Deeda Blair: Food, Friends, Flowers, and Fantasy

Until now, an invitation to the New York home of style icon Deeda Blair has been a rare privilege reserved for the fortunate few. In her first book, Blair opens her doors and invites readers in, sharing her coveted recipes and ideas for entertaining and setting tables honed over the course of a remarkable, illustrious life. Blair also reveals to readers how to develop their own uniquely personal style and taste through stories and examples gleaned from the friends and mentors who have inspired her, from decorator Billy Baldwin to designer Hubert de Givenchy and collector Jayne Wrightsman. Central to the narrative are six fantasy meals, each accompanied by a menu, recipes, table settings, and floral arrangements that are inspired by the people and places among them the Haga Pavilion in Sweden, Pavlovsk Palace in Russia, and Givenchy s chateau in the Loire Valley that have shaped Blair s own inimitable and envied taste and style. Each meal is set in Blair s exquisite home and accompanied by Ngoc Minh Ngo s evocative photography of the imaginative table settings Blair has created for her timeless dishes that defy culinary trends and are of the moment in their surprising beauty, seasonal ingredients, and ease of preparation. Accompanying Blair s favourite 80+ recipes are personal instructions, often enhanced by her own charming drawings of her serving suggestions. An Introduction by writer Andrew Solomon beautifully chronicles the arc of Blair s storied life as wife of U.S. ambassador William McCormick Blair Jr. in Denmark and the Philippines, her years in Washington, DC, and later in New York. Blair is one of the last great American swans, revered for her beauty, fashion, and elegance qualities captured in photos by Helmut Newton, Horst, Cecil Beaton, Andy Warhol, and Juergen Teller that are featured in this book. Renowned design/style writer and tastemaker Deborah Needleman collaborated with Blair on this book, capturing for the page Blair s vision for entertaining with fantasy and enchantment, as well as her reflections on life and how her experiences have influenced the way she lives, works, and entertains.