The Art of the Buffet
May 5th, 2008 | Published in Entertaining
For anyone who doesn’t have a caterer up their sleeve, a buffet is the most practical and flexible way to entertain any sized group for many reasons. First of all, you can prepare all of the food ahead of time and set it out before guests arrive. Guests can serve themselves, thereby sparing you the need to wait on them; as the host, you too are free to mingle. In the case of an open house, guests can come and go over an extended period. And you can offer a more creative variety of dishes than would be practical at a seated meal.
There are five underlying principals of a great looking buffet:
- Use lavish quantities of the decorating materials you have selected—whether it’s taffeta or burlap.
- Be bold with your color choices, and bold can mean all black, all gold or the excitement created by contrasting purple and yellow.
- Arrange the food at various heights and angles. Flat food looks boring!
- On a buffet, bigger is better. Big baskets, boxes, platters or trays filled with bountiful quantities of food is inviting.
- There should be some focal point for the buffet. It doesn’t have to be in the center, and it doesn’t have to be flowers. A bushel basket of cornstalks combined with cattails at the end of the table might be just the right touch for a fall buffet.
Dippers and Scoopers
One of the challenges of a standup cocktail or hors d’oeuvres party is snacking logistics. As a guest, how many times have you had to balance a plate on your head in order to shake someone’s hand without spilling your wine? Undoubtedly the answer is, “too many.”
Spare your guests the cocktail hour contortions and plan a menu around foods that can benefit from skewers or edible vessels as simple as a spear of endive or puff pastry tartlet—eliminating the need for a plate. Your guests will thank you and you’ll have fewer dishes to do. Just be sure to have plenty of napkins at the ready for foodie fingers.
