The Muse Diaries: #4 Sana Siddiqui
As the evenings grow darker and the air turns crisp, there's a certain magic in gathering around candle-lit meals, sharing warming autumn recipes, and embracing the comfort of homemade food.
In this edition of Muse Diaries, we are joined by Sana Siddiqui of Curating the Table, a creative host whose thoughtful approach to entertaining is rooted in intention, culture, and connection. From her love of seasonal flavours to the rituals that make a table feel truly lived-in, we get a glimmer into Sana’s world of considered details and the quiet beauty of meals that nourish more than just your appetite.
Queens of Archive is about celebrating individuality and the art of self-expression. How has Curating the Table allowed you to explore your own voice and creativity?
Curating the Table began as a space to document the way I cook, eat, and celebrate eating around the table. Over time, it has brought together everything I care about: food, history, family recipes, the comfort of a well-used table, and objects that hold character and stories. It’s become an extension of how I live every day, a way of telling stories through the things I surround myself with, the food I cook, the recipes I write, the clothes I wear, the cookbooks I read, and the paintings I lose myself in.
On days when no photos are taken and no recipes are filmed, you’ll still find my husband and me at the table, a candle lit between us, simply talking. Those are the evenings that remind me why I began in the first place! If anything, Curating the Table has allowed me to be the truest version of myself.
Café de Flore blends vintage glamour with urban seduction. How does that spirit resonate with your own style?
There’s something about the Café de Flore collection that feels very familiar to me, that blend of elegance, nostalgia, and ease! I’ve always been drawn to clothes that carry a sense of history but never feel staged. My style has that same mood: a little vintage, a little romantic. Ideally, it’s like sitting in a small café in Paris where time seems to slow down and everything feels effortlessly beautiful without trying too hard.
I’ve always been a little obsessed with Dutch still-life paintings for the drama of their flowers and the richness of their colours and that sense of abundance! The Claudia Maxi in the Dutch Floral print feels like a living version of that world. The sleeves have soft, tiered ruffles that move almost like petals. There’s a drama to it that I love; it feels feminine but strong, nostalgic yet modern.
It’s rare to wear something and think, this is it!
Your London kitchen feels like a character in itself. How does the space inspire you?
Our kitchen is very much a character of its own; it sits at the heart of everything I do.
It’s an unfitted kitchen with mostly hand-built furniture, including the butter-yellow spice shelf that’s my most treasured feature. Nothing matches perfectly, but everything has a story and a past life. It’s where I feel most grounded, where I cook, film, and eat, but also where we sit for hours and talk.
The space has its own rhythm: an antique pine table at the centre, copper pans and pots hanging from hooks, jars filled with spices, and antique crockery gathered from travels alongside family heirlooms passed down over the years. I’ve always been drawn to historic kitchens, the kind you find in old country houses, where everything feels both practical and beautiful. That sense of lived-in elegance inspires me constantly!
Our kitchen reminds me that the everyday can be beautiful, and that usefulness and beauty can live side by side. It’s how I perceive the world!
How would you describe your style in three words?
Romantic, Elegant, Chic.
You often describe cooking as cathartic, mixing colours to create the perfect palette and trusting instinct over recipes. Do you take a similar approach when it comes to dressing?
I think it’s both instinct and intention. When I cook, I think about how something will taste, which colours will sit well together, and which pot or plate will hold it best.
It’s not a plan on paper, but it’s how my mind works.
Dressing feels the same. I choose what to wear depending on how I feel or how I want to feel, and somehow colours, fabrics, and shapes come together naturally. It’s not calculated, but it is painted in my mind.
Whether that’s instinct or simply who I am, I’m not entirely sure.
Candlelit suppers feel central to your story. What would you wear from Café de Flore for one of those evenings?
Candlelit evenings are at the heart of our dinners. I always say a candlelit evening can fix anything!
For one of those nights, I’d wear the Claudia Maxi. The soft ruffled sleeves frame the arms like petals and the tiered hem falls in gentle layers that move and swirl so elegantly.
I’d pair it with dainty earrings shaped like flowers, my hair loosely tied back with a velvet scrunchie and classic red lips.
It’s a dress that belongs to that hour of the evening when everything slows down and the world feels soft and full of warmth.
Vintage plays a huge role in both your wardrobe and your kitchen. What is your most treasured vintage piece?
My most treasured vintage piece in the kitchen is a copper pot that was gifted to my mum by her mother on her wedding day. It’s been used for so many years and has that beautiful patina that only time can give. I still cook with it, and every time I do, it feels like a continuation of something.
Copper feels timeless to me; it carries the essence of old French kitchens and the rustic charm of English country houses, both of which inspire my style deeply. At the same time, it feels like home, lived-in and familiar. It’s a piece that feels loved, beautiful, and enduring, much like how I want my world to feel.
Food and fashion both hold memory. Do you see them as connected forms of storytelling?
Absolutely. I think they’re both ways of remembering and expressing who we are without needing to say very much. Food carries memory through its aroma and taste and through the act of repeating something that’s been done before. Be it a recipe passed down, a familiar gesture or a flavour that instantly takes you back somewhere just like Proust’s Madeline.
Fashion does the same, just in another language. The way you dress can hold echoes of people you’ve loved, places you’ve been, and the eras or moods you feel connected to. Both are deeply personal, and both tell a unique story of who you are.
We are obsessed with your masala chai and it feels perfect for autumn and winter. What will you be cooking on repeat this season?
Thank you, I’m having a warm cup of chai as I answer these questions!
This season, it will be different kinds of warm, rich, and hearty dals on repeat. Lentils feel so right for autumn and winter. I love the ritual of making them slowly, letting the spices bloom, and serving them with fresh home-baked breads. The house fills with the aroma of comfort and freshly buttered breads and slow cooked lentils, that is the smell of autumn for me!
Finally, describe your perfect evening: the food, the dress, and the soundtrack.
My perfect evening would be at home with a few close friends, fresh flowers in my Victorian glass bottles, tall candles flickering on an antique silver candelabra, and vintage silver cutlery ready to be placed on the table beside little handwritten menus.
Something slow cooked would be bubbling away, perhaps a buttery black lentil dal, rich and velvety, with warm bread wrapped in vintage linen.
Sous le Ciel de Paris would be playing on the record player.