Traits of Successful Dinner Party Hosts

What makes people great dinner party hosts? It isn’t rocket science, but here is a list of five key traits.

They are interested and interesting

My golden rule is to try to be “interested and interesting”. My 95 year old mother is the model. She lives in Westhampton N.Y. and for some reason she gets a lot of visitors during the Hamptons season. Past the fact that it is a great place to visit, mom is a really good listener. She really wants to hear what her guests have to say. She will play back their point before she makes her own. When she does make her point it is usually worth hearing.

Great hosts are relaxed/prepared

Just like dogs can sense if someone is afraid of them, guests can sense when a host is nervous and unprepared. The best way to reduce stress and relax is to know that you are prepared and that your dinner will look and taste great. The French culinary concept of mise en place or “put into place” does wonders for preparation. Say what you want about the French, but they can cook. It is no coincidence that every culinary school around the globe teaches mise en place. Get your mise en place set up, and be relaxed in the knowledge that you are prepared.

Check my video on mise en place:

The best hosts and hostesses are welcoming people.

A dear friend of mine just passed away. Isabel Watson was the wife of the General Manager of our company in the Philippines. She was a regal lady and she had a way of welcoming her guests to make them feel like royalty. Everyone that was lucky enough to be a guest of hers remembered her for her graciousness. She had a gift that we all can’t have, but some things she did we can all do. She would greet guests with a smile. She would ask about them be it about their trip, about their family, etc. She would make them feel welcome.

Successful hosts know good food and drink

You don’t have to be a great chef or a wine connoisseur. You do have to know what tastes good and what people like. In Impromptu Friday Nights – A Guide To Supper Clubs there is a chapter titled “I Don’t Cook, But I Know Where To Buy”. It is patterned after my daughter’s in-law’s Helene and Rick. They don’t cook, but they are foodies, know where to buy and are great dinner party hosts. Again, it doesn’t hurt that they live near the ocean in Montauk NY. There is something about cocktails on their deck overlooking the ocean. Follow that up with fresh seafood from local restaurants and you have an unforgettable evening. Montauk is great, but have we friends with a lake house in Iuka MS that know good food and drink and are equally good hosts.

The very best hosts develop good friends

The best dinner parties, the ones that everyone remembers are made memorable by the friends that were there. Really good hosts have a way of developing and staying connected to good friends. It isn’t always easy because people move. No matter what stage you are in life you need to be developing new friends. Dinner parties are a great way to develop friendships and keep the good friends coming back.

This is my short list. Please add your thoughts on additional traits in comments.

If you enjoy this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and be on the look out for my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Morgan James Publishing published the Kindle-Version on September 5, 2017 and the hard copy coming out January 30, 2018.

The Five Reasons You Have To Love Costco

I have quite a bit of experience with Costco both as a supplier and as a customer. Working with Kraft Food Ingredients we sold all kinds of products to Costco and to their other suppliers. My early experience was in selling cheese powders that were a key ingredient in their bakery operation. They used our cream cheese powder in their cake icing. From that we sold them many different flavors, confection and cheese products.

Menu Inspiration

Too many times my supper club menu has been based on what looked good at Costco. Simply put, the meats and seafood from Costco are better than most retail outlets.

Quality Products

One time we had one of Costco’s head R&D people at KFI tech center. We had developed a flavor that could make a lesser cut of meat taste like a superior cut. The R&D guy was very up front saying: “Costco doesn’t sell lesser cuts of meat”. By in large he is right. If you see it at Costco, it is going to be a better quality.

Treasure Hunt

That brings up another point. We call it the “treasure hunt” phenomena. If you see something at Costco that looks good, you better buy it when you see it because it may not be there the next time you are in the store. The Costco folks out at Kirkland Washington denied this was part of their strategy, but I think they were lying. My experience has been they shift products in and out regularly. The Treasure Hunt phenomena results in you buying more than you planned on. I can’t tell you the number of times I went to Costco to buy a $1.50 hotdog and wound up spending $200. There is a method to their madness.

The “Snackies”

I will never forget the time my daughter brought her roommate Amy from London home for Thanksgiving. We took her to Costco and she couldn’t believe the value of the products. She could buy a pare of jeans for what it cost her to get them cleaned in the U.K. Amy also delighted in the food samples being given away calling them “Snackies”. Like most Costco regulars we have made quite a few meals out of grazing on the Snackies.

Check Out Envy

My guess I am not the only one who looks at what others are buying to decide if I have missed out on something. It usually takes a day or two but if I see something good in someone else’s cart chances are I will be back to buy it.

From a supper club standpoint if you buy it at Costco you know that the quality is great and you more than likely have more than you need for a dinner party.

Top Five Favorite Kitchen Tools Or Do You Want A Holiday Gift Idea?

Have you ever cooked in a strange kitchen and really missed a favorite utensil or gadget? All cooks have their “go-to” favorites. You may take them for granted while in your own kitchen, but you know how important they are when you are stuck without them.

Here is my list:

My “White Handle” knives

Most chefs use a set of knives, but also have a favorite. Mine is a Victorinox paring knife with a serrated edge. We started using them after September 11^th when it became impossible to bring knives on a plane. Our Executive Chef found the White Handle knives and started to send them to customer presentations in advance. They are less than $6 a knife when you buy them in bulk so we could leave them behind after a presentation. We started giving them to customers as we were leaving telling them how great they were and that we couldn’t take them home through airports. We wound up getting more complements on the knives than we did on our products. These are multi-purpose knives that work really well for all kinds of tasks.

Food Processors

Please note that I say food processors, I have more than one. I have a traditional 12 – cup processor and a 4 – cup mini processor. I use the 12 – cup processor for most jobs like blending and grating. The 4 – cup mini has a blade that goes in two directions. You can use this function to get a more consistent dice on onions, etc.

What is simple for some people is hard for others. I once wrote a supper club menu that called for diced onions. One poor clubber complained to me that she spent over an hour crying over diced onions. I made the same recipes and it took me less than five minutes to dice the onions and not a tear was shed. I asked my friend if she had a food processor and she said yes, but I never use it…da!

Wood Spatula’s

I use these for all sorts of things like: browning/breaking up chopped meats, stirring sauces in non-stick sauté pans, folding ingredients together. I could go on and on. They are always within reach in my kitchen and get used all the time.

Mandolin slicers

Again, I am using the plural term because I have three. My wife used to give me a hard time about having three. Then we visited her brother and he has six. Different mandolins have different uses. They are also one of the more dangerous utensils in the kitchen as most chefs have lost more than a piece of skin by getting careless while using one. The bottom line is that if you need a uniform cut or dice, mandolins are a great time saver.

Garlic Peelers

This definitely falls into the category of something you really miss if you are cooking in a kitchen where you don’t have one. My father once accused me of not cooking anything that doesn’t have garlic and onion in it. He might have been right. I do know that when I am peeling garlic without a peeler I feel like I am herding cats. It takes way too long.

This is my top five today but I have to confess that my list changes pretty regularly. Another great sign of how important to me a utensil is, is how often I gift an item. We regularly give away “White Handle” knives and they have developed a cult following amongst family and friends. Just about everything on this list has been a Christmas or Hanukah gift.