Date night, 5 min read
Set the Scene: Table, Lighting and Music for a Dinner at Home
Restaurant designers obsess over atmosphere for a reason. Here's how to recreate it at home in 20 minutes with things you already own.
Restaurants spend fortunes on lighting, sound and table design because atmosphere changes how food tastes and how long people linger. You can borrow the same principles at home in about 20 minutes.
Lighting: lower, warmer, closer
- Switch off overhead lights. Use lamps and candles at table height instead.
- Choose warm bulbs (around 2700K). Cool white light feels like an office.
- Use unscented candles on the table. Scented candles compete with the smell of the food.
- Keep candles low so you can see each other. Never leave them unattended.
The table
- Clear everything that isn't for dinner: mail, laptops, chargers.
- A tablecloth or runner instantly signals an occasion. A clean bedsheet works in a pinch.
- Cloth napkins, a water glass and a wine glass for each person, and the cutlery you'll actually need.
- Sit at a corner rather than opposite each other at a big table. It's closer and easier to talk.
- Keep flowers low and unscented, for the same reason as the candles.
Music
Choose instrumental or quiet vocal music at a volume where you can talk without raising your voice. Jazz, bossa nova, soul and soft acoustic playlists are reliable. Make the playlist long enough (three hours) that it never runs out mid-conversation.
Temperature and comfort
Cooking heats a room quickly. Open a window while you cook and close it before you sit down. Have a throw blanket handy.
The welcome
Have a drink ready the moment your guest arrives, something simple to nibble on, and a seat where they can keep you company in the kitchen. Our Pomegranate-Rosemary Spritz works with or without alcohol.
Phones away
Put both phones in another room or face down. Undivided attention is the most romantic ingredient there is.