Photo Credit: Jordan Wise

Summer is such a beautiful time of year- the fields bursting with an abundance of produce and the weather begging us to spend every waking hour outdoors. Celebrate this beauty with a summer dinner outdoors. With simple yet elegant dishes that highlight the season, you can create a summer evening to remember.

Photo Credit: Jordan Wise

For outdoor gatherings of any size, I love serving dishes family-style, allowing guests to share, to help themselves and to set the tone for fun and conversation. Your table decor should do everything to highlight the bounty of the season, as well. Be sure to style it with bouquets of fresh flowers and herbs; neutral colored plates and linens will help to provide a blank canvas for your ingredients to shine.

Photo Credit: Jordan Wise

There is so much delicious produce coming out of the ground right now and it is all at the peak of ripeness. I use plenty of vegetables in my dishes, no matter the season, but summer offers some of the most amazing, flavorful produce of the entire year. Start with a beautiful platter of raw vegetables including baby carrots, baby fennel, and cherry tomatoes served with French butter sprinkled with fleur de sel or a garlic aioli. Don’t be afraid to leave the tiny tops on the carrots and the wispy fronds on the baby fennel- the tops of the vegetables are edible, delicious, and they make for a beautiful platter!

Photo Credit: Jordan Wise

For your main course, serve a locally-caught side of salmon or fresh fish. Season it with only salt, pepper, and olive oil and quickly grill it to rare. Serve it on a large platter, finish it with a generous squeeze of lemon juice, and surround it by even more lemon halves. Now grill everything you can get your hands on! Grab some Romano beans, haricot vert, and wax beans and char them over the fire. Toss them with olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and fresh herbs like chervil, parsley, and tarragon. Drizzle cobs of corn, summer squash, and heirloom tomatoes with olive oil and grill them too!

Photo Credit: Jordan Wise

Share this beautiful spread with your family and friends while sipping a chilled bottle of Spottswoode Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc and at the end of the evening, pass around large bowls of sweet summer berries and homemade whipped cream sweetened with honey.

 Photo Credit: Wine Access

ABOUT DOMINIQUE CRENN

Photo Credit: Andreas Branch

Dominique Crenn is the co-owner and chef of the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, where artistry is at the forefront, cuisine is a craft, and the community is an inspiration. She can be credited with not only being the first female chef in the U.S. to receive two and three Michelin stars, in 2012 and 2018, respectively. Additional accolades among her many include the 2018 James Beard Award for Best Chef: West, and in 2019, Atelier Crenn came in at No. 35 on the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. She is also the owner of Petit Crenn, also in San Francisco, Bar Crenn, a wine bar situated next door to Atelier Crenn, has written two best-selling cookbooks, Metamorphosis of Taste and Rebel Chef, and founded VitaBowl, a plant-based superfood meal delivery service from veggies grown on her own farm. er next venture is Boutique Crenn, set to open at the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco.