February: Dinner at Isabelle's

Nancy Meyers edition

Welcome to my Substack! I thought this might be a good place to break down all the details from my Dinner at Isabelle’s series, and share recipes, home updates, life updates—all that good stuff. So let’s get right into it!

Theme: Nancy Meyers

The Nancy Meyers aesthetic is a trending style inspired by her film sets—warm, elegant, and effortlessly cozy. It features Hamptons-inspired interiors, inviting kitchens, plush furniture, and soft neutrals, creating a sense of quiet luxury and lived-in charm. Think classic white kitchens, linen sofas, stacked books, fresh flowers, and cashmere sweaters—a perfect blend of sophistication and comfort. This trend resonates for its aspirational yet cozy feel, making homes look both stylish and welcoming.

I recently moved out of my apartment and into a house, which is very much “giving” Nancy Meyers. It’s an old house packed with so much charm and character—the kind of space that immediately feels homey the second you walk in. This felt like the perfect theme for the first dinner party in the new home.

Setting the table

For the table, I knew I wanted to lean into an East Coast aesthetic—lots of blues, wicker, and hydrangeas, very much inspired by the Nancy Meyers movie Something’s Gotta Give. I've linked everything here!

Now, let me make this very clear: you do not (and I typically do not!) need to buy a whole new tablescape to host a dinner party! I get asked this question all the time—people wondering what I do with all my plates and linens afterward, or if I buy new ones each time. If you have a good set of white plates, serving platters, and classic wine and water glasses, you can easily adapt them to any theme with just a few little additions. Maybe you grab some fun napkins at the thrift store in a color that complements your theme, pick up colored candles instead of white, or grab fresh flowers from the grocery store. Small touches like these will make it feel like a whole new table.

That being said, I was lucky enough to receive some beautiful new pieces from Pottery Barn as a housewarming present. Most of these are neutral, classic basics that I'll use again and again at future dinner parties. But, as always, I encourage you to use what you have and check out thrift stores!

What to wear

If there's one thing about me, it's that I love a theme—but even more than that, I love a colour scheme. Anyone who knows my mom knows she lovveesss to colour-coordinate, so I definitely grew up with it! I've linked everything I wore during prep and the dinner party here, but really anything blue, cream, denim, or gingham would feel perfectly on theme.

Okay, now onto the FOOD!

The Menu

Here is a look at what’s on the menu:

To start:

• drinks - lavender bees knees spritz (mocktail) and champagne

• pink peppercorn marinated goat cheese

• warm citrusy olives

• crispy artichokes with anchovy breadcrumbs

The mains:

• drinks - white wine

• tarragon & dijon buttermilk brined chicken, topped with olive gremolata

• white wine braised fennel over cannellini beans

• crunchy green beans topped with toasted almonds, crispy shallots and garlic

• simple arugula salad

To finish:

• lavender honey goat cheese cheesecake

Recipes

These are ROUGH RECIPES! I often cook on the fly and do not mark down all the measurements. I have linked similar recipes where relevant, and will explain how I adapted them. Open to your feedback on whether this format works for you!

Lavender Honey Bees Knees Spritz:

Serves ~10

Ingredients:

• 1 cup lavender honey syrup (simmer ½ cup lavender honey with ½ cup water until dissolved, then cool)

• 1¼ cups freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 2½ cups gin OR Seedlip Garden (non-alcoholic, and what I used)

• Soda water, to top

• Lemon zest and slices, for garnish

Directions:

1. Combine syrup, lemon juice, and gin (or Seedlip) in a large pitcher.

2. Fill glasses with ice, pour halfway with cocktail mix, and top with sparkling water. Garnish with lemon.

Marinated Olives

I followed this Ina Garten recipe. I made them the night before and gently warmed them in a pan on low heat as guests arrived.

Serving them warm is KEY!

Pink Peppercorn Marinated Goat Cheese

serves 8

I used this recipe from NYT Cooking. If you don’t have access, simply combine a log of goat cheese with a generous spoonful of herbs de Provence, a big spoonful of pink peppercorns, and coat generously with olive oil. I made this a day ahead and removed it from the fridge about an hour before serving.

Crispy Artichokes with Anchovy Breadcrumbs

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 large jar marinated artichokes (not water-packed!)

• 3-4 anchovies

• ~1 cup breadcrumbs

• Olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Drain artichokes, set aside.

3. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat, add anchovies, stirring to break them up.

4. Add breadcrumbs, stirring until evenly coated—mixture should resemble wet sand. Toast until golden brown.

5. Spread artichokes on a baking sheet, sprinkle breadcrumbs on top, and bake ~30 min until crispy. (I didn’t precisely time this, so keep an eye on them!)

Buttermilk & Tarragon Brined Chicken Thighs with Olive Gemolata

Adapted from Samin Nosrat’s recipe in Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.
Serves 8-10

Chicken:

Ingredients:

• ~18 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

• 1 liter buttermilk

• 1 cup chopped fresh tarragon

• ¼ cup Dijon mustard

• ¼ cup Diamond Crystal kosher salt (adjust amount if using other salts!)

• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Combine buttermilk, tarragon, mustard, salt, and pepper in a bowl.

2. Divide chicken between two Ziploc bags, evenly distributing marinade.

3. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours.

4. Remove chicken from fridge 1 hour before cooking. Preheat oven to 425°F.

5. Arrange chicken on baking sheets, shaking off excess marinade.

6. Bake 25-30 minutes or until thighs reach 165°F internal temperature.

7. Broil briefly if needed for golden skin. Top with olive gremolata.

Olive Gremolata

Adjust proportions as you prefer!

Ingredients:

• 1 jar Castelvetrano olives (½ jar if Costco-sized)

• ½ bunch parsley

• Handful fresh tarragon

• Zest of 1 lemon

• Olive oil

• Salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Crush and pit olives, then roughly chop.

2. Finely chop parsley and tarragon.

3. Mix olives, herbs, lemon zest, olive oil (enough to lightly coat), and season with salt and pepper.

4. Refrigerate until serving.

White Wine Braised Fennel over Cannellini Beans

Serves 8-10

Fennel

Ingredients

• 3 heads fennel, sliced ½-inch thick

• 2 cups white wine

• 1 cup water

• ½ stick butter, sliced

• 4 garlic cloves, smashed

• Fresh Parmesan

• Salt & pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Salt fennel slices and sear in olive oil over medium-high heat until golden (work in batches).

3. Transfer fennel to a baking dish in an even layer.

4. Add wine, water, butter, garlic, and pepper.

5. Bake ~30 min until tender.

6. Top immediately with freshly grated Parmesan, letting residual heat melt it.

Note: this is a great dish to make ahead of time and then just pop it back in the oven to warm up!

Beans:

Followed roughly this Alison Roman recipe . I recommend soaking beans overnight and adding a Parmesan rind to the cooking liquid.

Green Beans with Crispy Almonds and Shallots

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

• 1½ lbs green beans, trimmed

• 1 cup almonds, thinly sliced

• 1 tsp dried rosemary

• 1 shallot, thinly sliced

• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

• ½ stick butter

Directions:

1. Prepare ice water in a bowl. Heavily salt a pot of boiling water (~1 cup Diamond Crystal salt).

2. Cook beans ~5 min until crisp-tender, then immediately plunge into ice water.

3. Heat half the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add almonds and rosemary, cook ~2 min.

4. Push almonds aside, add remaining butter, shallots, and garlic, cooking until crispy and golden.

5. When ready to serve, toss beans with olive oil and salt, then top with almond mixture.

(Both components can be prepped ahead.)

Simple Arugula Salad

Simply arugula tossed with my favorite vinaigrette.

If you have Molly Baz’s “Cook This Book” It is from her “Simple Greens with any Vinegar-ette”. Alternatively, she published a similar vinaigrette when she worked at Bon Appetite, linked here. But I recommend adding a chopped shallot!

Lavender Honey Goat Cheese Cheesecake

Adapted from Claire Saffitz’s Dessert Person (recipe and video here)

To adapt:

1. Infuse 2 tsp dried culinary lavender in whipping cream overnight in fridge, then strain before using.

2. Top finished cheesecake with lavender-infused honey.

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Okay, that’s it for now. See you next time—happy hosting!