When I picture of the happiest moments of my life, I can see, with painstaking clarity, every texture, every shape, every detail, of the tables around which they occurred. I can picture the textured glass of the table in my grandparent’s backyard—the one whose pattern resembled rippling water—on mornings when the August sun beat down on our backs as we hunched over its uneven surface that was covered with workbooks, journals, and the local newspaper opened to the cartoons section. Pulp-rich orange juice sat out in recycled yogurt cups and Cinnamon Life drowned in milk in white porcelain bowls.
I can picture the dinner party I had in my apartment in spring where people ate off of mismatched plates and there weren’t enough forks to go around, so the table was set mostly with spoons for a meal of roast chicken and salad.
And I can picture the cool, steel table of the coffee shop in Paris where I would sit most mornings with my book and a cup of hot black coffee, which came in a thick walled diner mug, and a side of whole milk.
I can picture the lazy Susan that spins in center of my parent’s low, round, wooden table on their bluestone patio where we eat almost every meal in summer and also some on evenings in winter as a fire burns in the copper pit near by. There is always an open bottle of wine in the center and a spread of meats and cheeses on that one vintage platter with the blue and green floral edges that I love. Occasionally, one or another neighbor joins, letting themselves in through the side gate, having been invited on a last minute whim or during a run in with my mother at the grocery store. They add whatever salad or dip they brought to the middle and pour themselves a glass of wine.
How we set our table has the same sentimental quality as the people with whom we surround it. Is the plateware passed down from your grandmother or is it the first set of dishes you ever bought for yourself? Is there a pitcher for water or is everyone drinking out of plastic cups with water from the tap? Are there candles or flowers or neither because you barely had time to make sure there was dinner on the table at all? Did your friends bring over that nice butter you love which you’ll put out on a plate next to the sliced bread to eat like cheese? These are the details that color in memory. These are the stories—those behind the things we lay our tables with—that give meaning to our lives and the objects that fill them.
On an afternoon in early June, around a corner booth table at Lafayette which was covered in thin white paper and laid with blue and white cloth napkins, I met Colette Mahoney and Susannah Endfield Kandinov, for coffee. It was a scorching hot day and I ordered an ice coffee, which came in a tall walled glass with sugar on the side in those little packets like the ones they have at diners.
Colette and Susannah are the founders of Maison Madison, a plateware brand based in New York. I came across Maison Madison on Instagram and fell in love not only with their designs—classic, elegant, nostalgic—nor their affordability, but equally with their story. Launched in 2023, Maison Madison aims to celebrate an era where every meal is an occasion to use ‘the good plates.’ Each collection is designed in New York, handcrafted in Portugal and is inspired by classic European style, French glamour, and our universal craving for connection over a meal—all tied together with a bow of invisible string.
When Susannah and Colette met at university over a decade ago, they couldn’t have predicted then that their friendship would evolve into a years-long bond, eventually leading them to starting a business together. Susannah–born in Liverpool and raised in Monaco–met Colette–the daughter of a foreign service officer, who spent time in Yemen, Pakistan and Cairo–in a marketing class at Regent’s University London. Their global, multifaceted upbringings would later shape the spirit of the brand they built.
They first connected when Susannah complimented Colette’s shoes—an early sign of their shared taste–becoming, from there, quick friends. After graduation, Susannah moved to New York and began her career in fashion at a luxury eyewear house, quickly immersed in the fast-paced world of the city’s creative scene. Fortunately, she had been raised by a “throw-you-in-the-deep-end” father, which helped her navigate the challenges of early career life. As it goes, all first jobs in New York must eventually end. All growing pains must heal. All seasons of challenge give way to seasons of change. So when Susannah was presented with an opportunity to pivot and join the American branch of a British heritage homeware brand where her father also worked she did, trading sunglasses for tablespreads.
Colette, too, spent her early post-grad years figuring out what she wanted to do with her life, including a stint at an artist residency in Lebanon before moving to New York to take a full-time role at a small luxury tequila company. When a position opened up in the sales department at Susannah’s company, Colette was her first call—a pattern that endures in their working relationship to this day. Colette took the job, and it was during their time working together there that the idea for Maison Madison was born.
If ever there was evidence of how our smallest decisions can lead to vastly different outcomes, Maison Madison is perhaps that. Every detail of the brand, and its journey to fruition, is shaped by Colette and Susannah’s distinct and intertwined histories. From the elementary French class they took together in college, to their experience managing the showroom of a British heritage homeware brand on Madison Avenue, Maison Madison, pays homage to the past while creating an excuse to honor the moments of now. These are some of their tips for setting the perfect table, a foundation for whatever memory you wish to build from there.
For the Table:
Beatrix Dinnerware - As if your grandmother’s gingham went to finishing school in the English countryside. With tailored lines, tonal checks, and a scalloped edges, Beatrix brings a sense of occasion to breakfast, lunch, or anything involving jam.
Jane Serveware - A seamless blend of luxury and simplicity with design rooted in 18th century porcelain servingware with a modern twist and bold blue edges
Classic stainless steel flatware
Iki Doll Bud Vase and fresh flowers from the farmer’s market
Kim Seybert Arches Napkin Set - With geometric edges in navy, which mirror the lines of Maison Madison’s Beatrix collection, these make the perfect addition to a European-inspired tablescle