Washington, D.C. - June 11, 2007

Future Perfect

Futurist Dinner Party

They say entertaining is an art form. So shouldn’t your gatherings be a little more creative? Throw a futurist dinner party, inspired by the early 20th-century modern movement, which celebrated speed, motion, machines, and all things industrial. Here’s how.

Invitations
Make your own manifesto. Print what, why, when, and where on card stock. Decorate using the geometric shapes and bold colors that defined the movement’s work.

Music
Compile a playlist of Air, Brian Eno, Future Sound of London, LCD Soundsystem, and Sigur Ros.

Drinks
Serve bevvies that invoke the futurists’ love of machines, such as the screwdriver and the rusty nail. Or invent your own constructivist cocktail, like the Malevich Martini: Russian vodka, dry white vermouth, one black olive.

Centerpiece
Fill small glass bowls with nuts and bolts, cover with water and float flowers on top. Arrange in a straight line down the center of the table.

First Course
Insalata Ortocubo (Cubist Garden Salad): Cut carrots and peppers into rectangular strips and tomatoes and cucumbers into different size squares. Arrange on plates to resemble a cubist composition. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar.

Main Course
Isola e Aerei (Island and Airplanes): Grill a chicken breast or piece of fish. Place in center of plate. Use a cookie cutter to make tiny airplanes from polenta. Arrange planes around the island.

Dessert
Cuscinetto a Sfera (Ball Bearings): Use a melon ball scoop to make sweet spheres of your favorite flavors of  sorbetto.

Need more ideas? Check out Modernism: Designing a New World 1914-1939, through July 29, at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17th Street NW, at New York Avenue (202-639-1700) and the Futurist Cookbook online at amazon.com.