Top tips for hosting the perfect dinner party

We’ve all been in the scenario: you invite some friends to dinner, one couple turns into four and suddenly, you’re hosting the biggest dinner party of your life with no idea what to cook. Sound familiar? Carry on reading for our top tips to make sure your dinner party is a success.

1. Select your wines carefully
   There’s a reason we carefully pair wines to the dishes our chefs are cooking – it makes everything taste better. If you’re cooking a wintry fish dish try a light Spanish red with a hint of spice like Petalos 2012 Bierzo, Descendiented de J.Palacios. Cooking a lighter fish dish? Try Rick Stein’s Spanish White 2014 Castilla y Leon – in the words of Rick, “charmingly fresh and fragrant”.
2. Preparation is key
   Make sure you have all the ingredients for your dishes prepped and ready to go so you can have a smooth and successful dinner with no surprises.
3.  Choose an exciting menu
   There’s so much more to dinner parties than prawn cocktails and After Eight mints, choose dishes to impress your guests and leave them in awe. We recommend extra touches like home-made petit fours to really leave a mark.  Need some inspiration? Take a look at our dinner party menu here.
4.  Ambience is everything
   If there’s one thing we’ve learnt over the years, it’s the importance of atmosphere. Take a leaf from Jill Stein’s book and opt for simple yet stylish decor – candles, fresh flowers and of course, some interesting artwork to talk about over dinner.
5.  Enjoy
   This might be an obvious one, but don’t forget to enjoy the company of your guests and have a fab evening!

If you still need some help to build your confidence in the kitchen to host the perfect dinner party, join us on our two day cookery course, Friends for dinner where you’ll learn how to make two dinner party menus from scratch in our kitchen overlooking the Camel Estuary.