How to Throw a Spur-of-the-Moment Summer Dinner Party

Photograph by Simon Bevan

Some of the most memorable summer evenings start out with an impromptu dinner party, just because it’s too beautiful to call it a night (or because company drops by unexpectedly). How to pull off a festive dinner when there’s no time to run to the grocery store, the florist, or the farmer’s market? Here are a few tips from Jill Donenfeld, chef, cookbook writer who, and co-founder of in-home chef company The Culinistas.

1. To be ready on a moment’s notice, keep a few essentials on hand. An instant dinner? “Pasta, anchovies, tomato paste, lemons, walnuts,” Donenfeld says, almost all of which you can keep stocked in the pantry.

Photograph by Nicole Franzen

2. Shop the house. “Any textiles, bright and patterned, that can be used as a tablecloth or runner,” Donenfeld says. “Light all the candles you have and dim the lights.”

Photograph by Heikki Aho for Remodelista

3. Don’t feel like you need big flower arrangements to make it a party. “Float flowers in bowls—anything you find on a walk, forage, or get from the grocer,” says Donenfeld.

Photograph by Natalie Weiss and styling by Alexa Hotz 

4. Let food double as decor. “Line the center of the table with “a long trough of steamed clams." It’ll do double duty as a first course and give a sense of fresh-from-the-sea abundance.

Photograph by Aya Brackett for Remodelista

5. Add bits and bobs from nature. “If you are a collector of rocks or shells, find your prettiest pieces and place one at each person’s table setting: plate, napkin on top, a piece of coral to secure it,” Donenfeld says.

Photography by Chikae Howland,  courtesy of Laetitia Mayor and Notary Ceramics.

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Photography by Chikae Howland,  courtesy of Laetitia Mayor and Notary Ceramics.