The topic of design was on everyone’s lips at the table last Wednesday evening when Spaces proprietor Janelle Pantry entertained guests at an intimate dinner party inside her Phoenix Avenue-located store. Yes, dinner was served with stylish aplomb (at adjoining bevelled glass-top tables with cylindrical glass vases of roses and candles set in distressed wood with river rock holders) in the midst of the store’s collection of chandeliers, sofas, beds, and décor pieces. The novel concept for a ‘gourmet dinner in a store’ originated from a similar event hosted at a high-end department store in Knightsbridge, London where the store feted a select group of clients for dinner amid haute couture gowns and designer accessories and furniture. Pantry loved the concept and decided to replicate the event locally.

The Spaces dinner, attended by 16 guests — mostly self-professed devotees of the chic design enclave — commenced with cocktail sips of fine wines from Caribbean Producers of Jamaica (CPJ), hors d’oeuvres from From Thought To Finish, and temptations in abundance for persons wishing to purchase any of the store’s idiosyncratic pieces.

Guests then settled into their seats with envelopes placed on the tables before them, which when opened in unison, revealed cards with two design-related questions for them to elaborate on as dinner conversation.

Savouring bites of a divine five-course meal from ever-inventive caterer Jacqui Tyson, the engaging repartee would see discussions seamlessly transitioning from Toto toilets to the impact of animal-print design pieces to the rise of cheaper options to luxury brands.

As the evening drew to a close, with ladies and gents tucking into Christmas cake lollipops with shots of lemon mousse, and chocolate truffles drizzled with butterscotch toffee sauce, the consensus was that the evening was a refreshing experience. SO shares scenes.