
It’s early afternoon on a heat Saturday in June, and Sheep Meadow in Manhattan’s Central Park is awash with individuals stress-free on blankets and garden chairs, laughing and chatting as they sunbathe or catch up over snacks. “I actually had forgotten how busy it could possibly get within the park,” says Amber Mayfield, 29 — the founding father of the New York occasion company To Be Hosted, and of Whereas Entertaining, {a magazine} devoted to showcasing the skills of Black foodies — as she surveys the scene, to which she is going to quickly add.
Below the branches of a giant tree close to the western fringe of the park, Mayfield has arrange for a potluck-style picnic in honor of Juneteenth. On the visitor listing are her fiancé, Jordan Hewett, who’s a highschool math instructor, and varied mates and meals professionals. On a low-slung picket desk Mayfield introduced alongside, she’s laid out the cookbooks “Watermelon and Crimson Birds” (2022) by Nicole A. Taylor and Bryant Terry’s “Black Meals” (2021), from which she took inspiration for the occasion. These sit alongside a pitcher of home made strawberry soda and a yellow peony- and bearded iris-studded centerpiece by Emily Scott of the Harlem-based Floriconvento Flowers. When it got here to the meals, Mayfield gave her visitors a directive: to deliver one thing that represented freedom, custom or household to them.
Ultimately, the unfold mirrored a wide selection of tastes and cultures, and the attendees combined and matched, passing serving platters amongst themselves. The chef Leigh-Ann Martin introduced a callaloo quiche with a jar of roasted Scotch bonnet aioli, a sauce harking back to a ghost and scorpion pepper sauce generally served in Trinidad and Tobago, the place she grew up, and the chef and cooking teacher Sicily Sierra Johnson made pickled vegetable and pastrami sandwiches that made her consider the generations of girls in her household who created the most effective dishes utilizing solely what that they had round them. “It’s a small and easy approach that I can honor what’s behind me and what’s in entrance of me,” she stated. The mannequin Fatou Thiam introduced fataya, or Senegalese fish hand pies, that she’d made along with her mom the day earlier than. She defined that they have been just like Jamaican beef patties, or pastelitos. “Patties, hand pies — these pastries join all of us,” she stated.
Certainly, sharing or listening to the again tales of and causes behind bringing every dish, which the visitors did whereas sitting on pillows sans sneakers, was an necessary a part of the gathering, one which added to the already intimate ambiance. Tiffany-Anne Parkes, a Jamaican American pastry chef and the founding father of the digital bakeshop Pienanny, who for dessert had ready a plantain cremeux with Biscoff and Jamaican espresso crust — a play on banana pudding — stated, “Plantain permits us to play throughout the diaspora, and it’s a connecting piece.” Then, to the diners’ delight, she produced a piping bag of home made chocolate sauce and added the phrases “BLACK LEISURE” throughout the highest of the pudding in all caps. “Play, decisions and leisure are important to Black freedom,” she stated.
Because the afternoon continued, the park pulsed with different teams coming and going and swirling across the picnic, however by no means breaking the bubble of closeness that held Mayfield and her visitors. “I really feel like we’ve created this little oasis,” stated Mayfield, smiling as she regarded across the desk. In a approach, she does this type of factor on a regular basis. She began her enterprise, which has labored with such purchasers as Netflix and Equinox, within the hopes of making memorable dinner events highlighting the work of Black creatives, and Whereas Entertaining is an extension of that philosophy that gives a platform for cooks to share the methods wherein they’ve fostered or skilled heat and hospitality in their very own lives: In its pages, she runs each recipes and private essays. Nonetheless, she felt that the picnic, which she deliberate for neither of her enterprise ventures however somewhat to unwind and spend time with mates, was one thing additional particular. “We’re all the time transferring and hustling,” Mayfield stated. “To have the ability to sit and chill looks like urgent a reset button.” It was additionally a perfect option to honor a day that could be a reminder of Black tradition and resilience. Right here, Mayfield shares her suggestions for throwing a significant picnic of your personal.
Set an Intention
Mayfield’s request that visitors deliver dishes honoring Juneteenth added depth to the gathering. “It was actually stunning to see the best way all people interpreted that task,” she says. It additionally facilitated dialog, even amongst those that didn’t already know one another.
Fill Within the Gaps
Mayfield requested visitors to R.S.V.P. with the dishes they deliberate to deliver in order that she might get a way of the menu (she additionally wasn’t afraid to supply suggestions about what would or wouldn’t work when served kind of at room temperature) and what was unaccounted for. Given what she gleaned, and holding in thoughts the temperature and the season, she introduced a leafy salad, contemporary fruit, poundcake skewers and home made strawberry soda, which she portioned into particular person swing-top glass bottles with striped straws.
Pay Consideration to the Particulars
Even small touches could make a giant distinction, says Mayfield. The books additionally inspired dialogue, whereas the pillows invited visitors to take off their sneakers and get comfy. Mayfield additionally used little thrives to tug the desk design collectively. “I like the green-and-white striped napkins,” she says. “You are able to do issues very merely after which simply have two pops of coloration and all of it feels extra extravagant.”
Suppose Past the Blanket
Why not add some “razzle-dazzle?” says Mayfield, who recommends outlining your entertaining house with space rugs and ground pillows. This can make the gathering extra luxurious (and cozy) than only a single-layer picnic blanket would. The thought is to “make it really feel prefer it’s not your common Saturday,” she says. Friends will “keep in mind it extra and be extra current, too.”
Faucet Into Nostalgia
The picnic took on a enjoyable vibe when, after consuming, visitors performed with oversize enjoying playing cards and picket dominoes, which Mayfield knew would remind individuals of the cookouts they’d attended as kids. She additionally wished to move these traditions on to the younger individuals in attendance (Johnson introduced her daughters, Marlee and Madison). “They’re a part of how we unwind and simply loosen up alongside the music and meals,” she says. “It simply felt like one thing that needed to be there.”
Music Ought to Add, Not Overpower
Enjoying within the background because of a Bluetooth speaker positioned beneath the desk have been theme-appropriate songs like Nina Simone’s “To Be Younger, Gifted and Black” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.” “I prefer to discover a place that’s within the heart of the motion to place the music, however not in a approach that retains individuals from speaking to one another,” Mayfield says. “You may flip it up just a little, and since it’s underneath the desk, it doesn’t really feel prefer it’s in your house. It’s extra like, ‘Wait a minute, I’m softly listening to “Beautiful Day.”’” You may hearken to Mayfield’s full playlist right here.