MISTLETOE AND WINE
The designer Emilia Wickstead and the florist Whitney Bromberg Hawkings set the scene for a stylish seasonal spread at Casa Cruz in Notting Hill. By Lucy Halfhead
Cocktails at Casa Cruz in Notting Hill with Whitney Bromberg Hawkings and Emilia Wickstead
‘My daughter was born on 25 December, that’s how much I love Christmas!’ says Emilia Wickstead as she meticulously ties shiny red ribbon around napkins in perfect bows. ‘I actually had my contractions watching Miracle on 34th Street on Christmas Eve, and then she arrived.’ Today, in the glamorous Casa Cruz in Notting Hill, a fabulous festive display is materialising against interiors of rose gold and darkgreen velvet. ‘I feel like Casa Cruz was made for this season,’ she says.
The restaurant is the designer’s favourite place for celebrations, in particular with her party partner-in-crime Whitney Bromberg Hawkings, whose online floristry business Flowerbx is responsible for the glossy bunches of red berries, holly and mistletoe that are scattered around. The duo regularly join forces to host stylish events, and are demonstrating their impeccable skills once more for Town & Country. ‘Every time Emilia and I work on a table together, our two worlds – fashion and flowers – collide,’ says Whitney.
For Emilia, there is only one place for her Christmas food shop. ‘Fortnum & Mason has a particular element of fairy dust,’ she says. ‘You can find everything there.’ Consequently, the table is also adorned with luscious treats from the store, including a decadent Christmas pudding infused with marmalade vodka and bejewelled with vodka-glazed glacé cherries, Marcona almonds and candied orange slices, jostling for space with a handmade cranberry and cognac fruit cake and a silver dish piled high with assorted hand-decorated marzipan fruits.
These all sit on a duchesse-silk tablecloth in a bold redand-white striped print, which also appears in Emilia’s current A/W 18 collection. ‘I call it my candy-cane stripe, so it’s very fitting for our festive table,’ she says. ‘In the past, we’ve done a floral-print theme for a party and we recently created a beautiful lemon-linen display for my collection with Moda Operandi.’ ‘Emilia’s element of unexpectedness is key,’ Whitney says. ‘She does it with her clothes and she does it with her tables – she shows you something you didn’t know you wanted and that’s a real knack she has.’
Both the women grew up in farflung destinations where warm-weather Christmases were the norm. ‘In New Zealand we had a barbecue,’ Emilia says. ‘All of my family would bring a plate of food, including my Italian grandmother, who would make tiramisu and Christmas cake, and then my Auntie Melinda made that delicious one with all the layers… a Christmas trifle! It was so good. We’d sit
outside and eat in the sunshine.’ Whitney’s childhood was spent in America. ‘My mum was completely excessive, in a classic Texas style,’ she says. ‘I think we had three trees in our house, and my siblings and I believed in Santa until we were almost 15, because she was that good at making it magical. Sometimes we’d turn up the airconditioning to light a fire in the fireplace, because it was too hot outside.’
Naturally, the two friends have their own family twists on tradition. ‘When I was young we had a turkey and a ham, creamy mashed potatoes and all of the fixings,’ Whitney says. ‘It was really amazing, but I am quite healthy nowadays, so I make all the classic things my mum made, without tons of butter, and I do a lighter take on the dishes: for instance, instead of creamed spinach, I do steamed spinach, or a green bean casserole.’ Every other year, Emilia’s family visit her mother’s country house in Italy, where they feast on fresh ravioli. ‘Sometimes we have Christmas in Brazil, which is where my husband is from,’ she adds. ‘They have a lavish dinner that includes pork, turkey, ham, salads and fresh and dried fruits, all served with rice cooked with raisins. It starts on the stroke of midnight the night before Christmas, which I kind of love.’
In the Bromberg Hawkings household, it’s no surprise that floral decorations hold sway. ‘Paperwhites are amazing at Christmas – they are so fragrant and elegant,’ she says. ‘But I don’t think you can beat the smell of pine and eucalyptus, so I have that in every room of the house. We definitely always have mistletoe –there’s a lot of smooching and I make all the kids kiss me every time we walk under it.’
‘I love Whitney’s vision with flowers,’ says Emilia. ‘Obviously, we have a beautiful friendship but it’s such a nice working relationship as well. We bring two very different worlds to the table, but I love what we create together. It’s exciting, it’s fun, it’s always different.’