Less is More
Suzanne Pollak
Photo courtesy of Victoria de la Maza
Dinners for two or three have a certain je ne sais quoi about them. Small dinner parties are the ones we can host at the moment. The cozy size has appealed to my entertaining sensibilities for the last decade. I adore them!
The size is particularly useful for one of our essential needs — connection. When you meet a person you want to get to know better, don’t wait. Go for it! Invite the person for dinner au deux (or three) and deepen the relationship quickly. What’s the worst that can happen? It will either fail to take or become a lifetime thing. The friendship can spark and cement in one night, rather than taking decades to develop. Using your home works better than coffee out or meeting in a restaurant. After giving many hundreds of all size dinner parties, I can attest that some of my deepest and more astonishing friendships came from hosting the smallest ones.
More positives of the dinner size, so obvious they do not need to be stated but worth repeating anyway: less work up front and afterwards, perfect for last minute plans, costs less. The smaller the dinner the more loose and comfortable you and your guests will feel…less expectations but more opportunities for surprise.
When my friend Dick Jenrette was alive, we had frequent dinners together. At one he asked, Will you do me a favor? Will you dance with me? I said, Of course! He put on “Fever” by Peggy Lee and twirled me in his arms from the bar to the dining room, using the whole space. (People from that generation were taught how to dance so elegantly.) During this little joie de vive I saw a neighbor peeking in the window and could almost see his eyebrows rise in astonishment! I miss my friend with the twinkling eyes and way of connecting like no other. I am thankful for that delightful evening he gave to me.
Recently, I went to a small dinner party in the midst of Covid and learned something new. Since people are more relaxed, less inclined to bring out the big energy or feel the need to make a lasting impression, the night might end in an unexpected way. After our host fed us Spanish gazpacho, Turkish moussaka and a Caribbean citrus tart, on the spur of the moment she cued in Italy and played a song by Italian pop singer, Ornella Vanoni, on her iPhone. The song Dettagli moved her to translate the words and dance at the very same time, while the three of us sat transfixed and transformed in front of our tarts. What an ending to a party! But it wasn’t the end. The other guest turned Barry White on her iPhone and announced more babies have been born because of Barry than any other singer. (Quite possibly true!) That night goes down as the most fun dinner in downtown Charleston in decades. It proves that, even during Covid, it’s possible to escape our unknown future with an evening of international dishes and music bringing up past loves, longing and hope, connection to each other and the world.
REMINDER — Sip with Suzanne.
Learn the skills to make classic cocktails for your small dinners AND learn the style and strategy around the drink hour. BTW “drink hour” does not necessarily mean 60 minutes. Learn that fact and other pertinent information each Wednesday from 5:30-6:00 EST. Zoom in! Or DM us for a calendar invite...