Tag Archives: westhampton

How to Be a Good Host or Hostess

The key to a successful supper club dinner party is to make your guests feel welcomed and entertained. Some people are just good at it. One of the best is my mother. After spending a weekend at my mom’s a friend once said to me: “Your mom has a gift, she is both interested and interesting”.

Yesterday was mom’s 95th birthday and she is still going strong. Mom started college when she was just 16 and still goes to college today. Past being smart, she is a secret weapon at dinner parties. Mom is one of those rare people that really listen to her guests. She has the ability to focus on what her guests are saying and play back an interesting insight to complement her guest’s point.

One of my largest complaints in life is that brains ran in my family, but when it came to me they walked. Unlike my mom, I am not a great listener. Instead of focusing on what you are saying to me, I am thinking about what I am going to say. A great example of this is my belief that all golfers, if another golfer asks them about their round, he only pretends to listen and is really just waiting for an opportunity to talk about his round.

Beyond being interested and interesting mom is a great cook. She is famous for her Mom Mom’s Vinaigrette. She lives in Westhampton NY and gets a lot of visitors in the summer. The local produce out there in the summer is outstanding. Most of the meals mom serves center around a great salad. The cornerstone of her salad is her vinaigrette. She claims the origination is a recipe in the New York Times, but I believe the beauty of it comes form her herb garden and the fact that she never makes it the same way twice.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then this vinaigrette is legendary. My daughter Jennifer once surveyed Mom-mom’s other grandchildren and their spouses and 8 out of 10 use mom’s vinaigrette as a culinary staple. One reason is that it tastes great. The other reason is that it reminds them of their youth spending summers with their amazing grandmother.

If you can make your supper club dinner party guests feel welcomed and entertained you will be a success.

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 due out from Morgan James Publishing on January 30, 2018.

Should You Avoid A ‘Polarizing’ Flavor?

One of the challenges you can face developing a menu for a dinner party is if you should avoid an item that you know some people will like and some people will not like such as: Seafood, Lamb, Spicy, Coconut etc.

A classic story involved an impromptu dinner party that my buddy Lucien and I cooked for. One Friday afternoon we decided to have a dinner party the next day and to feature rack of lamb. With short notice we started inviting people to our “rack of lamb” dinner. Pretty quickly the number of guests got to over 20 and at least a third said on the front end: “I don’t like lamb but…”

My favorite memory of the evening was four or five of the “haters” fighting over the lasts lamb chops. There is something about a rack of lamb cooked to perfection. Lamb can be gamey. If it is overcooked it can be tough and flavorless. The lesson I learned that night is that if you sear it on the front end at high heat and cook it to medium rare, your guests are in for a treat.

It is amazing to me how many people don’t like seafood. Fish can be a strong flavor. Seafood that is a little off is really bad. Again, fresh seafood prepared correctly is phenomenal. I would guess that over 20% of consumers simply don’t like fish.

My parents own a house on Long Island New York. When we were in our twenties my wife Susan and I would throw what we called our annual “Hamptoons” party. Our friends from college and work would gather at the house in Westhampton and the highlight was a lobster and clam feast. And yes, there was alcohol involved. Invariably there would be several newcomers that had never had lobster and to whom the thought of eating raw clams was unpalatable. Susan would show the newbies how to eat her favorite crustaceans and we had many a convert. We would also give out the “Poison lobster” award to someone who got over served alcohol. Trust me, the lobster was never the problem.

You are never going to make everyone happy. When it comes to polarizing flavors like lamb, seafood and coconut, I say go for it. While you won’t please everyone, the chances are pretty good that you will have a few converts.

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 due out from Morgan James Publishing on January 30, 2018.