The “Succession” finale might have die-hard fans wondering what Kendall would do with the rest of his life, but everyone else can now turn their attention to the summer television season.
“And Just Like That” (Max) and “The Bear” (FX on Hulu) had their season premieres last week. “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” and “Swagger” (both on Apple TV+) also returned. And “Claim to Fame” and “The Bachelorette” (ABC) return on June 26.
That’s just the beginning.
So it’s time to take a plate and a drink into the living room to catch up on last year’s obsessions and nurture new ones.
“Of course, the concept of watching TV while eating has been around since the invention of television,” said Laura Shapiro, author of Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America.
Eating in front of the TV got a huge boost in the 1950s with a company called Swanson. Though Swanson wasn’t the first company to make compartmentalized dinners on aluminum trays, they coined the term “TV dinner” in a “marketing stroke of genius,” Ms Shapiro said.
The old-fashioned TV trays that came with those TV dinners can seem too stuffy for some these days. Check out how these New Yorkers are making sure they are as comfortable as possible.
A coffee table for two
When Kristen Meinzer and Dean McRobie, both in their 40s, bought their apartment in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, six years ago, they were newlyweds and aspiring to be among the people who ate dinner together at the dinner table.
So they bought a dining table. But after years of neglect, this special piece of furniture has left the building. Ms. Meinzer is a cultural critic and host of the podcasts How To Be Fine and Daily Fail. Mr. McRobie is Chief Technology Officer at an upcycled furniture market. “We could literally count on our hands how many times a year we actually sat at the dinner table,” she said
It turned out they weren’t “those people,” Ms. Meinzer said. Instead, it was people who would have dinner on the couch while streaming “Ted Lasso” or “Shrinking” and be content with that.
Modern living/dining room interiors are not one-size-fits-all, and there are many reasons why couples enjoy the experience.
Underused dining tables, insufficient space, or a simple fondness for enjoying dinner and a show at home have changed the way many New York couples eat dinner.
Customize the Experience
Kristen Hartke, 56, said that she and her husband Rick Weber, 62, like to use beautiful cocktail glasses, cloth napkins and silverware that once belonged to Ms. Hartke’s grandmother when they dine in front of the TV in their Yorkville apartment.
On an ottoman newly upholstered by Mrs. Hartke is a large wooden tray with contents and spices to complement dinner. The couple, an empty nest, might as well be sitting at their dining table watching PBS NewsHour (a pandemic-era ritual that never stopped), but they prefer the sofa and armchair in their living room.
“I like the mix of formality and informality. We use nice glasses, nice plates, cloth napkins and all that stuff, but it doesn’t feel fussy,” Ms. Hartke said.
Space restrictions in Jacob and Chelsie Starley’s 450-square-foot building Apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, forced the couple to get creative. Since there wasn’t room for a kitchen table and not much room to play in the living room, the couple employed low bar stools.
Starley’s vintage stools act as individual pseudo-tables, perfect for the small bowls/plates that Ms. Starley said are used for almost everything the couple consumes, from soups to pasta. “Eating off a flat plate feels a little too unsafe.”
The Starleys, both 30 years old and co-founders of Astraeus Clarke, a design studio focused on lighting, think a lot about how a room’s lighting affects the atmosphere. “Most of our lights are dimmed anyway, but when we’re eating literally every light is on at about 8 percent,” Mr. Starley said, creating a “nice warm glow.”
interior upgrades
Furniture and design shops create alternatives for non-traditional guests in different price ranges.
Ikea offers flexible solutions, including the Ronninge bench ($135), which often doubles as a coffee table. The best-selling Trulstorp coffee table ($169) may be better for dining because its height is adjustable.
Large ottomans Also popular are C-tables, side tables with cantilever table tops resembling the letter C.
More and more people want to sit on something comfortable, said Nancy Ruddy, co-founder and general manager of design at CetraRuddy.
So the problem to be solved is, “How do you make eating a positive experience without worrying about whether I’m the right size or whether the Szechuan sauce is dripping,” said Ms. Ruddy, who designs apartment tower interiors designs Your company builds for private customers as well as for private customers.
Ms Ruddy said customers nowadays work a lot more with large stools that act as serving platforms for food and crockery and are “big enough to put a nice tray or a range of trays on”. She also sees the popularity of C-tables, which have replaced the foldable TV trays of the past, growing in popularity in recent years.
Suki LaBarre, Vice President of Merchandising and E-Commerce at ABC Carpet & Home, also prefers the ottoman. “Many New Yorkers use their living room for dining to optimize space. So it’s important to have furniture that is multifunctional without sacrificing comfort or convenience,” Ms. LaBarre wrote in an email.
“I love using a large cocktail stool like our Delancey ottoman ($1,295) that doubles as a plush shelf for lounging in front of the TV, but converts to a low dining table with the addition of a large tray like our Neon Pink Tray ( $350) for a simple, casual dining experience,” said Ms. LaBarre.