Dubai: Italian designer Bertrando di Renzo shares 5 tips to transform your dining table

Bertrando di Renzo does not believe a table is something to look at. He believes it is something to play with. 

"I always say that tables are like playgrounds," says the founder of Italian interiors and lifestyle brand Les Ottomans. "We can have fun with them." From 15 October to 15 November, that philosophy takes over Bungalo34, the beachfront restaurant at Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Dubai, in a month-long collaboration called "The Art of the Table". 

The collaboration has been a long time in the making. Almost a decade ago, Natasha Sideris - Founder of Tashas Group and its slew of beloved concepts including tasha’s café, Flamingo Room, Avli, Galaxy Bar, Perlage, African Lounge, Ouzeri, Le Parc and the most recently launched NALA — went shopping with her long term friend and collaborator Nicky Greig who is both the founder of Collective Africa and the stylist for all of Tashas Group’s concepts.

Browsing the homeware department at Liberty of London, Natasha was instantly captivated by a colorful and riotous range that she had never seen before. “I turned over a plate, saw Les Ottomans, and immediately began ordering pieces for my restaurants”, Sideris explains. Since then, Natasha, Nicky and Bertrando have become firm friends and the friendship has evolved into a partnership which in turn has evolved into what can only be described as a creative feast. So when Bertrando decided that he wanted to make something special for his first-ever takeover, there was only one person to ask. 

"Natasha envisioned it and embraced my idea instantly," he says. "She trusted me and my vision." Their shared love of colour, pattern, craftsmanship, good food and warm and welcoming hospitality made Bungalo34 the perfect setting. Right on the shoreline, with its cosy, refined atmosphere and view of the sea, it feels to di Renzo like a home away from home, a place where you could be anywhere on the Mediterranean coast of Italy. "I couldn't have gone anywhere else," he says. "Bungalo34 and its adjacent boutique Collective are the natural home for Les Ottomans in Dubai." 

While the obvious choice for the takeover might have been his sea-scape inspired range, Di Renzo chose lemons instead. They stand for Italy, and for the South, where he comes from. They are also, he says, the perfect embodiment of dolce vita

: a relaxed, fun and friendly place to spend time with friends, leaving all worries behind which chimed perfectly with Natasha’s vision for Bungalo34 when she first launched it almost four years ago.  

The palette follows: sun-washed yellow, cobalt blue and crisp white. Lemon motifs, hand-painted ceramics, expressive glassware, patterned textiles and sculptural serving pieces will be layered across the restaurant's tables and terraces. There is no single rigid tablescape which is a reflection of how Bertrando has always approached his designs. The effect is meant to feel closer to a table assembled over years of travelling than a conventionally styled restaurant. 

That instinct comes from di Renzo himself. A lifelong traveller and collector, he draws inspiration from details rather than trends: a tile in an Italian villa, a painting in an Indian palace, an unexpected find at a flea market. And he embraces maximalism, with its bold colour, pattern and layers, having made it his signature long before it was fashionable. 

The lesson of the collaboration reaches beyond the restaurant — Di Renzo's approach to setting a table is one that he actively encourages that we all replicate at home. Particularly since the pandemic in 2020, home entertaining has become an increasing part of how we convene socially and nothing creates an inviting atmosphere more than a beautifully set table.

While the effect can be dazzling, the way to achieving a playful, engaging atmosphere at home is reassuringly simple and include the following tips: 

1. Play with the table.

I always say that tables are like playgrounds and we can have fun with them. Having fun doesn't mean that the table should not be elegant and refined as both things can go well together. How do I play? By using colors and patterns, through layering and mastering the mix and match, the old and the new. 

2. Always have some elements that can make people talk. When we invite people into our home maybe they don't know each other and some fun item on the table can be used as an ice breaker to start a conversation. We can use shaped salt&pepper shakers, a patterned charger plate with a nice design, embroidered or handprinted napkins.  

3. More is more.

Use flowers, candleholders, candles, placeholders and any other object that can make the table look rich and warm.  Placing the items is important though. I never set up a table in a way that the objects can obstruct the view of the person that is in front of them. At the end of day, we are at table to be able to enjoy conversation and share nice moments together so nothing should get in the way of that. 

4. Use your imagination.

Never be afraid of your imagination in creating, for example, a unique color combination that you have in your mind, of mixing patterns that you have never tried before. It is your house and your table so you have to make it unique. 

5. Get inspired. inspiration is everywhere, in magazines, stores, in an online image. Find your own inspiration and make it yours using what you have at home.  

Beyond Instagram: Why diners in UAE are embracing a quieter kind of 'luxury' Meet Gabriele Bonci, the 'Michelangelo of pizza’ bringing Roman scissor-cut slices to Dubai Why Dubai's coolest restaurants are keeping things simple