A well-planned dinner party need not feel like a corporate luncheon or a stiff, formal affair filled with stark white china, multiple courses, and dull conversation between guests. No, a great party should instead leave the pomp and circumstance well enough alone, and use a carefully selected theme, colorful decor, fabulous soundtrack, and fantastic eats and drinks to spark conversation and create a memorable night for your guests.
The solution? Host a retro dinner party.
A retro dinner party serves the same purpose—creating social opportunities—as a formal affair does. And yet, it promises to do so while also bringing a bit of fun back to the party circuit by
recalling the spirited days of decades past. For tips on planning and hosting your first retro party, read on.
Announce the theme. After you’ve fine-tuned your guest list, make the theme blatantly obvious to your guests so they’ll be sure to join in the fun. First, scan old pictures from your chosen decade to make invitations. Then, use them to relay to guests that they should dress in their best retro attire, bring a mixed CD filled with their favorite tunes from that era, and forward you any retro recipes they have in their repertoire. The more involved and excited you get them about the theme, the better the end result will be when they arrive at your door, dressed to the nines.
“Undate” your decor. Turn your upscale loft into a swanky, retro-style pad by adding colorful retro-chic touches that turn your home back a few decades. Think tinsel trees in lime green, pink, and silver, brightly hued Chinese lanterns strung from the ceiling, and tiny candles placed everywhere. Hang record album covers on your walls to play up the theme. If you don’t have a collection on hand, pay a trip to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army to pick some up. And don’t forget: To go along with the retro decor, make a soundtrack for the evening consisting entirely of everyone’s favorite old tunes from the era you’re celebrating.
Fire up the finger food. Dishes for a retro dinner party should inspire a bit of nostalgia but not be so centered on kitschy, packaged foods that your guests won’t want to eat it. (Twinkies come to mind.) Upscale mac ’n’ cheese (using Gruyère and truffles) and shrimp cocktail are great choices.
Stick to bar basics. Center your bar offerings on classic cocktails like Tom Collins, sidecars, and daiquiris. Or, turn to your attention to perfecting the martini before your party date. And for a new twist on an old favorite, try this version of the whiskey sour, from one of Portland, Oregon’s swankiest bars.
Black Orpheus or a “Marmalade Sour”
2 ounces brandy
½ lemon
1 ounce egg whites
2 tablespoons blueberry jam
A dash Peychaud’s bitters
Mix and shake all the ingredients except the bitters together, hard, for at least 30 seconds. Then, use a tea strainer to strain into your desired glass. The tea strainer will catch any bits of unincorporated marmalade and leave you with a beautiful, clean-looking beverage.
The egg whites are a classic ingredient in the “sour” and will take off the alcohol’s edge and give the drink amazing texture. Once you have strained the drink, add a dash or two of the bitters to the top.
Note: You can substitute any of your favorite jams or marmalades in this drink and can experiment using different spirits as well. Gin and tequila are excellent choices for creating your own inventive marmalade sours.
—Recipe from Kelley Swenson of Portland, Oregon’s ten 01 restaurant
