Indian Summer

October 2011

Close-up of a white soup cup filled with green soup, garnished with a swirl of cream and a cilantro sprig, resting on a floral patterned plate.

Green Zebra tomato-and-cucumber gazpacho with creme fraiche was a refreshing starter course.

Wooden pedestal bowl filled with heirloom tomatoes of various colors including orange, yellow, and red, placed on a rustic wooden chair outdoors.

A still life of heirloom tomatoes picked from Keith Robinson’s garden.

Yellow plates with orange trim feature botanical illustrations of fruit, flowers, and butterflies. A caprese salad sits on a larger plate.

His goat cheese-and-tomato salad featured several heirloom varieties of the fruit, including Cherokee Purple, German Pink, Green Zebra and Valencia. Siesta dinnerware by Herm’s. Bubbles stemware by Saint-Louis Crystal. Nantes flatware by Puiforcat.

Outdoor table setting with a bouquet of orange and purple flowers, champagne, jars of preserves, figs, eggplant, a tomato, and plates of food.

Floral arrangements were composed of dahlias, zinnias, mauve Queen Anne’s Lace, nigella pods, Limelight hydrangea, Joe-Pye weed and foliage from fig and sweetgum trees.

Outdoor dining table set with crystal glasses and colorful plates under trees adorned with hanging lanterns.

The setting at dusk.

Two fruit tarts with figs on decorative plates, a platter of figs, tomatoes, eggplants, and jars of preserves on a wooden table.

Fruit tarts were served with fresh figs and Champagne.

The natural beauty surrounding our trio of showhouses is breathtaking; lakes, polo fields and the Chattahoochee River are all part of the property’s allure. Because event planner Keith Robinson knows the area so well—he calls a nearby antebellum farmhouse home—we asked him to create an al fresco dining environment and farm-to-table menu that celebrates the vestiges of summer’s bounty. Under an allée of oak trees, the setting was adorned with Hermès china, Saint-Louis crystal and Puiforcat flatware, along with heirloom fruits and vegetables from Robinson’s own garden.