Nikola | June 1, 2026
The Summer Table
A Moment With Tu Le
Tu Le is an artist, a force of nature whose artistic creations bloom from him with practiced intuition and grace. He is a writer, farmer, gardener, chef and event designer, who currently is focusing on his farm 328 North and restaurant STATE. Tu masterfully weaves an honorary tapestry of the places he has called home, the people he loves and the beliefs he holds dear through many mediums. It is evident that Tu drinks in the details of life and with much meaningful reflection produces events, dishes, articles, floral arrangements that drip with thoughtfulness. As Tu’s ephemeral restaurant project, STATE, nears its finality in 2027 we were more than curious to know what Tu had in mind for dressing his summer tables. What Tu has laid out for this season is wholesome, nostalgic, dreamy, intentional - a tablescape that is more than just a feast for the eyes; meals that feed the body and soul.
Tu was born the youngest of twelve siblings in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States through Pearl Harbor in 1978. His childhood was spent in San Diego and Tu says he considers himself a Californian at heart. There is a comfortable sunniness about Tu and his work that make his intersection with Southern California so pleasantly apparent. Tu carried his heritage and moments witnessed in California’s lusciousness with him as he built his own creative attitudes. Memories serve as guiding lights for Tu. He expressed, after the passing of his mother, “[328North’s] flower share program came from honor, it's a connective conversation with my memories; a way to preserve [them]”. In 2014 Tu and his husband lost their beloved Pittsburgh home to a house fire and in the quest to start anew they drove up the east coast searching for fresh ground to set roots. They were headed for Vermont but along the way, somewhere in the Berkshires, they felt their hearts come to ease. It is there Tu nestled his farmstead and began to grow its reach; transforming the collection of sights and sentiments from his past into art that pushes forward with love and levity.
In the northeast each living thing persists through a harsh, unforgiving winter to reach the glorious culmination of summertime. Shoots, seedlings, sprouts all dancing with one another to form a festival of varied, full bodied, thriving plants. When we immerse ourselves in the wild, there is a sense that its spectacle needs no audience, that its perfected choreography has been earned through years of nuanced coexistence. Tu’s approach to the summer table is much like this dance: nothing wasted, everything made to honor the moment, each detail relying on the unique togetherness of all parties. “The look, the tables, the food, and the design all go hand in hand… everything is highly bespoke to us. We are even dyeing napkins the happy couple can take home after [the wedding]”. The architecture of his process resembles the layered work of a master gardener; he rattles off a few different flowering plants he is closely monitoring as the weather heaves and swells in late spring’s fickle intensity. Tu listens closely to the earth as each day comes with fresh opportunities and challenges to form future arrangements and platters from. He acknowledges the importance of having a light intuitive hand with decor so as not to smother the natural beauties of the season., “A connective summer table is about the abundance of what we have [outside]... and bringing summer inside”. Tu describes table arrangements of Thai basil, coriander, bitter melon, blueberry branches all set in place to have guests' anticipation rising as they imagine what is in store for the next plate. Then, satisfaction as those same ingredients are incorporated into the meal. Using design to accent the nuance of nature creates an atmosphere that pulls forth just as much nuance from within those who witness it. Playing with one of the body’s most powerful memory triggers, scent, Tu Le’s summer table design not only showcases the extraordinary attractiveness of plant life but subtly completes each experience with the smell of Vietnamese herbs as a nod to Tu’s heritage. Tu mentions incorporating tomato vines,we chuckled wordlessly for a moment in understanding that both of us were recalling the same scent painted upon distinct, separate nostalgias.
This is the perfect encapsulation of summer, a strong, steady warmth that brings out the best in life. Tu Le aims to create a table that generously gives room for memories to be created while gently coaxing out emotions long since left at the back of our minds. As the senses spill over with the tidings of the summer, time stands statuesque, captured by the fleeting grandeur of the season; yet in the same breath inspires all that was forgotten in winter to rise up, be remembered, be loved, make its mark again.
Visit STATE in North Adams, MA
https://www.statefoodndrink.com/