Tips For Planning A Dinner Menu

For us here at Katering, food is the spice of life and we believe this philosophy should continue into your home. Here we share a few tips on planning your dinner party menu and how presentation, timing and staffing are the key to a great night amongst friends.

Almost all events have guests with particular dietary requirements. Whether it’s gluten free, vegetarians or lactose intolerance, one of the first steps in planning your dinner party is ensuring all guests’ needs are catered for.

We find canapes on arrival are a great way to start the night. An effective icebreaker, they allow guests to mingle, and help create a warm and relaxed atmosphere.

The next step is to consider the type of dinner service you feel best reflects your evening. At Katering we steer away from alternate serve menus where one guest is served chicken and the next is served beef for instance. We feel it creates disappointment and “plate envy”. Whether it is a dinner for 10 or 100 people, we see it as an extension of your family meal. We want to break people away from the traditional function centre mentality and see it as a time to share food, stories and laughter.

To achieve this sense of intimacy we encourage shared dishes. Passing dishes amongst each other encourages interaction and conversation and is entertaining for guests who are used to individually plated entrée, main and dessert.

Reflect the season in your choice of food. Pick salads and fresh seafood for summer entertaining and warming soups and curries for winter. And if you have themed your evening, continue it through to your food. Whether it be Moroccan spiced chicken for your African night or Thai chicken curry for your taste of Asia.

Finally we have found over the years that having professional wait staff can be one of the most important inclusions for making your night a success. While some clients worry wait staff bring an air of formality to the evening, their presence can have quite the opposite effect allowing you to relax among friends while the Chef works with staff to ensure food is presented and served as planned.