Yu & Mei and the Art of the Dinner Party
The team behind Toronto’s chic supper club walks us through building the perfect dinner party—from tablescape to sweet treat
When I sat down to chat with Amy Yu and Sasha Mei of Yu & Mei—best friends and co-founders of Toronto’s most sophisticated (and eponymous) supper club—I expected to talk about floral arrangements, tablescapes and home recipes. While we certainly discussed those things, I didn’t expect that we’d also be laughing over cleaning to ABBA and the 20-foot matcha tiramisu that the pair unveiled at a girls’ night hosted with Dolce Vita in early April. I left the call with a smile on my face—admiring the duo’s friendly attitudes (both self-styled extroverts) and their deep knowledge of how to be good hosts. And if I got all that from a Zoom call, I suspect their privately hosted dinners are a helluva good time.
Yu (left) and Mei (right) setting the table at recent dinner party.
Yu & Mei started off with a simple idea. Lamenting over how hard it is to find a community in Toronto—where loneliness is on the rise—they were looking for a way to bring people together over good food and drink. “It can be really difficult finding your people in a city like Toronto. Outside of school or work, it’s hard to meet people,” shares Yu, also a working physician. For Mei, a full-time influencer, forging lasting relationships in her industry is equally hard. “I go to a lot of events, and value the ones where I’ve left having had really deep and meaningful conversations with people.”
The duo started off with wine nights back in 2023, where guests would bring their own bottles and enjoy an amateur wine-tasting experience—blindfolded and all. After the success of those early gatherings, the friends expanded into full meals, kicking things off with a Women’s Day dinner—sponsored by Mei’s long-time connects at fashion brand COS—as their first foray into professional party-hosting. Two years and about a dozen events later, Yu & Mei are well-seasoned pros. Here, Amy Yu and Sasha Mei walk me through their step-by-step guide to hosting a dream dinner party.
Mei (left) and Yu (right) at their recent event for Dolce Vita.
Sleek silver tableware meets dancing greenery by NEROLI floral design.
Guests dined under a locally-grown calla lilly canopy.
What are your tips for setting the perfect table?
Sasha Mei: “We start with a piece of inspiration. Last year in Paris, I was walking down a road, and I saw three colours together: deep burgundy, sage green and cornflower blue. I sent the picture to Amy, and we were like, “that’s a tablescape right there.” So, the inspiration really comes from moments in our lives.”
Amy Yu: “We’re not just building a tablescape—we’re building a world. The moment that guests enter the door, we’re asking ourselves: what are they experiencing, from all parts of the room?”
Linens in cream and beige infuse a calm warmth to the industrial setting.
And when pulling inspiration from the world around you, seasonality likely informs the design. How do you tackle florals?
AY: “We usually have some ambiguous drawings that we bring to one of our florists who know how we work. We say ‘something just like this with lines or waves or flows’ and they’re able to interpret that and have their own take on it as well. It’s a really collaborative process.”
Hugs all around as guests mingle.
Spotted: paper lighting fixtures by Studio MOLO set the scene.
The first bites are served!
What about other design touches, like linens and glassware?
SM: “It’s never the same for any two events. But for our most recent project, the tablescape was very mid-century modern inspired. Think: Milan-style glassware and cutlery. We were inspired by stainless steel and silver tones. Drawing on that kind of aesthetic, we were able to put something together that was clean but also crisp and sophisticated, without losing our personal touch.”
How would you describe your design process?
SM: “We personalize everything. This time, we’re doing personalized menus, so we’re working with an artist in Toronto to create something that fits with our modern art inspiration.”
AY: “We are not scared to get crafty. We will go to the bead store or get a bunch of wire to make napkin holders. We’ve sown bunches of pearls onto tablecloths.”
Fine dining meets finger food.
Caprano Bianco ‘tinis with an ever-so-slightly sweet touch.
More shades of green in this flavourful seafood dish.
Tips for kicking off the night?
AY: “When we welcome guests to our event, we always act as if we’re inviting them into our own home. A lot of the time, they come alone and may not know anyone else there. We want them to feel like they’re in a space where the whole purpose is to build community. So right off the bat: hugs and drinks.”
Local chef prepares the 20-foot matcha tiramisu in a virid hue.
Assembled during the course of the evening, this showstopper dessert is a wow moment.
Yu & Mei make dessert an art experience.
Where do you pull your culinary references from?
SM: “We’re really inspired by food artists like Imogen Kwok and Laila Gohar. It’s not novel, but we love how their work involves an interactive element with guests, and I think that’s something that we really like to draw upon and get our guests engaged over food. It all depends on how you lay out the table and having sculptural bites creates a dramatic moment. There are ways to do things with food that feel like art.”
Calla lilies for all!
A perfect take-home treat to end the night, guests were invited to cut a calla lilly to keep.
Yu with a calla lily bouquet.
How do you curate the perfect menu?
SM: “What’s great about getting to work with private or smaller chefs is that we get to give them a blank canvas. A lot of these chefs have come from or are working in restaurant spaces, so it gives them a blank slate to come up with something new.”
SM: “We do the same with our photographer too. We find that we get the best shots when they’re part of the table. So, our photographer will always have a seat at the table.”
AY: “We highly encourage everyone involved to come and grab a drink and pull up a stool. It feels more like a family experience, rather than like a hosted event.”
Something sweet? What’s your showstopper dessert?
AY: “The food is such an experience, and we’re not trying to make it a show, but we want guests to really engage with it and have wow moments with dessert or the mains. At our most recent event, we had our chef working throughout the background of the entire dinner on a beautiful dessert piece [see: the 20-foot matcha tiramisu].”
Mei (left) and Yu (right) with locally-grown florals.
How do you wrap up a successful night of hosting?
AY: “If we rent a space, cleaning up is quite an experience. We take off our heels and tie our hair up, we blast ABBA in a frenzy of cleanup. I don’t even know how it happens, but we can take down an entire event in an hour.”
