F&W turned to John Erdos and Byron Jeong, owners of Manhattan's Jamson Whyte, to set the scene for a dinner featuring Marcia Kiesel's Philippine-style Pork Adobo. Jamson Whyte, a home furnishings and decorative arts gallery, evokes colonial Asia and Indonesia with bamboo-covered walls, teak furniture and slow-whirling ceiling fans; for F&W, Erdos and Jeong create a similarly exotic atmosphere at home in their Chelsea loft. To fashion an intimate dining space, they erect a tent with bamboo poles and a roof of Thai silk, then hang candle boxes from the poles. Batik pillows on the floor surround a weaving table that's been transformed into a dining table. On the dark-wood surface, Erdos and Jeong layer organic materials for visual excitement and a sense of natural abundance. Black ceramic plates from Japan sit atop banana leaves, which in turn rest on bamboo place mats. For drama, the centerpiece includes items of varying heights: a terra-cotta container wrapped in reeds holds tall swaying sea grasses, while low votives illuminate the grass above them and the plantains and coconuts alongside.

Published April 1998