Take the table to a professional furniture restorer or cabinetmaker to have the formica top removed and the table top restored or veneered. If you want your table to look great, do not attempt this as a DIY project as removal of plastic laminate from wood while preserving the underlying surface for veneering or refinishing is not an easy process.

Formica is too slick of a surface to properly fix any type of veneer with contact cement. Even when sanded down first, the danger of the veneer peeling years later is still high. I would replace the table top completely with some furniture grade plywood that has been custom cut and fix veneer tape to the edge. Buying furniture grade plywood as opposed to veneer is pretty comparable in price and a lot messy of a job. You'll also have plenty of material left over to rebuild a the table leaves which you appear to be missing. Another solution is to replace the top with Ceasarstone or Terrazzo.

The Formica is clearly and original part of the furniture. I'd learn to live with it. But if you can't, then you really need to go with a professional.

Professional needed.

Yep, the formica's probably original, as strange as that seems. I like the silestone/ceasarstone idea - maybe you can just put it on top vs. replacing the top itself?

I'm thinking of doing something similar to a dining room buffet - topping it with matching silestone (blanco maple) to tie it in with the adjoining kitchen.

I would also agree, probably original to the table. My parents bought a "maple retangular drop leave table made to seat 6 in the mid to late 60's as damaged freight as it was mising a couple of chairs (were broken) but had a deacon's bench, an armchair and that may have been it or another side chair to go along with it, but it had a wood grained formica top on it as well so I'd say, this is probably an original finish for this table as well.

That said, replacing the formica may be more than you can do by yourself as other's have said.

Good luck with whatever you do.

We had the same problem when we started refinishing a mid century bedside table we bought. Most of the piece was a lovely walnut but the top was formica. We thought about having the tabletop replaced/recovered with a veneer, but we ended up scuffing the surface with sandpaper and painting several coats of lovely white laquer (sp?) on the top. It took some patience and a lot of buffing with steel wool to get the sleek polished surface we wanted, but we love how it came out and ended up giving our other (all wood) side table the same treatment to make them look cohesive.

Have a piece of glass cut for the tabletop. You can paint the underside of the glass, or slip fabric (wallpaper, rice paper, etc.) under the glass to change your look easily.

Other than the formica, the table has a lovely sculptural quality. I wish you many pleasurable meals with famly and friends,

I second the plywood top edge veneer suggestion. It's the most practical DIY you can manage, not to say a new solid wood top wouldn't be better (just more expensive). Veneering formica sounds hellish, and all that work will probably peel up as the formica begins to die its slow painful death.

I'd remove the entire top and replace it. Original, yes, but that Formica isn't doing any favors for a nicely designed table. You might find another vintage table with a wooden top that would fit. Something cheap and in poor shape would be ideal, because you'd be refinishing it to match (or markedly contrast with) the table base. Nice find, good luck!

http://inspiredroomdesign.com

if it was me, I'd throw a tablecloth over the top

I'd go see if a furniture guy can take that whole top off and put a new one on in a pretty wood. The lines on that set are incredible and I know I wouldn't be able to live with the horror of the table top- it would offend my sensibilities far too much.

I had a wood table refinished by Nicholas Dufine restorers in the Bronx. They did a great job - it was an investment but it came out great.