Bebe Carminito, food stylist and cookbook author, has a gift for hosting in small spaces (her kitchen is just 70 square feet!). When we first saw her beautifully curated creations and elegant table settings on Instagram, we knew we had to learn more.

As the face behind @champagneandcookies and @atinysoiree, Bebe has mastered the art of intimate dinner parties. She’s also an expert at crafting stunning boards, and through her new cookbook, The Curated Board, she inspires others to explore their creative side in food preparation.

We had the pleasure of catching up with Bebe to talk about her hosting style, the inspiration behind her book, and her favorite East Fork colors. Read on to learn more! And be sure to tag photos of your collection with #EastForkDoesMyDishes for a chance to be featured!

Introducing Bebe Carminito

Tell us about your space. How long have you lived there and most importantly, how big (or small!) is it?

We live adjacent to Golden Gate Park in the Richmond District in San Francisco, which is one of the reasons that it is hard to leave our home. We only have about a 5 minute walk to the Rose Garden in GGP and consider the park to be our backyard.

Our space was built in 1909 and is 450 square feet and our kitchen, where I spend most of my time, is 70 square feet. I moved in with my husband in February 2010 when we were engaged, and we were married in October 2010.

The perfect ingredients for a tiny dinner party are: beautiful East Fork Pottery in various shades, lighting and music. Set the mood with ambient elements to make your guests feel welcome, accommodated and cozy. More than anything, they will remember how they felt rather than the food. However, a show-stopping meal will be highly appreciated and also lend to a convivial gathering.

Tell us about your new book, The Curated Board! What was your inspiration, and how was the process of writing a cookbook?

My book, The Curated Board was inspired by the pandemic. I started serving variations on charcuterie and cheese boards for my husband, David, and myself after long days of working at home. An array of foods for snacking and grazing seemed to be a perfect choice for casual dining during a time of chaos and uncertainty.

This was also a way of slowing down, connecting and celebrating “date night” as we jump-started the weekend. I would make a few things from scratch, trying out new recipes, while raiding my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer for the rest. My husband and I found delight in this weekly ritual, which happened nearly every Friday evening.

In 2017, before the pandemic began, I started an online monthly cookbook club called the #getcookingcookbookclub with my friend Steph Whitten. The club provided a platform for members, a vibrant cookbook-loving community, to share their passion for cookbooks, home cooking and recipes from around the world.

My Instagram cookbook club inspired and informed the writing and was the impetus for my book. Drawing inspiration from the club, I varied the ingredients of my boards, platters, spreads, and sheet pans, with an emphasis on making them visually beautiful and interesting as I incorporated varied aesthetic elements. And when the recipes needed testing for this book, members of my ardent cookbook family willingly offered to do so. Thanks to them, this book is a celebration of both food and community.

Throughout this journey, one thing I’ve learned is that you don’t need a state-of-the-art kitchen with all the latest gadgets to create beautiful food. What you do need is a bit of imagination, a willingness to innovate and be flexible, and a vision. All of my recipes in this book were developed in the 70-square-foot kitchen of our 450 square foot studio apartment. Before I moved in, David painted the kitchen a vibrant and bold orange, the color of Cara Cara oranges, and my kitchen is the happiest corner in my world.

This book is also meant to inspire the reader to create their own boards, platters, and spreads. We invite you to explore your own heritage as well as others. Visit your local grocers and purveyors for regional specialties and your local farmers’ markets for seasonal produce and edible flowers.

From the 28 menus in the book, I asked 8 contributors that are experts to share their culinary point of view to showcase their menus and recipes. These 7 menus speak to the diverse cuisines represented throughout the book such as; a Challah Bagel Brunch, a Filipino Merienda Board, Lebanese Sheet Pan Brunch, Ukrainian Budmo Feast, French Apéro Hour, Dim Sum Celebration and a Chaat-Cuterie Board. The contributors are; Micah Siva, Rezel Kealoha, Katia Berberi and Steve Drapeau, Anna Voloshyna, Eric Lundy, Christine Gallary and Amisha Gurbani.

As a food stylist and a professional makeup artist I love creating beauty, so along the way, I give plenty of easy tips that will take the creations over the top and make them works of art. I also give plenty of advice on what to keep on hand in your pantry and fridge so you can whip up a board, platter, or spread at a moment’s notice. Because as Ina says “store bought is fine.”

The process of writing the book took about 3 years total in writing the proposal, recipe testing, writing and editing the manuscript and shooting all of the creative.

How did you get started collecting East Fork? Any advice for aspiring collectors?

If my memory serves me correctly, I was given a gift certificate from East Fork Pottery and the very first thing I ordered was a plate in Night Swim. Now, I try to add a few new pieces during each color launch. I also bought two sets in Black Mountain, and from there I was, and still am, hooked. Buy a few pieces at a time to start building a vast collection.

Do you have an all time-favorite pot and glaze color?

I would have to say that Night Swim, the first color I ordered, remains one of my favorites. I also adore Daylily, Fiddlehead, Black Mountain, gosh, all the colors are my favorite.

Get Bebe's Book