PR maven Srimoyi Bhattacharya has design options for culinary feasts on her new Instagram sourcebook

Early this yr, Srimoyi Bhattacharya modified each her pin code and her life-style. The PR skilled, and founding father of Peepul Consulting, shifted her base from Delhi to a tiny, sleepy village in North Goa referred to as Olaulim — “which even Goans don’t know about”.

Work didn’t come to a grinding halt, however the whole lot slowed down within the village that boasts winding lanes, lush fields and a solitary cafe. It additionally gave Bhattacharya, 48, a possibility to look past conferences, energy lunches, and events (and to write down her newly-revealed guide, Pitch Perfect). A yr and a half of entertaining her household (and bringing out the tableware she’s been gathering over time) made her realise that there’s one thing lovely about organising a particular ritual for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

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As she started befriending native tastemakers, ceramists and artists in Goa, she determined to provide type to an concept that’s been germinating for some time — to create a sourcebook for curated tablescapes. “I am a proud Bengali born and brought up in Paris. France has a legacy of decorative arts and the pleasure of the table, as I like to call it, is an art of living. In India, we talk about treating a guest like a god. So, to me, it was about bringing these double roots together,” she says.

Handcrafted and handpainted items from @suitenumbereight
 
| Photo Credit: @tablecodebysri

Small batch designs

Bhattacharya launched TableCode by Sri on Instagram a few months in the past, which “from an aesthetic standpoint, is about my journey of travelling to many places, and picking up products for the table”. She is teaming up with each recognized and unknown creators to showcase small batch designs. Currently, her feed is alive with festive creations from Suite Nº8 — pink-and-blue chevron dinner plates teamed with polka dot quarter plates with gold-gilded edges, on a fairly pink gingham tablecloth.

Another festive should-have: plates from artist Erté, with a daring Art Deco vibe, that she picked up a decade in the past. They can be found for order now. As are curated linens from the “legendary, but very elusive, Ranjit Ahuja, who always makes me laugh because he says ‘PR is not required’. And he is right; he doesn’t need PR”.

Lace and kansa collabs

Bhattacharya is rediscovering India by her ardour venture — from kunbi textile to handmade ceramics to tatting lace. “We have this incredible tradition of lace made by nuns across the country, from Kerala to West Bengal. When I was growing up in Calcutta, I’d see a lot of this at my mother’s friends’ parties. Little did I realise that today this makes complete sense on a table. These are collectors’ pieces.” Then there may be an “old gentleman based in Kolkata, who is trying to keep kansa work alive”. She is in talks with him to see how they will pair kansa with Madras checks for the desk. “The idea is also to bring the North and the South together in some interesting ways,” she says. Of course, placing up the items she sources on the market is troublesome. “My friends tease me that, essentially, I have found yet another pretext to shop. When I sold my first piece — a round tatting lace table cover — I had a really hard time parting with it. I had to say out loud, ‘Yes, I am letting this go’.”

Kunbi table covers

“I’m not here to give lessons in table styling because I think that is very personal. What I will do is share how you can really mix things up. You don’t need to have everything from one source to put a table together,” she says. “When I go to Sri Lanka, I visit one of my favourite stores, Paradise Road, with their minimalistic design approach. In Goa, I found these cabbage leaf plates from an unbranded Portuguese creator that are just beautiful. I have pieces from everywhere.”

The native benefit

At a private stage, she additionally wished to do one thing rooted in Goa, the place the altering seasons deliver assorted inspirations. “As I’m speaking to you, it’s all neon green around me,” she laughs. One of her favorite spots in her 110-year-outdated residence (renovated by Goa-based architect Ini Chatterji) is the al fresco terrace, which faces a glowing blue pool and inexperienced fields; it options in a lot of her pictures.

Collectible fish plates and cabbage leaf plates on a tatting lace tablecloth

Collectible fish plates and cabbage leaf plates on a tatting lace tablecloth
 
| Photo Credit: Special association

She rapidly brings the dialog again to her native collaborations. “I have been working with this lovely potter, Neela, who lives in the neighbouring village of Carona. I am also working with an incredibly talented textile designer, Poonam Pandit, who used to work with [the late] Wendell Rodricks to develop the kunbi sari for him. So I challenged her: ‘Can we use this dying textile to make table covers’. There’s only one loom remaining now, and she is working with the weavers.”

If TableCode picks up, Bhattacharya would like to open a small house near residence. “It is so much about experience — a travelling experience. So whether it is through pop-ups or working with people in design, food, etc… it is going to be a very collaborative platform. And that’s going to be the fun of it.”

Shop what you see on @tablecodebysri (DM for pricing), or fee Bhattacharya to place a desk collectively.