The Tablescape Series: October-Ink Black

Robin Daprato
Oct 29
6 min read

Where Shadow Meets Reflection

There’s a moment each October when the air feels charged. The light thinning, the shadows lengthening, everything slipping into a space that is a little quieter. After months of colour, warmth, and bloom, the world begins to pull inward.

It felt right that this month’s table be set in Ink Black: a study in mystery, reflection, and the quiet beginnings of transformation. This dinner was guided by tarot — a night to sit with our shadow selves and look inward a little more deeply.

The Setting

The table was draped in black velvet, soft and absorbing. Every surface — glass, silver, flame — seemed to emerge from shadow. Black candles flickered low, their reflections doubling in silver charger plates. The air carried the scent of smoke and beeswax.

Overhead, a canopy of suspended calla lilies floated like white apparitions. Their stems trailing downward, their forms elongated and ethereal. They became the night’s constellation, a quiet, sculptural counterpoint to the heaviness of the table below.

I really wanted the installation to integrate the night’s theme of tarot, and when the idea came to me, it felt perfect — a way to express the four elements through visual form. The sweeping wave shape above represented water; the calla lilies themselves, suspended and grounded, became earth; their gentle floating spoke to air; and the flickering candles along the table brought in fire. Together, they became a living altar — a sculptural meditation on balance, transformation, and the quiet dialogue between the tarot and the table.

In another room, behind drawn curtains, the tarot space waited: a low table draped in silk, five crystal spheres catching the candlelight. A bare winter branch leaned in the corner. It was a place to pause between courses — to step into stillness, pull a card, and let it speak.

The Tarot

This month, I returned to my own tarot practice. One I had tucked away for years. I made tarot guidebooks for each guest, pulling from my personal notes and interpretations, written during the three years I spent reading cards professionally.

The booklets were minimalist in design, printed in black and ivory, their tone reflective and instructive, like a guide whispered from the edge of a dream. It was a painstaking task, I must admit, but a true labour of love. One that really allowed me to return to what tarot meant to me and how it has continued to help guide and shape me.

Throughout the night, each guest slipped away to the tarot room for a five-card spread. It was a quiet moment of release and reflection amidst the fullness of the evening. Away from the hum of conversation and clinking glasses, the readings became a pause within the rhythm of the dinner. The cards pulled that night seemed to weave themselves back into the room: The Fool as a story of risk and beginning again, The Hermit as a reminder of solitude and rest, The Tower as a reflection on sudden change and release. Together they became a soft undercurrent — the language of the unseen running quietly beneath the night.

The Menu

Chef Kate Levitt created a menu inspired by the tarot’s major arcana — six courses that unfolded like a reading itself, moving from curiosity to collapse to renewal. Each dish carried an echo of the cards: the playfulness of The Fool in an amuse of unexpected texture and brightness; the introspection of The Hermit in something earthy and grounding; The Sun revealed through smoke, flame, and the beauty of breaking form; and The Star offering a moment of clarity and lightness before the cycle began again.

The menu became its own kind of divination — a story told through taste. Each plate arrived as a symbol, each bite a small act of interpretation. It was less about eating and more about witnessing: how flavour could mirror emotion, how food could carry the same archetypal energy as the cards themselves. By the final course, the room felt like the end of a spread — collective, illuminated, complete.

The Fool’s First Step

A curious beginning — light, bright, the leap of The Fool.

Black sesame quail egg, charcoal crisp, roe

Veil of a Shadow

Dark and luminous — guided by The Moon.

Mussels in squid ink broth with charred fennel

Reflection

Beautiful and clear — the quiet gift of The Hermit.

Beet carpaccio with black garlic yogurt & walnuts

Lover's in the Dark

The soul revealed — wound through flame, The Sun endures.

Grilled Ontario lamb with black rice, radicchio & blackcurrant

After the Burn

Cool clarity — brightness after silence, The Star reborn.

Activated charcoal & lemon sorbet

The World

Completion and return — awareness closing the circle, The World.

Chocolate dome with mousse, hazelnut praline & black cherry

Each course arrived like a turning card. New imagery, new flavour, a shift in tone. Darkness became not an absence, but a texture; something to move through and taste, rather than to fear.

The Night

The energy in the room was different from any dinner before it — hushed, magnetic, reverent in moments and then erupting in laughter. Conversations drifted from the personal to the philosophical: What do we release? What are we still carrying? What might renewal look like if we let it come gently instead of all at once?

The tarot readings were woven quietly throughout the evening — an ongoing dialogue between intuition and the senses. Some guests revisited their cards between courses, noting how the night’s flavours seemed to echo their meanings. Others lingered in the reading room, tracing patterns in candlelight, the mirrored glow of the crystal spheres bending around their reflections. Something that it reminded me of when I had my own tarot practice was that how doing readings for clients in this kind of setting, where people slipped away for quiet reflection, was that it always results in deep conversation.

It felt like time suspended itself for a while. As though the veil between worlds (tarot’s favourite metaphor) had thinned just enough to let something honest slip through.

The Reflection

When I look back, Ink Black feels like the moment the series turned inward — not just about beauty, but about stillness, surrender, and the quiet work of re-emergence. There was no opulence this time, no abundance of colour or bloom. Instead, there was restraint. Shape. Line. Light. Shadow.

Black, I realized, isn’t the absence of colour — it’s where every colour meets and disappears. It holds everything at once: beginning, ending, depth, reflection.

As always, we ended the night by going around the table, sharing what the colour meant to each of us. There was a rare kind of unanimity, a quiet agreement that, unlike the other hues we’ve explored, black feels timeless. It never tires, never fades. It’s the colour we return to, again and again — for joy and for grief, for beginnings and endings. In the end, many of us realized it was also the colour we felt safest in. There’s comfort in its depth, in the way it holds everything. Light, shadow, memory. All at once.

Looking Ahead

And now, the cycle continues.

Next month we gather in Earthen Terracotta. An evening rooted in the tones of November earth: clay, ember, and warmth. A colour for grounding and for coming home, for the simple joy of standing close, glass in hand, and sharing what’s been gathered.

If Ink Black was about shadow and reflection, Earthen Terracotta will be about return: warmth after the night, flame after the dark.

This edition will take the form of an Italian-style grazing dinner. A more fluid, communal experience where food, conversation, and movement weave together in one continuous rhythm.

Tickets open November 1st.

THE TABLESCAPE SERIES: INK BLACK

PHOTO GALLERY

WORDS FROM OUR OCTOBER TABLESCAPE GUESTS

"I was so happy that I got a seat at The Black Ink Tablescape experience. The whole evening was truly a delight. The styling was picture perfect, the meal was fantastic (my mouth is watering just thinking about it), and every single detail throughout the night was so special and well thought out. The room was overflowing with laughter and rich conversation. The tarot reading was so fun and meaningful. I can't wait to attend the next. " -Hannah

"I have to admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect from an evening inspired by the color black but as soon as you walked in, the atmosphere that has been carefully curated for you, was was both lively and welcoming. Every detail was so thoughtfully planned, from the stunning table settings to the culinary choices that took us on an adventure. It is such a unique evening, unlike anything I have experienced. Elegant, fun....but full of warmth — I can’t wait for the next one!" -Ali

Robin and Chef Kate curated an unforgettable, immersive experience that perfectly captured the moody atmosphere. Every detail was thoughtfully executed, from the ambiance to the exquisite gift bags featuring a personal tarot reading diary. I truly loved every moment—it was the ideal way to embrace the spooky spirit! "-Amanda

"It was such a cool evening — for sure one of my favourite nights of the year! I’ve never been to anything like it. The tablescape series was so unique and beautifully done, the food and vibes were amazing, and the surprise tarot readings made it feel extra special. It was such a relaxing and memorable night from start to finish.” -Kelly