Fall colors at the Union Square farmers market are far better than those at the galleries at MoMA, because you can take them home, incorporate into dinner and share with friends. Plus you get to see Mr. Bill Cunningham’s glorious smile.

Prime time to pickle: dirt radish and cucumbers, but watermelon radish is best enjoyed fresh. For the most festive pickle juice, add thyme branches, jungle berries, mustard seeds and whole red chili peppers.

This week’s Table For Six Co. brunch edition returns to its two origins: China and architecture. APT (Architecture Practice Talk) 践谈 is a young architect forum organized by a group of young architects practicing in New York. Initiated less than a year ago, APT has successfully run an engaging lecture series that invites young designers (like myself) to share their design stories, and to explore together what it means to be a young Chinese architect practicing in the context of New York’s contemporary architecture scene today. In addition to providing a platform for emerging voices, APT also connects young architects to establishing architecture offices. The most recent 践谈践访 or APT Office Visits brings us to an intimate conversation with Todd Williams + Billie Tsien at their amazing office space at Central Park South.

Today’s guests:
Yichen. founder and design partner of Studio Link-Arc
Junfeng. founder of APT and urban designer at Skidmore Owings & Merrill 
Kai (thank you for the pics!) from Archilier Architecture
Zhonghan. architect at Bjarke Ingels Group
Xuhui. architect at Pei Cobb Freed

Icefishes and Lemon Crisp

Scallop Quail Egg Benedict w/ radish leaf and edamame puree

If kale and brussel sprouts had a baby…

Red Wine Poached Pear w/ vanilla ice-cream

Behind each Table for Six Co. event is days, sometimes weeks, of preparation. When we host a dinner for Saturday, we plant the mustard seeds for micro-mustard sprouts on Monday. Guest lists are usually finalized 10 days before the event – a confirmation email with a tentative menu is usually sent on Monday for a Saturday gathering. On Friday evening, we start preparing dishes that require overnight marination or chilling. For each gathering, we hope to design the table setting as if we were designing an immersive theater experience. We set the scenes, envisioning and crafting each little detail from the shape of the plate to the weight of the silverware, from the center piece to the lighting. All that is waiting, is you to come join the act of home dining.

Summer brings the best to New York – friends from all stages of our lives visit us from all corners of the world. They bring stories to tell, and spices to add to our new summer brunch menu. Farmers Market has never been so vibrant, filled with bright colors and fresh, bursting flavors. For June, July and August, we add to our table (finally and officially) a weekend brunch edition. It starts with fresh nuts, fruits, bottomless tea and coffee, and potato onion dill toasts. For main course, we made a fresh zucchini pasta with pesto sauce brought back from the valleys of southern Italy, topped with Peruvian roasted chicken and a poached egg. For desserts and to bring home with, we are testing 24 varieties of overnight oatmeal in an 8 oz mason jar. The plan is to retain 12 flavors and scratch the other 12 – but we may have some trouble deciding…

For our breakfast edition was so popular, we’ll share more recipes that can be enjoyed before 11am. But let’s start with the very foundation of a good breakfast: eggs. When Julia Child traveled back to the New England from Paris, she brought back with her the traditional way of making a perfect French omelette. Thanks to American broadcast television, we here present you her very own 1963 cooking show The French Chef. Get your protein on!

roasted sea bass, whole.

1. Pick your fish: Always hand pick your fish from a trusted fish market. 1 – 2 pounds per fish is perfect for one person. Look for the clear eyed, red gills ones with silky skin with most of the scales intact.

2. Do not name your fish.

3. Choose your cut: when you have the fish cleaned, you can choose to have it “whole with bones in, head and tail on” which add to the flavor; a “butterfly cut with head and tail on”  takes out the bones but still allows you to still serve the fish whole; “fillet” only gives you the flesh, but you can choose to keep the head and tail on the side if you decide to make a soup broth. I like butterfly cut with head and tail on.

4. Seasoning: olive oil brush on the skin and cavity. Rub coarse sea salt and black pepper. Fill the cavity with thin slices of lemon, garlic, a few branches of rosemary and thyme.Close it up. Cover the eye with a slice of lemon. Sprinkle some more sea salt on the top.

5. Roast: 450F for 12 minutes. 15 minutes if you are cooking two fish.

Enjoy.

Zucchini egg frittata with crispy bacon and ricotta cheese.

Isn’t breakfast much more intimate than dinner? It’s not the easiest thing to do, but recently I started inviting people over for the first instead of the last meal of the day (sometimes still in my pajamas). Things did get a little fancy when I started making egg benedict with whipped edamame and kabocha squash, but some of the simplest dishes such as zucchini egg frittata was actually the most popular at the table. I have to admit it is a much better way to start the day (and our design process) – by sitting down at the table and sharing breakfast together before going out into the world.

15 – 30 minutes is really all it takes.

Last dinner marked an important transition for Table For Six Co. in so many ways. We say good-bye to Chef Jean-Baptiste with a fabulous round of exquisite tastes, and look forward to more chefs from all around the world to bring their influence and experience to the table. If you find yourself near Bryant Park, don’t forget to pop in Aureole at the base of One Bryant Park, where Chef Jean-Baptiste is probably busy cooking up something awesome in their Michelin stared kitchen.

We are also super excited to introduce the cash-envelope at the table. Thank you so much, our wonderful guests and their supports. Without you, we won’t be able to continue this authentically home-made international flight of flavors. So thank you!

Learn more about our guests and visit their professional websites:
Jonathan | Joseph | Sissia (Gezi) | Alejandro | Ren H.