Cooks Share Their Favourite Methods to Improve Their Dinner Events — And They’re So Straightforward to Do

As we speak, a few of the most magical eating experiences occur tableside. A cart is wheeled to your desk with a full T-bone steak — it’s expertly sliced, positioned in your plate, and completed with jus. Bananas are flambéed earlier than your eyes, the odor of rum and brown butter filling the room. Even the only motions — pasta getting completed with a sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano or black pepper from an extra-large pepper mill — can elevate a dish.

“2025 restaurant developments emphasize creating areas designed for entertaining, and reworking eating rooms into atmospheric, partaking environments the place dinner turns into a efficiency that captivates everybody on the desk,” says Kris Padalino, government chef of Brennan’s in New Orleans. “The theatrical side turns an peculiar dinner right into a memorable expertise that company will speak about lengthy after they go away.”

Tableside eating would possibly really feel like one thing unique to high-end eating places, however in actuality, many of those strategies and flairs will be simply replicated at house. On the forty second annual Meals & Wine Basic in Aspen, chef and tv host Tyler Florence can be instructing attendees the right way to improve dinner events with the magic of tableside service. 

“I at all times attempt to save a bit little bit of what I name the ‘razzle dazzle’ for when the company arrive,” he says. From wow-worthy dish preparations to easy hacks, listed below are seven methods to include restaurant-style tableside eating into your subsequent banquet.

Have massive plateware readily available

If you happen to’re getting ready meals for a crowd, it’s at all times greatest to have a handful of dependable serving platters and bowls. Use them to current your meal household type, or to finish dishes in entrance of your company. If you happen to’re going to put money into one, jumbo-sized merchandise, Florence recommends getting a giant picket bowl. 

“Having a very good outsized picket bowl is a superb piece of kit to have within the kitchen. You’ll be able to go away it on the counter and fill it with lemons or apples, however whenever you want a presentation bowl for eight to 12 folks, you’ve acquired one readily available.” Florence makes use of his picket bowl to toss large-format salads, inserting it atop a moist towel to forestall it from sliding round.

For outside events, make the meat the principle occasion

At barbecues and outside events, Florence will usually grill a big minimize of meat like beef tenderloin, then slice it in entrance of his company. “I like serving beef tenderloin as a result of you may make the most of 100% of it and it’s a showstopper piece,” he says. “Then slicing it into medallions or two-inch slices for everybody to seize a bit, household type, is admittedly enjoyable.”

Learn to flambé (safely)

A number of the most spectacular, conventional tableside dishes, like bananas foster and steak Diane, are flambéed, however deliberately igniting an open flame inside your private home will be intimidating and, frankly, scary. 

If you happen to’re making a dish like cherries jubilee — ice cream topped with cherries which were flambéed in brandy — there’s no want in your get together to crowd round a scorching burner. As an alternative, deliver the cooked cherries on to the desk to flambée, then rigorously spoon it over every visitor’s bowl of ice cream.

When unsure, make a Caesar salad

“Caesar salad is the best starter dish for house cooks to grasp tableside eating,” says Padalino. The Caesar salad at Brennan’s in New Orleans is likely one of the restaurant’s most iconic tableside experiences, second solely to the bananas foster. “The fantastic thing about the Caesar salad is it requires nearly no particular tools past what most cooks already personal.”

You can also make the dressing by hand in a bowl utilizing a whisk or two massive spoons, or pre-make it in a blender. Add the lettuce, croutons, Parmesan, and anchovies, and “toss with a dramatic aptitude,” Padalino says. At Miller & Lux, Florence’s San Francisco restaurant, servers are instructed to “stack it excessive and watch it fly.”

“The bigger items of lettuce and people act as a base, after which stack the leaves up like a deck of playing cards from large to small,” says Florence. “Then with one scoop on the underside and the opposite holding the stack in place, you carry [the lettuce] up, and all of it will get dropped [on the plate] in a stupendous stack.”

End your dish on the desk

In relation to tableside eating, a few of the smallest touches make the largest affect. “It’s simply enjoyable to complete a dish in entrance of [your guests],” says Florence. “Grating cheese, drizzling one thing with olive oil, or tossing a salad with a French dressing created from scratch — these issues create a magical area.”