We’ve called in the best in the business, AKA Jessica Nguyen, to help us nail the at-home dinner party.
Do you have a friend who has the whole hosting thing down pat? The kind of person who serves an epic three-course meal without breaking a sweat, introduces you to incredible wines, and scapes a table that makes it to everyone’s Instagram? We do, and her name is Jessica Nguyen.
Jessica recently hosted Dan’s Night In, an intimate dinner at her house with some of our nearest and dearest. On the menu? Outrageous snacks to start, followed by canh bắp cải gói thịt, or Vietnamese stuffed cabbage soup for entree, and the pièce de résistance? The lamb ragu lasagne rotolo and, lucky for all of us, Jessica was kind enough to share the recipe.
Each course was paired to some of this year’s Best in Glass Wine Award winners – the guests had big love for several standouts, including Rieslingfreak’s No. 34 Riesling, French sparkling Sieur D’Arques Cremant de Limoux, the Frescobaldi Nipozzano Riserva, a Chianti, and Greenock Creek’s Four Cuttings Cabernet Sauvignon. So, because Jessica is the best host we know, we asked her for the 411 on how to nail a dinner party.
The menu is key to any dinner party, and Jessica says lasagne is a foolproof dish because it can be made in advance, you can batch it, and, if you’re a serious planner, it can even be frozen. Jessica says lasagne is always a crowd pleaser. “I will say, though, lasagnes are a labour of love and a time-consuming dish, so if you don't have a few hours to spare making it, I’d pick another dish.”
Speaking of time, Jessica says when you’re hosting, it’s important to do as much prep as possible in the day (or more) prior to the event. “From cleaning the house, grabbing all of the produce and drinks, setting the table, prepping the food as much as you can the day before, so you’re mostly just assembling the food on the day.” And remember to build in a timing buffer, in case of emergencies. “I prepare mostly everything the day before, so I have the day of the dinner to run out and get anything I might have missed.”
Jessica’s big rule is that she never cooks a dish for a dinner party that she hasn’t made before. “I always pull together menus that are easy to be prepped, ideally in stages or in advance, but also ones I’ve made countless times that I can almost cook blindfolded, so that if I’m down to the wire, I can cook confidently and quickly using muscle memory.”
Let’s talk drinks. “My general rule on drinks is to serve your best drinks first,” Jessica says. She usually starts with a welcome cocktail that she prepares before guests arrive. Or if you prefer a glass of bubbles, Jessica says fizz is another great option that’s easy to serve. “The first drink is usually the first thing that hits their mouth, even before food, so you want it to set the tone for the evening. It allows people to relax and settle into the night, and it also gives you a buffer to quickly finish prepping the rest of the menu.”
When hosting, Jessica likes to use her large drinks cooler that sits outside on her deck. “I usually order a few bags of ice from Dan Murphy's on Doordash about three hours before the event, so the drinks are chilled once my guests arrive,” she says. We love a get-drinks-cold-fast-hack. Jessica says not only does the cooler keep the drinks frosty, but it also becomes a dedicated drinks station. “My guests can help themselves throughout the night. Meanwhile, my fridge stores all of the food and it keeps people out of my kitchen.”
As for any hosting faux-pas, Jessica says they’re mostly to do with not considering your guests properly – like asking for dietaries before you even start thinking about the menu. “It also comes down to the rules you live by. One of my personal faux-pas is wearing shoes in my house and while I know not everyone lives by this rule, I’ll provide slippers for guests so when they take off their shoes they still feel comfortable. My close friends even BYO slippers to my house now.”
So, what’s a no-go for a dinner party? “Hosting isn’t easy, and if this is your first rodeo, don’t bite off more than you can chew,” Jessica says, “If you become stressed and overwhelmed, that energy will transfer to your guests and the evening and, ultimately, you don’t want to go to all the trouble of hosting to not actually enjoy it.”
Jessica says she loves throwing dinner parties with all the trimmings and it’s her happy place, but she has years of experience with hosting. “I also appreciate the small, simpler dinners with friends because sometimes life only allows for that. Sometimes that means asking everyone to bring a dish or a bottle of wine, ordering in the food, and doing snacks instead of a three-course meal,” she says. “The key part of hosting is to prioritise the act of gathering and connecting with your loved ones over the elaborateness of the meal.”
