While good food will elevate your party from shindig to soirée, it shouldn’t distract you from the main goal of the day: having fun. Here are Cityscape’s tips to create a great foodie experience while freeing you up to socialise.
Keep sit-down meals balanced. Think about how your dishes are going to go together. If you’ve got a heavy main, keep the starter and dessert light and fresh.
People gravitate towards kitchens at parties. Use that to your advantage. Serve food in the kitchen where any mess is easy to clean, and you can keep an eye on proceedings while you chat.
Lay out a buffet strategically. Put plates at one end and cutlery at the other. People will start at the plates, and won’t have to fumble with cutlery while they serve. Also, place limited-supply food at the end of the table near the utensils – it’ll last longer there.
Try a theme. Mexican food is great for parties: it has big, heavy flavours and fresh, cleansing ingredients, it can be healthy and feel like a treat, and it’s really easy to cater for gluten free and vegetarian diets. Plus it’s an excuse for margaritas.
If you want people to scatter around the space, set up a few food stations. If the food is served in one place, that’s where people will gather.
Hot food on small plates. Keep hot food warm in the oven, and serve small amounts at a time, refilling the dish once it’s empty. The same goes for cold food – keep it in the fridge and serve in small amounts.
Refine the bar selection. People freeze when confronted with too many choices. Try a featured beverage – maybe a pitcher of margarita or Campari and soda, along with wine and beer. In cool weather, mulled wine is a crowd-pleaser – and you can keep it warm in a slow cooker.
Keep it simple. When preparing food yourself, resist the temptation to cook an exotic dish you saw for the first time last night on Masterchef. Stick with foolproof dishes you know well.
Identify your dishes. Rope in your friend with the good handwriting and make name cards for your food. remember to point out the important things like vegetarian or gluten free dishes.
Don’t clean – distract. If you’re hosting an event at your house, you don’t need to go into a cleaning frenzy. Just host the party in the evening, dim the lights and use candles to focus attention on things like a beautiful flower arrangement or a table laden with food.
Pre-line your rubbish bin. Kiwis are helpful to a fault – if they see you cleaning at a party, they’ll want to pitch in. Before the party starts, pre-line your rubbish bin with a few bags. Then, when one is full, simply remove it and a fresh one will already be waiting, and your guests won’t have time to notice.
Want to go to bed? Get out the tea and coffee. It’s the polite way to tell your guests to wind the boozing down.
TOP TIPS FROM BESPOKE PLATTERS’ MANDY DAVIES:
1. Food safety is super important. You don't want anyone going home sick. 2. Plan your menu, don't overcomplicate it. Simple is good. 3. Doing a DIY dessert such as a dessert platter is a good way to cater for everyone's tastes.
TOP TIPS FROM CATERWAY’S OLEXIY MESHECHKO:
1. Around 15% of your food should cover dietary requirements like gluten free and vegetarian. 2. Offer locally-sourced and sustainable food. Local business stories are great talking points. 3. Ask guests about food allergies before booking a caterer. 4. Hire staff to serve big groups and large areas.
Read our full Q&A with Caterway here.
Functional spaces
Go extraordinary for your next big event. Check out a couple of Cityscape’s recommended venues:
Pegasus Bay Winery, for a fantastic restaurant with breathtaking gardens and award-winning wines.
The Tack Rooms, for a boutique accommodation and function space that serves as a springboard for living it up in the heart of Christchurch.
The Court Theatre, for bringing an element of the theatrical to your group funciton, ceremony or event.
Lighthouse Brewing Company, for a function, party, gig or birthday bash with a view of the brewery.
Three Boys Brewery, for a comfy space with an ever-changing menu of small-batch brews.
Read more: Off-the-beaten-path venues
Edible elements of design
Victoria Food Service’s team have mastered the modern art of creating grazing tables. The displays are works of design, towering with locally-sourced food and peppered with hidden gems. As well as grazing tables, Victoria Food Service can cater all kinds of meals and flavour-popping canapés. It’s the go-to service for gorgeous Christchurch venues including The Piano, Isaac Theatre Royal, and Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.
For all your twisted ideas
It seems there’s nothing you could say to Sally and Kate of Twisted Flour & Sugar Merchants to make them blink; they’ve done it all. A Heineken bottle cap cake? Tick. A safari party cake, complete with a hippo, a rhino and a lion, all wearing party hats? Tick. A cookies and cream flavoured slippery silver salmon cake? Tick. And every one of them looks absolutely perfect, without a fish scale or a hippo tooth out of place. Twisted Flour & Sugar Merchants also puts together irresistible grazing tables, savoury boxes, and a sweet box that’s packed full of sacchariferous goodies no sweet-tooth could resist.