Shiza Shahid, CEO of the viral Our Place cookware brand, invites home cooks into an "ideal world" where we're all "throwing dinner parties at least once a month" in Dinner at Our Place: Recipes for Gathering. With input from 11 additional home cooks (many of whom are chefs, but all of whom are known as "host, curator, gathering specialist"), the recipes here are combined with menus, conversation topics, bar suggestions, tablescapes, plating advice, and playlist recommendations to offer a year's worth of dinner party ideas for readers, one for each month.
The food in Our Place spans the world just as it spans the seasons: Shahid shares her recipe for chana masala, explaining why the traditional comfort food in Pakistan makes it onto her January entertaining menu. Maryah Ananda, in presenting her spring-themed menu for April, recalls the Laotian feasts of her childhood: "They taught me that food is a language everyone speaks, and it's my favorite one to communicate in." For August, Devonn Francis lays out an immersive food experience in his "Reimagined Caribbean Feast," with dishes like Jerk Shrimp Skewers and Sweet Star Fruit & Salted Ice Cream. Angel Dimayuga conjures a stoop party in October with a potion-themed drinks bar and creepy snacks to accompany.
Individually, each monthly menu offers inspiration and ideas for gatherings large or small, indoors or out, loud or quiet. Collectively, these spreads are a celebration of the "ritualistic reverence" and "generosity" of opening one's home to others. Dinner at Our Place is a reminder of how important gathering over lovingly prepared food can be, as a source of connection and joy. It's a timely invitation to play with new traditions for your people--whoever they may be. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer