This is Starter Kit, a series where our editors share the food, drink, and kitchen essentials they recommend when you’re setting up from scratch. Here, Erin Bunch asks three chic chefs and professional party throwers for the handful of items that can make your dining room (or kitchen nook) feel like a swanky, sexy bistro—no reservation needed.
Dinner out for two, somewhere a little fancy with cloth napkins and candlelight, is the classic choice for a romantic occasion. But there’s something about inviting a love interest into your home to share a meal—something more intimate—that makes it the swoon move of the moment.
You don’t have to be an accomplished chef or professional hostess to pull off a special night at home, either. Sure, good food matters, but when you want to get romantic, the most important ingredient is intention. Promise you this: Even if you share a home with your amore and the dining table is used for looking at the bills, eating delivery pizza, and fighting with your kid about—I mean, helping your kid with—their homework, it’s possible to achieve an ambience that puts you in the mood for love.
Here, chefs and entertaining experts share tips for creating a date night at home that feels effortless, seductive, and entirely your own.
Your Date-Night-In Starter Kit
To set make your night in feel like a night out, make sure you have the following items. You can find a curated selected of each below; pick yours to taste.
✓ Cloth napkins (this isn’t the time for paper towels)
✓ Grown-up glasses
✓ Candles
✓ Fresh flowers
✓ Choice luxury ingredients
✓ Something sweet
✓ A thoughtful beverage selection
Set the table
A few high-quality items elevate the ambiance from any-given-Tuesday to special-occasion.
Napkins
Food writer, photographer, and human embodiment of French-Girl-chic Chloe Crane-Leroux advises keeping decor simple but thoughtful in order to avoid feeling too try-hard or cheesy. “Think candles, warm textures, maybe a linen napkin or a small floral moment—nothing fussy, just inviting,” she says.
According to Stephanie Nass, caterer, designer, and founder of entertaining brand Chefanie, you don’t need a full spread—tablecloths, placemats, the whole nine yards. Simple linen napkins and a few candles (she’s partial to tapers for occasions like this) can shift the energy of the room.
