The Dinner Party: Stop Two

Saturday nights. When I think about Saturday nights I think about a dining table, food and company. The one day of the week when we have a little extra time to prepare something special. We can spend an hour at the market finding inspiraton, stop at a local farm for fresh produce, or drop by the butcher for a cut of meat so tender that your mouth will be watering in a few short hours. We turn on music, sometimes jazz sometimes something else, and we start our preparation. This is the beginning of my ritual. My Saturday night rendezvous in the kitchen where I create the perfect storm for my wife.

There is one common factor that binds us all together on weekend evenings. Food. All other aspects may change but that one common denominator remains the same. No matter where we turn, what we do or who we're with we are always surrounded by food. This past Saturday night was no different. But instead of a dinner for two, it was a dinner party for eight. Actually, fourteen.

Let's take this back to the beginning. We started this process a little more than two months ago. While celebrating a birthday with good friends over, what else, food and drinks, we sat around the table talking about making this a routine. A habit. We could do a dinner party circuit with the four couples. Once per month, each couple taking turns. And we went first. But that's history now. And that leads me to Saturday night.

Our friends Kevin and Heather were the hosts this evening. When we arrived we were greeted at the door with a warm smile that was all too familiar at this point. We walked in and everybody was there, getting comfortable, getting acquainted, getting ready.

The evening started out with drinks and appetizers and good conversation. Really good conversation. The food smelled brilliant! And nothing disappointed. The food was fantastic. I know it's a great meal when my palate dances the rest of the evening. And I could go into great detail about everything that was made, and it deserves the time. But there's a deeper significance to the dinner party.

This brings me to a very important point. For a dinner party to be successful it has to have balance. Everything has to play an important role for the evening to go smoothly and successfully. It's like a dance where the food, company, drinks and ambience must move as one. No one thing can make up entirely for another. But we can't lose sight of the obvious either. As important as food is, a dinner party will never stick in our memory banks if the company isn't grand. Which is such a great thing when you're around good friends. We can look forward to a great night out with great food but as long as we have each other we'll know the night will be a success. Always remember, even if the food crashes and burns you can always order in something. Anything. And share a few laughs over a glass of wine with good company.