Convince Your Friends to Eat (and Love) a Vegan Dinner Party

It starts with a sea buckthorn spritzer.
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Kerrilynn Pamer (left) and Cindy DiPrima, co-founders of CAP Beauty.Winnie Au

"We both describe ourselves as maximalists," Cindy DiPrima says. We're standing in the hallway of Kerrilynn Pamer's Brooklyn apartment, surrounded by beautiful things. There is a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf stuffed with vintage vinyl, an entire drawer devoted to different types of incense (holding at least three varieties of palo santo), and a towering bookshelf loaded with hundreds of cookbooks. The fridge is neatly packed with large Mason jars, each containing an experimental ferment for Pamer's husband's soon-to-launch mail-order sauerkraut business, KrautRock. And, in the bathroom, there are a half-dozen natural facial oils—all with ingredients you could pronounce and even eat.

It's a science experiment," she said, pointing at a detailed time sheet John keeps for each jar.

Winnie Au

DiPrima and Pamer have been best friends for the last 20 years, and a little over a year ago, they opened CAP Beauty, a natural beauty store in New York's West Village that has gained a cult following. Like the Sqirl set, they eat mostly vegan and advocate for radical self love by way of only putting products on your skin that you would put in your body, and championing nutrient-dense superfoods—according to the teachings of Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, and Canyon Ranch.

Yet their superfood dinner parties manage to feel like celebrations of excess. So, we asked DiPrima and Pamer to lay out for us how they make it happen, along with beauty and design tips to live max, the way they do.

Side note: Beba, Pamer's dog, once appeared on a talk show in Puerto Rico. Photo: Winnie Au

Winnie Au
Design Tips (and, Okay, Beauty Advice):

1) Start with a sofa (and hold out for other beautiful pieces). DiPrima remembers going to a designer's home once. He had a gorgeous sofa...and books on the floor right next to it. "His idea was that if he hadn't found the right bookshelf yet, then they would just be on the floor," DiPrima says. "A sofa, at the very least, is a way to anchor a room. It's where you spend your time; it's where people gather."

2) If you love it, it goes together. Though DiPrima admits this might be a kernel of advice best suited for someone with a distinctive aesthetic, it's important not to pigeonhole your objects and space into one theme just because you think you should. Buy what you love and you'll make it work.

3) Shop everywhere. "There's no place that's too high or low," DiPrima says. "Don't be afraid to walk into a fancy place. Fancy places have sales too, and sometimes you'll find something worth the investment. Same goes for flea markets: You can find fabulous things there."

4) Edit ruthlessly. "Don't be afraid to give something away. There's always more cool stuff in the world," says Pamer. "Don't bother keeping anything that isn't useful or beautiful."

5) Be in touch with your skin the way you are with the rest of your body. There are days when you wake up and want a bagel and others where you need a salad. With your skin, if you wake up and the idea of getting your face wet sounds horrible, it might require a routine adjustment. "Train yourself to take note: Do you feel greasy? Dry? Dull? Are you ready-to-go with no routine at all?" says DiPrima. Adapt accordingly.

6) If you don't want to put it in your body, don't put it on your skin. "Number one thing that limits what we bring into the store is the ingredient deck. If there's anything synthetic, we don't carry it," says DiPrima.

Scents are part of the mood—don't you forget it. Photo: Winnie Au

Winnie Au
Entertaining Tips:

1) Set the mood. Pamer leaves the playlists up to her husband, John, but says one friend described the ideal playlist perfectly as "like an internal playlist of songs I've never heard before but know really well." Other mood enhancers: Proper lighting, flowers that bring life to a room (but not fussiness), and pleasant smells, such as palo santo (or food cooking).

2) It doesn't actually matter what time dinner is served. "My friend once gave me the most backhanded compliment. She said, 'I've learned so much from you about not really caring whether dinner is at 10:30 p.m.," jokes DiPrima, who says it's completely okay to mingle with guests, go back to the kitchen, serve drinks, and continue prepping. Whatever works for you works for your guests.

3) A glass of wine (or a drink) at the door always helps. DiPrima's husband works in the wine industry, and champagne is their party drink of choice. "We could be hosting my young son's birthday party at 4 p.m. in the afternoon but everyone is really happy when someone hands them a Kir Royale," she says. "It's a social lubricant and it definitely gets the conversation flowing." When the menu is seasonal, DiPrima and Pamer recommend doing the same with cocktails, even if that means garnishing with an herb all over the farmers' market this week.

See the full dinner party menu below: