many beautiful blooms on one city block.
8:10 A.M. Arrive at the market and I am always struck by the variety of flowers that are available. I never choose strongly scented flowers for the table, as the smell can compete with the food. Today, the tulips are looking like a great option.
9:10 A.M. Once I am back home from the flower market, I call my fabric printer to discuss the strike-offs of new colorways of several of the fabrics in my hand-printed fabric collection.
9:45 A.M. I chat on the phone with the amazing designer Alexa Hampton to discuss details of a project with The Mine that is coming up this spring on their site. We review the details of a new Michael Devine boutique that will live on The Mine’s website that will make our hand-printed fabrics and wallpapers and dinnerware available to both the trade and retail clients.
10:10 A.M. It is time to grab my camera and start working on some wallpaper and fabric images. This is my favorite part of the day: uninterrupted creative time when I can really focus and let my imagination have free rein. I get about six final shots that I am really happy with and think of a couple of new shop ideas for the next session.
11:00 A.M. I grab a quick lunch at the National Arts Club with the PR maven and my longtime friend Elizabeth Blitzer, of Blitzer & Company, to discuss promotion for the new wallpaper collection.
2:30 P.M. After lunch, I make a mad dash uptown to KRB to see Kate Rheinstein Brodsky and discuss the merchandising of the new Marie Daage for Michael Devine pieces that she is adding to the current collection that she carries in her shop.
3:45 P.M. Leaving the KRB shop I get a client call to discuss a new custom colorway for one of my fabrics for a project they are working on. I really enjoy custom projects because it’s an opportunity to create one-of-a-kind fabrics and work directly with some fantastically talented designers.
4:00 P.M. I really have to get back to the apartment because it’s time to get dinner started! But not before I make a fast run into J.McLaughlin and pick up a new shirt for tonight. A crisp blue and white check catches my eye! Done and done.
4:30 P.M. Back home, I make one last work call of the day to Leta Austin Foster to go over the details of the trunk show we are doing for my dinnerware in her Palm Beach shop and review our social media strategy.
4:45 P.M. Where did the day go?! I wonder how it is almost five, but there’s no need to panic: Tonight’s menu is a breeze and the dessert is already done. I always like to use recipes I know almost by heart when I am cooking for friends. Tonight we are having a puree of tomato soup to start and then a buttery rosemary roast chicken with roasted new potatoes and asparagus.
7:00 P.M. I am really thankful that my partner Thomas and I have a clear division of labor. When I cook, he sets the table so I don’t have to. Tonight he’s done another beautiful job! The table is laid out just as we discussed with my china, our collection of St. Louis stemware, and beautiful Julia B. monogrammed napkins. Time to get ready for our guests!
7:30 P.M. It’s time! The first of our guests start to arrive.
11:30 P.M. We say goodnight to everyone and start the dreaded post-dinner clean up. That’s the only drag about having company… After having a great evening the dishes are waiting.
