For five weeks, Gather members have entered the Celebrity Italian Table Contest, sharing photos of their own table settings. Each week, the Gather Editorial team selected a finalist to receive a Barilla gift basket and a chance to win a $500 Williams - Sonoma gift card. Below is a list of each week's winners:
However, it was up to lifestyle guru Bruce Littlefield to choose a top photo from all of the weekly finalists. Here is what he had to say about the Celebrity Italian Table Contest and selecting the grand prize winner:
Ciao i miei amici!
If there's one thing i learned while designing and entertaining at my two restaurants, it's that guests know when their host has made the extra effort to make dinner special. In the case of gather's five finalists, ALL of them would make their guests happy. I loved the details and the thought that went into these tablescapes and I congratulate all the finalists. Lavoro buono!
I picked Seana from week #1 and would love to set a table with her anytime! I thought the color palette was beautiful and I loved that she took olive branches from her own yard to decorate the table. But what put it over the top for me was her adorable favors. When I host a dinner, I always try to have a little gift at each spot, and the little cheese grater and olive oil is a perfect idea for an Italian dinner! Congratulations! And please invite me to dinner sometime!
Grazi to Barilla for their great cookbook and for supporting America's Second Harvest!
Mangiare bene!
Bruce
Congratulations Seana! Your Week 1 photo has earned you the grand prize in the Celebrity Italian Table Contest – a $500 Williams - Sonoma gift card!
But everyone can win big in The Italian Table group. We invite you all to download your FREE copy of the Celebrity Italian Table Cookbook. The deadline for download has been extended through March 31st. When you download a copy, Barilla will donate $1, up to $100,000, to America's Second Harvest, a national charity that secures and distributes more than two billion pounds of food products annually.
Download a FREE Copy of the Celebrity Italian Table Cookbook in March.
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Comments: 15
CONGRATULATIONS!
*Barilla, thanks for the cookbook and for donating to a worthy cause
cheers,gayle
I just want to say that I love desigining tablescapes because I love to entertain but also, I think that life is very tough for a lot of people, just in the everyday ins and outs. It's hard to find a time when you feel like you are really special because a lot of people do things just to "make do" or "get by". I want my friends, or anyone that I'm designing a table for to feel truly that they are being treated royally and take what would be a nice meal to a little higher level. And it's always fun to do something that's slightly surprising to make them smile and say "Wow, I've never seen that before".
I hope that everyone will be inspired to do just those small things that make your guests feel like they're living the good life, at least for a few hours!
And Bruce, it would be my greatest honor to set a table with you someday! If you're ever in the Palm Springs area, you are always welcome for dinner! Thank you so much for your kind comments; I will truly cherish them!
Congratulations to all the other participants; I love looking at other people's tables and they were all so creative and beautiful! I had some very tough competition!
And thank you to all the positive comments; it really made it a fun and rewarding experience (in more ways than one :) )
Your table was just beautiful. Good job.
Hope to see an update or post about what you get (:
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~