GQ USA – May 2017

Table-setting

approach

you totally

Googled.

Pre-mixed

batch

cocktails.

Food warming,

not cooking.

Reliably

amusing

guest.

Turn off

the overheads,

turn on the

lamps, light all

the candles.

High-quality

store-bought

snacks.

• As much as you might fear becoming your
  parents, you have to admit they were right about
  a few things: contributing to your 401(k), the
  Grateful Dead, and...the dinner party. If that term
  sounds a bit stale, that’s because the whole thing
  is overdue for an update. (The Pigs-in-a-Blanket
  Era is over.) We set out to discover dinner-party
  perfection by consulting professional hosts, dining
  at N.Y.C.’s most exclusive supper clubs, and having
  a few parties of our own. Here’s how to throw a
  fun, delicious, memorable gathering without any of
  the stu∞ness...or the fear.—BENJY HANSEN-BUNDY

Hosting > How to Have a Grown-up Dinner

Party (Without Feeling Too Grown-up)

It sounds like such a quaint idea, but if you don’t get it right, a simple dinner party can

turn into a chaos of frayed nerves, burned food, and all the wrong kinds of memories.

(Even the pithiest toast won’t save all that.) The trick is to sweat a few key details

1 of 2

44 GQ. COMMAY 2017

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

MICHAEL BYERS