I am not one for symbolic numbers, but even I was leery when I looked at the production schedule and saw this was issue 666. How to approach a magazine that signals the number of the beast?

Actually, I didn’t pay much attention to the number until the issue was nearly finished. You’ll be happy, I hope, to find the only devilry included on these pages is some sinfully delicious feasts. This entertaining special invited contributors to build their parties around themes – and from barbecues and tennis tournaments to cookouts and picnics, our hosts have come up with the goods. The parties take us from Paris to California, each serving fare that ranges from the relatively complicated (lobster) to super-simple classics such as pizza and ice-cream. Even better, after experiencing a washout when capturing last summer’s parties, this year we were spared the rain.

Planning to turn up to someone else’s cookout? Then look to Ajesh Patalay, who has asked restaurateurs and food experts to share their tips on what to give the host. In an age of mass sobriety, it’s no longer as straightforward as bringing a bottle to the meal: podcaster Chris Black recommends a pack of sparkling apple juice, while Toklas’s Matthew Slotover brings a bar of Plaq chocolate from Paris. But few things would be so thrilling as to be presented with an industrial blowtorch, as suggested by Chris d’Sylva, owner of Dorian in Notting Hill. 

Alice Lascelles, meanwhile, gets a taste for pastis, the anise-y apéro first invented in the 1930s and traditionally diluted with chilled water in a ratio of about 1:5. It makes for a punchy party starter: “It’s affordable, it’s easy to mix at home, there’s no snobbery around it,” says Marseille bar owner Aurélie Panhelleux. “It’s a spirit you can share.”

I’m not entirely convinced that pastis would suit all palates, but the drink certainly uncorks a sense of fun. I associate it with childhood in the 1980s when no self-respecting garden terrace was without a giant plastic ashtray – snuck back from some foreign holiday and emblazoned with the word “Ricard”. 

I’ve known Lucinda Chambers for nearly 20 years: we first met while working at British Vogue. A curatorial magpie, the legendary fashion stylist was always notable around the office for wearing a wild fashion mix of high and low. She has since co-founded Collagerie, a daily edit of the best buys on the market, and a fashion label, Colville, both great expressions of her expansive tastes. As this week’s Aesthete, she offers more insights into her personal obsessions, as well as her lifelong compulsion to collect. “I would love to know why I collect – I need to ask a psychiatrist! Is it comforting?” she says to Fiona Golfar. “Currently it’s ceramics; my house is crammed with them.”

Lastly, it was a treat to visit Paula Gerbase, the newish creative director of the Danish brand Georg Jensen, in Copenhagen last month. The workshop is based in the headquarters and it was my pleasure to meet the smithies, chasers, polishers and trainees as Gerbase talked through her vision for the brand. Workshops are always magical places, almost no matter what they produce. The combination of care, specialism and perfectionism is a great reminder of what luxury should really mean. 

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THREE MORE STORIES TO READ THIS WEEK

The world’s most beautiful tennis courts Model, writer and racquet obsessive Laura Bailey picks her favourite places to play Liberty’s Japanese love affair – a 150-year-old relationship in retail The department store was founded on a passion for Japonisme. The feeling is mutual Margot, the homeware store that has taught 300,000 children how to cook Inside the pioneering non-profit selling carafes and cups for classes

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