While it is always fun to meet friends at a favourite restaurant, entertaining in your own home is a more intimate, personal and individual affair. Having a dinner party, BBQ, themed event or just friends over for dinner in your own home allows you to be in complete control of the event and serve the food that you love.
Entertaining at Home
Entertaining in your own home is the biggest trend in entertaining for 2017, but it can also be a little intimidating, here are some of our top tips for making your event a night to remember.
Get Inspired
One of the biggest reasons to entertain at home is that you can serve the food you really love to your guests. With the help of an imaginative and experienced private chef you can create a mouth-watering menu to wow your guests. There are so many cooking shows on TV these days, some of the most popular being Masterchef and The Great British Menu that by watching these shows and others you can get a real feel for what is possible in food in the hands of an expert chef.
Themed Food & Events
A themed evening does not have to be cliché, you can take a theme and run in through your entire evening while keeping it on trend and very delicious. Consider making local produce the star of your menu, or perhaps go further afield and choose a French influence served with a flight of beautiful French wines. If you are having entertainment as part of your evening, then see if you can reflect this a little in the menu. A private chef can listen to your ideas and create a well-rounded menu that is reflective of your tastes. If you are getting together with your guests for a particular reason for example, a milestone birthday or a pre or post-race day dinner then linking the food, wines, and décor with the day is a great way to have the whole event flow.
Speedy Cleaning
One thing that many people do when having guests is focus on cleaning every inch of the house and then realise they haven’t left themselves enough time to prepare for the event. Sure, you want to clean the areas that people will see but unless you plan to do a full house tour, don’t worry about the rest, just shut the door! If you do want your whole home to be gleaming or some of your guest are also staying the night, then consider getting a cleaning company in the day before to spring clean your home leaving you to concentrate on the finishing touches.
Setting the Mood
There are a few tips you can learn from restaurants about the mood or ambience of the place for entertaining. Avoid harsh overhead lights and instead use all the lamps in the room – even add some strings of fairy lights if the room seems a little dark. Have music playing, not too loud but loud enough that there aren’t any awkward silences. And pour yourself a drink before guests arrive – it always plays to welcome them with a smile and a glass in hand before offering them one.
Hire a Private Chef
Having a stress free dinner party in your home can be a very easy process with open communication between you and your private chef it will definitely be a night for you and your guests to remember.