Throw A Progressive Dinner Party
Email this article to a friend 
Print this Article
Sometimes the effort that goes into hosting a party for friends from the office just isn’t worth the time and trouble. The food prep, the decorations, the drinks, making sure your home looks presentable—it’s overwhelming just thinking about it.
But what if you could play host on a smaller scale by suggesting a progressive dinner party? Here’s how it works: Get your colleagues to plan a meal together and divvy up the courses. Each course is served at a different person’s home for a specified length of time. It’s sort of like planned party-hopping, which means you get to be the host and the party-goer all in one evening.
Here, our tips to make your first foray into progressive dining a successful affair.
Pick perfect, or near-perfect, partners in crime. You’ll want creative-minded coworkers who are either (a) fabulous cooks or (b) willing to crack open a cookbook (and hopefully not their first one) to find a suitable dish to serve for the evening’s fete. You’ll also want fellow hosts who can adhere to a time limit for their course, and who have room for sit-down guests. As a group, you’ll also need to decide if you want to invite more non-hosting guests. Follow this simple rule: The number of people you can invite must be determined by the space available at the smallest home on the evening’s agenda. But if you have a relatively small office or department, don’t leave people out just because they can’t cook. Ask them to bring a bottle of wine or help with the decorations.
Determine the locations. Progressive dinners work fabulously for groups of people who live in the same neighborhood, apartment building, or condo complex. They don’t work well when one host’s house is in the city and another’s is 45 minutes away in the suburbs. Pick places everyone can walk to or that are only a 10-minute drive. And remember to only pick three or four stops for the evening; any more turns the dinner into a marathon event with too much time spent traveling between stops.
Give the night a theme. These dinners work best when hosts select a theme they can all incorporate into their course. Pick something easy like Italian cuisine or something more challenging like a menu that incorporates a new seasonal ingredient at every stop. Then tie decorations in accordingly. Just because your guests won’t be in your home for the whole evening doesn’t mean that these little finishing touches won’t be appreciated.
Make practical dish selections. When you are hosting, select recipes that are easy to prepare or easy to reheat—or, better yet, those that taste fantastic when served cold. Then, give yourself a bit of extra prep time by leaving the previous home 10 minutes before other guests depart.
Decide on a signature drink. A party isn’t a party without a little bubbly. You might try serving your favorite champagne as an aperitif, classic cocktails alongside appetizers, or your favorite wine with dinner. Just make sure that guests are either going to be traveling on foot or that you have selected designated drivers for the evening before doing so.
Here, a rich recipe that works particularly well for a progressive dinner party’s dessert course, because it’s meant to be chilled for two hours and then served cold. When the host arrives home, all she has to do is slice and serve.
Chocolate Whiskey Cake
Ingredients:
14 ½ oz dark chocolate, chopped
14 ½ oz butter
7 ½ oz sugar
7 ½ oz eggs
3 oz whiskey
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees,
Melt butter in a sauce pot and bring to a simmer.
Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour the hot butter over it, then whisk to evenly combine. Cool this mixture to room temperature, whisking occasionally.
Combine the sugar and eggs in another bowl and whisk until well combined.
Add the egg mixture slowly to the chocolate mixture and mix until combined .
Add the whiskey and mix well.
Bake the cake in a spring form pan until just set, but still a little loose in the center (like a cheesecake) for about 30–35 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for 2 hours before slicing.
- Recipe From Pastry Chef Jeff McCarthy of Portland, Oregon’s Ten 01 restaurant