Six host gifts for the final long evenings of August, all considerably more interesting than another bottle of wine.
Late-summer invitations tend to arrive casually: come round at seven, we’ll eat outside if the weather behaves. The gift should match the mood. Nothing too ceremonial, and nothing that creates another job for the host. Think something beautiful for the table, something edible for tomorrow, or one object good enough to stay out long after everyone has gone home.
For the host who likes a small edible flourish
Ghar Ki Chai Dried Edible Rose Petals
£6 · Ghar Ki Chai
A small packet with many possible futures. Scatter the petals over kulfi, cake or yoghurt, add them to a dessert table, or keep them for the next pot of something fragrant. It is modest enough to hand over without ceremony, but unusual enough to feel properly chosen.
For the table that never quite matches
Sara Miller Green Birds Napkins, set of two
£16.50 · Sara Miller London
These cotton napkins bring a vivid teal ground, colourful birds and gold foliage to the table without asking the rest of the setting to behave. They are made in India and feel particularly good for a late-summer supper where the table is already carrying fruit, flowers and too many glasses. A small, useful object with enough personality to survive mismatched crockery.
For the person who leaves beautiful things out
Ghar Ki Chai Maharaja Chai Kettle
£40 · Ghar Ki Chai
This is not a kettle designed to disappear into a cupboard. Hand-painted colour and ornament turn an everyday tea object into part of the room, which makes it a good choice for the host who treats the table as somewhere to collect stories as well as plates.
For the host who forgot the flowers
Bloom & Wild The August Pick
£29 · Bloom & Wild
Warm sunset shades are exactly right for the last bright weeks of summer. Send the flowers earlier in the day, or even the morning after, and turn up to dinner with your hands free. The gesture lasts beyond the evening without asking the host to rearrange the table while dinner is still on the stove.
For the generous salad maker
Nkuku Indigo Drop Ceramic Serving Bowl, 30cm
£70 · John Lewis
A large serving bowl is one of those things people rarely buy for themselves, then use constantly once it is in the cupboard. Fill it with peaches or figs before handing it over and the gift arrives with dinner-table usefulness built in, while the bowl remains long after the fruit has disappeared.
For the final cup of the evening
Ghar Ki Chai Sulaimani
£8 · Ghar Ki Chai
A bright, spiced black tea is a useful thing to leave behind once the plates have been cleared. Sulaimani suits the slower end of the evening, poured into small glasses and stretched over one last conversation. It also has the advantage of becoming tomorrow’s gift, when the host finally gets the kitchen back to themselves.
A good host gift should feel like an addition to the evening rather than an obligation created by it. Something to open now, use tomorrow, or rediscover next summer is plenty. The best ones simply make the next gathering a little nicer.
