A table that's not just white

When the AV team meets Tali Dugma, only good things can come of it.

We met on a spring morning, Tali, Michal - AV's studio manager, and I, to present you with one of our loves - table and food design.

Table design is my passion. It connects me to hospitality, to family. I believe that good table design brings with it a relaxed and festive atmosphere for diners.

So, just before Shavuot is here, I turned to Tali Dugma, an interior designer and architect and owner of "Beit HaChomarim" (House of Materials) in Moshav Regba, a specialist in colors and a master in photography, and by chance, she's also my friend. The connection with Tali always brings out good things from both of us. So, amidst all our projects, we sat down and created the Shavuot table.

Each of us sprinkled a pinch of our experience, a lot of creativity, and an abundance of our love for design onto the table. Tali, of course, also took the photos...

And this is what came out…

The inspirations and design principles that guided us:

* Designing a table in the garden, in a fruit tree orchard, letting the outdoors invade the table.

* Romantic and relaxed style - the choice of a white embroidered tablecloth, which connects very well with the white attire customary on Shavuot and with the flower wreaths.

* Arranging the flowers on the table in their natural form - using wildflowers, those found by the roadside. Flowers of the Land of Israel. The connection to the earth and nature.

* The dominant color that led all other design choices - mustard yellow. A warm, sunny, stimulating, earthy color. A color that connects to the land flowing with milk and honey - Tali's idea - admit it's brilliant!

* We chose to use two types of dishes from two different worlds - crystal-look glass dishes and gilded, gleaming brass trays. The combination between them works excellently on the clean, festive lace tablecloth. Together, they connected to the mustard shade and gave grandeur to the table.

* The pastel-colored candlesticks and vases radiated a pleasant atmosphere and points of light as it began to get dark.

Some notes and tips from us:

1. Use accessories with a clean look, so they suit any style you choose.

2. Choose a soft and balanced color palette. Remember - strong/dominant colors - it is recommended that they come in small doses.

3. Choose one color as the main player and connect secondary colors to it.

4. Combine materials and textures - ceramic/porcelain dishes with glass, with Corian, wood, and brass. All these together create harmony.

5. Food - how could we not? After all, that's why we gathered! For the holiday meal of first fruits, local produce, and the fruit of our labor.

We hosted the goat cheeses of "Galili Dairy" from Kibbutz Rosh HaNikra on our festive table

And the sourdough breads of "Lechem Saar" from Regba.

Galili Dairy - Cheeses from Abirim Forest

The Regev family from Mitzpe Abirim, owners of the dairy, has been raising a herd of goats for many years in Abirim, on the northern slopes of Nahal Kziv, within an oak forest overlooking the Achziv coast.

The proper nutrition in the forest, the optimal lifestyle of the herd, and the crossbreeding of Damascus goats with Alpine goats, lead to the production of high-quality, healthy, rich milk with unique taste and aroma, which ultimately results in a better and tastier cheese.

The goats are milked twice a day and their milk is processed into the production of various and diverse cheeses,

Developed after in-depth study in France and Italy and adapted to the Israeli palate.

The cheese wedges fit perfectly with our various brass dishes.

The addition of nuts, grapes, or dried figs further enhanced both the festive presentation and the tasting experience.

Some of the types of cheeses we presented on the table:

Saint-Maure cheese - a cheese from the Touraine region of France. Comes in cylindrical shapes and different diameters.

Covered with white mold and its flavors intensify the longer it ripens.

It can be served as is, as part of a cheese platter, as an addition to soup, grilled and fried, or in pastries and salads.

We chose the 250g wedge and also small, individual Saint-Maure sticks.

Bordeaux cheese - a hard and aromatic cheese, whose taste deepens as it ages. This is a type of Tomme cheese with added wine. Its color is reddish-purple on the outside, a result of the wine treatment it undergoes. The inner part of the cheese is hard and crystalline.

The wine gives the cheese fruity flavors of red, sweet raisins, complementing and enhancing the cheese's taste.

Camembert Truffle cheese - Camembert cheese is a ripe white mold cheese with a creamy texture. The cheese is named after the village of Camembert in Normandy, France. It is one of the most famous cheeses in the world.

When the cheese is young, its texture is firm, but as it ripens, it softens and its flavors strengthen. Its ripening takes at least three weeks with the help of Penicillium camemberti and Penicillium candidum molds.

It is suitable for breakfast, for entertaining, and for ending a meal with fruit.

We chose Camembert Truffle - if it's French, then all the way.

#### Lechem Saar Bakery - Handmade Sourdough Breads

Lechem Saar Bakery produces sourdough breads and pastries while maintaining quality, freshness, and a combination of different types of flours, such as: rye, spelt, whole wheat flour, white flour, along with grains and more, without preservatives and industrial materials.

At Saar Bakery, they love bread, they love baking bread, and this love, combined with open-mindedness in the unique flavors they have developed, guarantees a delicious, special, and high-quality result.

The sourdough breads are handmade using a special technique in a stone oven, which leaves a unique taste for each and every bread.

The bakery is managed by Yuval Saar, a graduate of pastry and baking studies at "Bishulim" - the High School for Culinary Arts in Danon - a school for culinary excellence.

The loaves of bread we hosted on our table:

White sourdough bread with pickled lemon and Kalamata olives

Whole sourdough bread

100% spelt sourdough bread

80% whole wheat sourdough bread with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, sesame, and oats

Semi-whole sourdough bread with dried figs, walnuts, and silan (date syrup)

Happy Holiday

The table was designed by the AV team in collaboration with Tali Dugma