One family celebrates their favorite season on Nantucket with a casual but elegant beach picnic—one that favors colorful plastic in bright blues and yellows in place of fancy dishware, decorative touches like fresh wildflowers, and gourmet food that travels like a dream. Plus: Recipes and tips for your own seaside fete.
Wendy Rouillard has only one rule for entertaining: Keep it casual. Whether it’s family supper or the annual gala art show for husband Illya Kagan’s latest paintings, the children’s book illustrator always ensures that good fun isn’t spoiled by formality. Case in point: The couple’s glamorous wedding took place on a mountaintop in Aspen. But at the end of the evening, Rouillard hitched up her specially designed dress, and the couple skied off into the sunset.
Rouillard wanted the same synthesis of elegance and practicality at her annual summer fete, a stylish Nantucket beach picnic that favored colorful plastic in bright blues and yellows in place of fancy dishware, decorative touches like fresh wildflowers from local Bartlett’s Farm, and shells she had collected. More important was persuading friend Michael LaScola, chef at American Seasons, to prepare food for eight, which included friends Jimmy and Shannon Broder and their son, Finn, who summer on the island. “We tend to do things really simply,” says Rouillard. “But Mike does things the way we would in an ideal world.”
Ideal indeed. LaScola created a menu of Rouillard and Kagan’s favorites, which, believe it or not, do not include lobster. “Illya is the only Nantucketer who doesn’t like lobster,” Rouillard says with a laugh. (The chef did manage to sneak some into a gourmet potato salad for everyone else.) Once the menu was set, Rouillard directed guests to a beach that was sheltered from the wind—nothing ruins the mood like sand in the food—and packed the car with functional picnic gear: collapsible wood tables, beach chairs with built-in drink holders, and tiki torches. (“They’re a bit tackier than candles, but they don’t blow out,” she says.)
The biggest challenge fell on LaScola, called on to pare down fine dining dishes for easy transport and beachside service: Yellow tomato soup became cold shooters. His famous braised pork was served lukewarm on buttermilk biscuits. Dessert—whimsical s’mores pots de crème—was the only over-the-top touch. Unsurprisingly, no one complained.
Picnic Prep
• Right to party. Just because a beach is public doesn’t mean free-for-alls are allowed. Ask the town office if you can set up a tent, have a grill or a fire, or host a large group—and if you need a permit to do so.
• On the menu. If you can’t have a grill or fire, buy or prepare foods that can be served cold or at room temperature. Caterer Georgia Axt of Nantucket Nourriture suggests a simple spread of cheese, fruit, bread, and wine. Lobster salad is also always a big hit.
• Location, location, location. Scout beaches in advance to find a spot that’s protected from the wind. If you’re out on a point, says Kimberly Reed, owner of A Taste of Nantucket catering, “tuck in next to a dune so you’ll be shielded.” Look for a locale with gorgeous scenery and ample parking that’s not too far from your picnicking place. Remember, someone has to carry everything from the car to the beach. And back.
• Timing is everything. Doing dinner? Start early enough so that you don’t end up “fumbling around in the dark,” says Reed. —Christie Matheson
