Dinner parties are back: but smaller, more casual – and with Twiglets

Dinners used to consist of perfectly puffed soufflés, anice bottle of wine, and a group of friends and acquaintances who each had as many valid points to make about elections as they did about electronic music. It was a sophisticated way to introduce friends who might get along, or even get together — and a chance to potentially endear your boss to you outside of the office and its politics.

Today, however, it all seems like a ceremony from a bygone era – one mercilessly satirized by Mike Leigh in his 1977 play Abigail's Party< /em>. Even Nigella Lawson, previously queen of domestic hosting, said last year that she rarely threw extravagant dinner parties.

But far from being dead and buried, dinner is back. , according to experts, but this time with a decidedly modern makeover for a new generation.

According to a recent Waitrose Cooking Report, more than a third of those surveyed said that “dinner” was an old-fashioned term. Dig beneath Lawson's comments and it becomes clear that she doesn't really mean that she never hosts dinner parties, but rather that they are smaller affairs than the lavish parties she once threw, involving often two or three people rather than the value of a minivan. . She keeps things more casual, such as offering Twiglets as an appetizer. Because dinners, if we call them that, are becoming more and more casual.

This is partly due to the rise of midweek dinners, which according to a recent survey by Ocado and Savanta ComRes are making a comeback thanks to an increase in the number of people working from home. A different type of cooking is now possible midweek.

“It's easier to put a complex recipe, like a stew or beef bourguignon, and let it cook for hours in the kitchen, while you work from home,” says Tristan Welch, a hospitality consultant and chef who helps restaurant and service companies through the cost of living crisis.

Casual doesn't necessarily mean low effort. On TikTok, Gen Z has come up with the idea of ​​going to a friend's house for a bowl of pasta with many aesthetic setups. The platform is full of videos of young people in their twenties laying out tablecloths from car trunks and pastel-colored candles in preparation for drinking Aperols with friends around penne.

This change could happen, Welch thinks. , is partly due to the rising cost of living: “Friends are choosing to dine at home rather than dining out. If you can afford the time and free space, it's cheaper. »

Rosie Kellett, chef, food writer and supper club host, thinks the current mood for dinner parties is deeper, too. “We are in the middle of multiple crises; a climate crisis, a cost of living crisis, a housing crisis, etc. and what this has ultimately led to, in my opinion, is a community crisis. We all crave community, in one way or another, and coming together to share a meal is the ultimate way to experience that. Living in a warehouse, she documents her adventures in cooking and communal dining on Instagram. Dinner parties offer a chance to get creative. For people whose algorithm bombards them daily with content about creating x from y on Instagram, but who wonder when they'll get the chance to try something similar for themselves, dinner may be the ideal forum.

'Table setting' can be elaborate or involve a few mismatched plates from charity shops and park forage bushes. For hosts, it's a way to spend time with friends without having to go out on a humid January evening.

After the pandemic, it makes sense that hosts people want to welcome their loved ones. everyone to share their spaces which, until relatively recently, were necessarily private. “Being invited is a big thing in itself,” says Welch. “If you are invited to a dinner party, you know that they love you and are happy to share their family life.”

Of course for some, no matter the tricks Budgetary or precariousness, barriers such as the size of your apartment and food budgets mean that dinners will remain out of reach. According to a study conducted by Peerspace, which...