Want to know how to turn your parties from disastrous to divine? Or perhaps you're seeking the crowning touch to raise your fêtes to fine art?
Pull up a chair and chat with Karen von Hahn, who writes about Judith Tatar's fabulous dinner party and the art of social mixology in Saturday's Globe and Mail.
"Judith is the 21st-century version of the celebrated hostesses of times past, a latter-day Madame de Pompadour or Elsa Maxwell — the kind of social maven Malcolm Gladwell would call a 'connector.' A natural hostess who relishes the role, Judith has a lot to teach those foolish enough to proclaim the dinner party dead," Ms. von Hahn writes.
Whatever your hospitality quotient, she'll have some tips for you. Ms. von Hahn joined us on-line to answer reader questions on Monday. Your questions and Ms. von Hahn's answers will appear at the bottom of the page.
Related Articles
Internet Links
- globestyle: Entertaining special
- Seen and heard: Karen von Hahn narrates photos from the party
- Photo gallery: The prep
- Photo gallery: The flowers
- Photo gallery: The food
- Photo gallery: The table
- Photo gallery: The fashion
Ms. von Hahn writes about everything trend-setting and cool in her weekly Style section column, Noticed. Karen is the country's pre-eminent voice on trends in the art of consumption. As host and producer of the groundbreaking television program The Goods, she introduced a whole new way of looking at social trends through the material world. An award-winning journalist and frequent contributor to a variety of publications from En Route to House & Home, Karen is also the author of The Hip Guide to Toronto.
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Rebecca Dube, globeandmail.com: Hello Ms. von Hahn, and thanks so much for joining us on-line today to talk about entertaining. Now, most of us aren't born hostesses like Judith Tatar, whose dinner party you chronicled in this weekend's special entertaining session -- although most of us do like to entertain (and be entertained!). What sort of tips or tricks did you pick up from Ms. Tatar that might be helpful whether you're thowing a big party or a casual get-together with friends? Anything that inspired you particularly?
Karen von Hahn: My pleasure, Rebecca. It was really fascinating following a great hostess through her preparations, because entertaining is one of those things, like parenting, where the harder you've worked at it, the more it looks like you've done nothing. What I learned from Judith was two things: one, you can't prepare enough in advance. Everything from how the evening is going to flow, who is going to be there and where they're going to sit and what they'll eat and drink to a careful schedule of the evening's unfolding should be thought out well in advance. And the more prepared you are, the more it will look like it's a breeze. The other thing Judith taught me is to take chances with your guests: The more you mix them up, the more lively an evening its going to be.
Michael De Jong, Canada: What was the total cost for the celebration?
Karen von Hahn: Entertaining in high style using experienced professional help in the way that Judith Tatar did can be expensive. In all, the cost for the evening, including liquor, food, wait staff and flowers, was close to $2000. But what we wanted to do with this story was to give people ideas and inspiration for things that they could try themselves at home, which one can certainly do with this party, and at much less expense, if one does a lot of the work on their own.
Terry Weber, globeandmail.com: We have a small number of friends who are vegetarian. When we include them in a dinner party is it appropriate to keep the entire menu vegetarian or is it acceptable to simply offer them a vegetarian alternative to the main course?
