A great idea for a fun and entertaining dinner party is a cooking class where the guests learn to prepare all aspects of an elegant dinner. Our client Liz really wanted to do a special birthday dinner for her boyfriend Tom and asked us to host a cooking lesson in her home. We quickly came up with a game plan:
1. It would be a surprise, so everything would need to be in place before Tom arrived.
2. 6 people total would participate.
3. The meal would be comprised of some of Tom's favorites with some seasonal ingredients.
4. We would give the client a shopping list the week of the dinner, so the client herself could do the grocery shopping. Foodmode would provide small volume/specialized items like olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper, etc. and would provide complimentary appetizers so people had something to munch on while cooking.
We came up with the following menu:
Spinach salad with apples, gorgonzola, and candied pecans in an apricot vinaigrette
Bacon wrapped asparagus
Halibut poached in a basil and tarragon beurre blanc
Grilled flank steak with a cilantro chimichurri
Creamy polenta with parmesan, marscapone, balsamic reduction
Chocolate sabayon over fresh strawberries
All the guests arrived a good hour before Tom got there. We quickly set up 6 stations for people to work and I laid out all of the materials we needed for the dinner. We see Tom's car pull up and we assumed our hiding places. The door opens and - SURPRISE!! Well - he said he kind of knew something was going on but at least he had no idea about the cooking class that was about to take place. So we quickly poured some wine and I put out an array of appetizers to munch on. I briefly went through the menu, handed out step-by-step original recipes, and put a timeline on the wall. I had timed everything so that if the guests broke up into 3 groups of two taking 2 dishes per group, we would be able to more or less have everything ready to eat at the same time. If cooking started at 6, I scheduled dinner to start at 7:30pm. People were skeptical, but folded up their sleeves, put their aprons on, and dug in.
People got really into it and were working with near professional precision...it was really fun watching everyone get into it so much. People seemed to be having a good time and that made me happy. I kept people on task, making sure they kept moving, but lots of eating, drinking, story telling, and laughing was involved. It truly was a dynamic party...really lots of fun. And guess what? Everything was coordinated such that it all came out hot and on time...at about 7:45pm. Not too shabby.
There were many favorites of the night, but the fish and the steak were sure favorites. And chocolate and strawberries is a perfect way to end any evening. I printed out and framed the dinner menu and asked everyone to sign it. We gave it to Tom as a keepsake for his birthday dinner. I cleaned up a little while dessert was being eaten and snuck out. As I was leaving, I could see that people were happy and they loved the food; I think they learned something about cooking too while having fun. The best part was that they were able to eat their own creations. In my book the party was a huge success. Happy Birthday Tom!
