How to host with Max Hurd

An entrancing home, with hundreds of things to look at, it could take you years to fully appreciate all of Max’s little touches. What better person to take us through how he hosts, than a man whose modus operandi is abundance?

Max Hurd’s London home appears from the outside to be a classic Victorian terrace. But inside, the interiors and possessions of a large country house have arranged themselves over a much smaller space. In colour drenched rooms filled with books, antiques and paintings, no wall, floor or surface is left unconsidered.

Raised between Brazil and the UK, he now works primarily as a creative consultant and interior stylist. Like his home, his table overflows with character—a lot, but never too much. As Max put together an autumnal tablescape, and shook up some EVOO martinis, we got his take on hosting, and why being wholeheartedly yourself is the best kind of ‘taste’.

Q & A with Max

Your aesthetic is very maximalist. Do you find it hard to know when a table is ‘done’? 

Well, Victoria Beckham once said that the way to make a good outfit is to always take something off before you leave the house. I think the same can be true of tables. Remember that people are actually going to have to sit at the table. You don’t want them straining to see each other over the flower arrangement, or knocking over candles as they pass the bread. 

Did you take something off this table? Take us through how you’ve laid it.

Yes, I had a lot more unnecessary figurines on the table and they weren't adding anything, so they had to go sadly. Apart from the cow. He is fab and you can put gravy, cream, or olive oil in him. He makes a delightful addition to any kind of tablescape because he's playful, fun and silly and that's what life is all about.

There’s nothing worse than being too thematic, but I do try and keep my tablescapes in keeping with the current season. So I brought these Irving and Daughters plates out, which are called Harvest. I love the design on the seat of the plate, it means there isn’t too much white on the table, which, as you can see, I have an abhorrence of.

My cutlery is vintage Sabre, a present from my mum. I'm serving these little radish tarts on a stunning piece by my great friend Gavin Houghton who's an incredible interior designer and artist. His work is so fun, I have some on the walls as well; they provide an element of amusement for the guests which is always very important.

When you think about hosting a dinner party, what comes to mind first? The tablescape, the food, the guests?

I do love tablescapes. I actually started doing them because I was a terrible cook! I like to think I've made huge improvements over the last couple of years, but when I first started hosting, I made sure to jazz up the table in the hopes that I could distract my guests from the culinary disaster I was sure to be serving them later in the evening.

As I got a little bit older, and developed a taste for the finer things in life, I decided to try and really make an effort with the cooking. So I'm slightly better now than I was before. But yes, the table is definitely what I think about first.

Talking of culinary disasters, what's been your biggest disaster when hosting?

God, I've had a fair few. My boyfriend usually does the cooking when we've got people to impress because he's a fantastic chef. But he was running late once so I took charge of a pasta dish which I thought would be idiot proof. How hard can pasta be? I wanted to make lemon and pistachio pasta because I had some vegetarians coming. There I was, had all the ingredients out, did everything perfectly, grated the lemons, boiled the water, kept it al dente, saved some pasta water, put it all in the pot, served the food. It looked fantastic and my tablescape was exquisite beyond belief.

Then people started eating, and there was some pursing of the lips, grimacing, frowning. I was too busy talking, I hadn't actually tasted it yet. But I took a bite and realised that I had served pasta ‘a la wax’ because I bought quite crap waxed lemons rather than lovely fragrant unwaxed lemons, which were essential to the dish! Luckily we had some frozen ragout that I whipped up for the non-vegetarians and the vegetarians just had plain pasta with extra virgin olive oil—no bad thing, as it turns out.

Are you generally a calm host or quite a hectic one?

I've got to a point now where I know exactly what makes me stressed-–I can fire up very quickly—so I do everything in advance to minimise the possibility of that.

When I fly for example, I go to the airport 15 hours early because I hate being late. It’s the same with dinner parties, I know exactly what stresses me out and I avoid that at all costs. So the table is done in the morning, the food is all prepared. I like to have everything 95% ready before the guests arrive so that I don't have to do any thinking. 

This house is full of the most incredible trinkets and antiques. What are some of your favourites that you use when dressing a table?

I have a really great collection of flower receptacles. Or jugs, as they are sometimes called. More than I care to admit; the cupboards are full of them. I collect jugs from all around the world, and I love swapping them in and out as the seasons change. The central one I have on the table today is a very early 19th century jug which I picked up in Blackpool at a friend's stag do for the princely sum of £14. It's worth significantly more than that, but the shopkeeper, more fool him, didn't know. And I’ve also used my christening cups as little flower vases.

Then I have my salt shell, so sweet. Much more fun to say ‘pass the shell’ when you need the salt. I like to find interesting pieces to use in unusual ways. Hosting is the perfect opportunity for that, you can have a root around the house and suddenly find new uses for old objects. Look, there’s another ceramic shell, which I’ve filled with olive oil. 

Where do you go to find all these wonderful things?

Apologies to those who love shopping for antiques because I'm about to ruin your life. There is a website called ‘the sale room’ which pulls in every single auction happening in the world into one very usable and dangerously accessible interface. I buy a lot of my antiques through that because the collections are just incredible. They have Bonhams and Dreweatts on there, but also lots of tiny, local auction houses. So you get a real range of things. 

Do you like people to dress up when they come over?

I think it’s important to find moments in life where you can have fun with clothes and feel good about yourself, and dinner parties are great for that. But I don’t judge other people’s style. I really don't like the terms ‘good taste’ or ‘bad taste’. The beauty of human beings is that everyone has different interests and styles which can be showcased through what they wear, how they decorate a home, or what they collect. That's what makes life visually interesting.

When you go to someone else's house for dinner are you taking wine or are you taking olive oil?

Both! One should never turn up empty-handed, but given that the drinking population is declining rapidly, a bottle of olive oil is a very nice alternative to a bottle of wine. I’d be absolutely thrilled to receive that!

Do you have any go-tos for your supplies when hosting?

Absolutely. I actually get flowers delivered once a week from Minnow and Wolf, a flower farm in Hampshire run by the wonderful Hannah. They focus on seasonal British growing, which is something that I like to champion. The same goes for food, I like to get locally grown produce from the farmer’s market where possible.

I love flowers, they are always part of my table. Every single display you'll see in this house gets reworked gradually. It’s not: one bouquet in, another out. Different stems have different lifespans, so as certain flowers die, others get popped in to replace them. The vases are in a never-ending state of evolution. 

What would you say is a favourite part of hosting?

The moment everyone has the first bite of food and someone says, "oh, that's good." That's when I can relax. I’m not the most secure about my culinary expertise, I’m worried I might poison someone! So the minute that I see people are enjoying it, that's always the moment I can relax into the evening and enjoy myself as well.