How To Host A French Dinner Party
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Source: Annie Spratt
If you’ve never attended a French dinner party, you might imagine it as a formal affair involving elaborate courses eaten with expensive champagne in luxurious Parisian apartments. And although the French take their eating customs seriously, most dinner parties aren’t so extravagant. In fact, the art of hosting like the French means keeping it effortless: guests converse with one another while enjoying delicious food and drinks and each moment is fully savored without haste.
While you can implement French dining habits in your daily life, hosting a French dinner party is the ideal opportunity to enjoy a meal with your friends and family while sharing French culture and cuisine. If you’re curious about how to host your own French dinner party, here is everything you need to know to master the art of hosting the French way.
Create The Right Ambiance
Set the mood for your dinner party by choosing the appropriate playlist. For a more calming atmosphere, try classical or soft jazz music. To liven up the party, choose modern pop hits or upbeat indie songs.
For the ultimate French-themed soirée, skip the outdated accordion tunes and opt for a playlist with hits from French artists like Charles Aznavour and Edith Piaf. No matter what genre of music you choose, make sure it suits the tastes of your guests and sets the tone for the atmosphere you want to create.
The right lighting can also elevate the ambiance of your French dinner party. Dim the lights for a more cozy, intimate atmosphere. Depending on the season and your space, you might open the windows to let in some fresh air. And if you happen to be dining al fresco, hanging a few strands of string lights will add a warm glow to your gathering.
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Set The Table
When it comes to setting the table for your French dinner party, keep it effortless, yet chic. With a few simple touches, you can create a sophisticated table setting that will impress your guests without appearing too extravagant.
Start with a basic tablecloth in cotton or linen. You can find them in natural tones for a more classic look, or with interesting textures and bright hues to add intrigue to your dining table. While you can iron the tablecloth, you don’t need to. The slightly wrinkled fabric adds an element of French effortlessness to the table setting.
Next, add your dinner plates and cutlery. To contrast the casualness of the tablecloth, choose a formal dinner plate. You can use whatever plates are already own or pick up vintage ones from your local flea market. They can even be mismatched if you please. Place the necessary cutlery next to each plate, usually a fork (on the left side of the plate), knife and spoon (both on the right side).
Wine is an essential for a French dinner party. Choose small, simple wine glasses to add to the table setting. Next to each wine glass, place a flat, stemless water glass. They should be shorter than your wine glasses. A set of glass cups from Duralex are a great option that you’ll find in many cafés and homes in France.
Top each plate with a folded linen napkin. Make sure to wash your napkins, but like the tablecloth, you don’t need to iron them.
If you’re serving food on the table, set down a few trivets. A glass bottle or carafe is a staple in French homes. Add one or two to your table so that your guests can easily refill their water glasses.
Add a modest bouquet of flowers from your local florist or farmer’s market and scentless candlesticks to the table. Light the candles before your dinner party starts so that they burn down slightly and don’t appear too new.
Avoid overcrowding the table. Remember, less is more!
French Dinner Party Menu
Creating a delicious menu can be one of the most complicated parts of hosting a French dinner party. However, by planning ahead of time, you’ll be able to put together a dinner stress-free.
Keep your French dinner party menu simple. Skip overly complicated recipes that you’ve never tried before. Choose recipes that you’re comfortable making and that you can prepare ahead of time. To make your role as host or hostess easier, you can also serve quality, store-bought dishes from local vendors.
Dining like the French is all about the different courses. Instead of serving all of the food at once, dishes are enjoyed one at a time, allowing you and your guests to slow down and savor each course. A typical French dinner party follows a standard formula: aperitif, entrée (starter), plat principal (main dish), cheese, dessert, coffee, and digestif.
It’s important to keep the portions small so that your guests can enjoy the full dinner. If your guests have never attended a French dinner party and are unfamiliar with French dining customs, inform them in advance of the menu so they don’t overeat during a course.
Aperitif
Start the evening by unwinding with a pre-dinner drink and some small plates, usually in the living room or on the patio. The aperitif is about spending time with your guests and preparing your palate for the meal to follow. Here are a few of classic aperitif drink choices:
White wine
Rosé
Champagne
Kir Royale (champagne with creme de cassis)
Pastis
Suze
Aperol Spritz
Martini
A seasonal cocktail
Syrup with water or seltzer (non-alcoholic option)
You can offer your guests almost anything for an aperitif expect for red wine, which is usually reserved for mealtime.
Alongside the aperitif drink, serve a small snack plates. You don’t want to serve too much food and drink during the aperitif as it can quickly spoil your guests’ appetites. Here are some simple aperitif snack ideas:
Olives
Sausage
Crackers or pretzels
Mixed nuts
Tapenade or pâté on small toasts
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Entrée
Once everyone has arrived and has enjoyed an aperitif, invite your guests to the table and serve the entrée. This course is usually a simple dish that you can prepare yourself or purchase premade. Here are a few delicious entrée options:
Vegetable quiche
Seasonal soup
Salade niçoise
Pâté de campagne
Œufs mimosa
Caviar d’aubergine
Plat Principal
The plat principal or main dish is usually the most elaborate, heaviest course that the host will prepare themselves. Don’t forget to have a baguette or two on the table to accompany the main meal. Here are some impressive main course ideas that are easy to prepare:
Ratatouille
Coq au vin
Pot-au-feu
Salmon en papillote
Gratin dauphinois
Endives au jambon
Some other ideas include meat or seafood with seasonal vegetables, pasta, couscous, tajine, and fondue.
Cheese
The traditional French cheese course is enjoyed after the main dish and usually features a selection of cheeses from different regions, made from different types of milk (cow, goat and sheep’s milk), and offering different flavors and textures.
Visit your local cheese shop or deli and pick up a few varieties to add to your platter. Depending on the number of guests, you’ll ideally offer 3-7 types of cheese. Here are some different varieties of cheese to consider serving:
Soft cheese: Brie, Camembert, Emmental, Époisses, Livarot, Pont-L’Évêque, Reblochon
Hard cheese: Abondance, Beaufort, Cantal, Comté, Mimolette, Tomme de Savoie
Blue and goat’s cheese: Bleu d’Auvergne, Fourme d’Ambert, Roquefort, Saint-Agur (blue cheeses); Banon, Brocciu, Cabécou, Pélardon, Sainte-Maure, Valençay (goat’s cheese)
Arrange the cheese on the platter from softer to stronger flavor, which is the best order to taste it in. Remember to take the cheese out of the fridge up to 2 hours before serving to let the flavors develop. Don’t worry about pre-slicing the cheese. In France it’s common to place a large piece of each cheese on a plate or serving board that is passed around the table. This way diners can cut and serve themselves their desired portion.
Familiarize yourself and your dinner party guests with the proper way to cut cheese. Proper French cheese etiquette is important in order to fully enjoy the cheese course.
Don’t forget to serve the cheese with a freshly baked baguette and a simple salad. This is the perfect occasion to make a trip to a local bakery and splurge on good quality bread. It can quickly be consumed by your guests, so I recommend buying a few extra baguettes to ensure you have enough for both the main dish and cheese course. Keep the salad as uncomplicated as possible to avoid overshadowing the flavor of the cheeses. Try a mixed green or lettuce salad with a vinaigrette or just olive oil.
Dessert
With so many delicious options available, dessert is often purchased from a local French bakery rather than homemade. Visit your local bakery and pick up a few treats to delight your guests. You can opt for a larger dessert that can be sliced like a cake or tart or try a variety of smaller treats like macarons or madeleines which guests can choose from. If you prefer to prepare your own dessert, here are a few traditional French dessert options:
Fruit tart (with seasonal fruit)
Cherry clafoutis
Babas au rhum
Chocolate mousse
Tarte tatin
Vanilla pots de crème
Coffee
In France coffee is served as a separate course after the dessert. However, you can skip this course and enjoy your coffee with dessert if you prefer. Prepare a simple pot of coffee or tea or espressos if you have an espresso machine. Similar to the aperitif, coffee is served in a relaxed atmosphere either at the table or in the living room. For the bec sucré (person with a sweet tooth), you can offer chocolates, truffles or other small treats. Dark chocolate is ideal as it can enhance the aroma and taste of the coffee.
Digestif
A digestif is an alcoholic drink served after a meal to aid with digestion. While aperitifs are designed to liven your palate, digestif are richer with a higher alcohol percentage to help you relax. Offer your dinner party guests a small dose of a strong alcoholic beverage such as Absinthe, Calvados, Armagnac, Eau de Vie, Cognac, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or Génépi.
Wine Pairing Basics
No French dinner party would be complete without wine, and the French follow specific rules when it comes to drinking wine. Always serve wines from lightest to darkest, starting with white wine or rosé before opening a bottle of red wine. White wines tend to pair better with lighter foods such as vegetables, chicken and fish. Red wines often go well with red meat and heavier dishes. Sparkling wine can be even served with a variety of dishes because it acts as a palate cleanser. Choose a bottle of wine for each course or just one to appreciate with the plat principal.
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Enjoy At A Leisurely Pace
As you pass hours at the table, indulging in numerous courses, it’s easy to hurry through your meal. Acting as host or hostess can urge you even more to finish each course before your guests. Remember, slow down. Allow the evening to unfold at a leisurely pace as you delight in a delicious meal and enjoy conversation with your guests.
Are you hosting a French dinner party? What dishes are you serving? Let me know in the comments below.