How To Host a French Inspired Dinner Party

French dinner parties are our favorite kinds of parties to host! It’s no secret we are big Francophiles over here. I have been for years and ever since our trip to France last year, Bassam has joined me in my love for all things French. We especially love the dining culture in France and decided to bring a little bit of that home with this French inspired dinner party we recently hosted. Here are all the tricks we used in case you’re wondering how to host your own French dinner party. Bon Appetit!

How To Host a French Dinner Party

Plan and shop like you’re in France for your French dinner party

Farm-to-table isn’t just a trend in France, it’s a way of life. A big part of shopping for any French dinner is visiting the local market and specialty shops. Steal this trick by buying fresh seasonal ingredients and planning your dinner menu around what’s available at your local farmers market. {Read tips for shopping the farmers market here} If possible, purchase cheese from a cheese shop, bread from a bakery, and dessert from your favorite dessert shop. The quality will be much better and it’ll make all the difference in your dinner! Plus, it’s just so much fun to shop this way, which will make your prep feel so much more enjoyable.

Play relaxing, cozy background music for your French dinner party

You don’t want the music to be distracting and catch everyone’s attention, but you don’t want it to be an afterthought either. Play relaxing, cozy music that sets the tone for the atmosphere you want to create. I love the Pandora music station “French Cooking”. I also play this station while cooking as it gets me in the mood for my French dinner party.

Set an effortless but beautiful table for your French dinner party

Effortless beauty, isn’t that the French way? Achieve a beautiful but approachable look by pairing nice dishes and cloth napkins with some whimsical or rustic elements. You can mismatch your dishes, tie in seasonal touches like a mini pumpkin place card on each plate, or add some unexpected conversation starters in your centerpiece. Don’t forget flowers and plenty of candles, but don’t overcrowd the table. Less is more. I like to light the candles a bit before the dinner party starts so that they burn down to a cozier and more inviting height. Brand new candles have too much of a sense of formality to them. I also love bringing in natural elements to make the tablescape look less fussy and a bit rustic. I usually just cut some leaves from outside or snag some of the extra leaves from the bouquet of flowers that I used for my table arrangements.

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Keep it simple and easy for your French dinner party menu

Keep the French dinner party menu easy and simple. A French dinner party is never fussy. The focus should be on you enjoying your time with your guests. People didn’t come over just for the food, they came to spend time with you and create memories. The goal should be for you to spend the least amount of time in the kitchen as possible so that you can entertain your guests and make sure they are having a fabulous time. A stressed host does not lend itself to a fun atmosphere. A dinner party is not the time to try overly complicated recipes and stress yourself out. Stick to recipes you’re comfortable and familiar with or are very easy to pull together.

I usually choose a dinner menu that I can prepare ahead of time, so I don’t have to do much in the moment. If I can’t prepare it all in advance, I at least prepare the parts so it’s easy to pull together. For example, I’ll have the main course assembled and I’ll just stick it in the oven when we start on appetizers.

You can always go the store bought route as well and purchase some frozen appetizers you can pop in the oven or a dessert from your local bakery. Here are a few of the frozen apps from Trader Joe’s we love to add to your French dinner party menu:

• Spinach and kale bites
• Spinach and cheese stuffed mushrooms
• Spinach and artichoke dip
• Arancini bites
• Pastry bites with feta and caramelized onions

Start with an apertif

The apertif (or apero for short), is one of our favorite parts of a French dinner. Some Americans will compare it to an appetizer, but it’s not quite that. It’s more a pre appetizer and a way to open up the taste buds and stimulate one’s appetite. You don’t want to serve too much during the apertif so that it doesn’t spoil your guests’ appetites.

The apertif consists of a a drink that helps open up the appetite. Here are a few of our favorite apertif drink choices:

• Champagne – make this feel extra special by dropping a cherry at the bottom of the glass {I love the amarena cherries from Trader Joe’s that are imported from Italy} or offering a few fruity liquors that your guests can add to their glass
• Rose {no red wine just yet!}
• Kir royale – champagne with creme de cassis
• A seasonal cocktail
• Aperol spritz

Alongside the apertif drink, very small bites are typically served. Think SMALL. Some olives, maybe some nuts. Bassam had a really hard time with this during the dinner we hosted because he felt it wasn’t enough food, but you want to make sure no one is getting full. The point is just the stimulate the appetite. Here are some great apertif nibbles:

• Baby tomatoes – when in season, baby tomatoes can be such a delight!
• Olives
• Roasted garbanzo beans – roast cooked garbanzos at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Toss with olive oil and your favorite spices. I like using a chili olive oil and zaatar {a middle eastern spice blend}
• Assortment of nuts

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Serve a coursed dinner for the French dinner party menu

A coursed dinner is one of our favorite parts of a French dinner! Move to a dining table for this portion and provide ample time between courses. The point is to slow down and have time to enjoy the food and the company. Keep the portions small so that your guests can enjoy the full dinner, but make sure it’s enough food so everyone leaves satisfied. Serve wine with dinner and go from light to dark wines. Also have a basket of bread available at the table.

If any of the courses need cook time, I typically put them in at the start of the previous course. If any courses can be pre prepared, like a cheese plate or a salad, I’ll prep and plate them and then keep the plates in the fridge until they are ready to be served.

Here are some of our favorite French dinner party menu ideas:

Entrée {appetizer} French Dinner Party Menu Ideas:

This is usually a simple dish for traditional French dinner parties. Many French people will even purchase something premade for this course to keep it simpler. Here are a few of our favorite entrée options:

• Endive blue cheese salad – Arrange endive leaves around the plate like a flower. Sprinkle with walnuts, chopped apple, and blue cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and honey
• Vegetable quiche or a vegetarian tart – I’ve made this vegan mushroom tart before and it was a big hit!
• A seasonal soup
• Fig & goat cheese tartine – Toast a slice of good bread, spread with goat cheese, top with sliced fresh or dried figs, and drizzle with honey
• Lemon cheesy shaved Brussels sprout salad – recipe here

Plat principal {main course} French Dinner Party Menu Ideas:

The main course is the pièce de résistance and typically the course the French will put the most effort into for their French dinner party. You want this dish to be as spectacular as possible while still being relatively easy for you to prepare. Here are some of our favorite plat principal dishes:

• Salmon en papillote – A fancy term for a simple dish. This looks very impressive but is so easy. Place a piece of salmon in a piece of parchment paper, add matchstick cut vegetables next to it {we like zucchini and carrots}, drizzle with olive oil and spices, cook at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. You can pass around little scissors at the table for everyone to cut open their parchment packages or open it up yourself before serving
• Pasta with a poached egg – This dish involves a little more in the moment work as you’ll need to make the poached eggs just before serving, so it will work best if you have a very small party. If you can find a freshly made pasta, use that, it’ll make a huge difference. We buy a fresh made pasta from our local farmers market. We make a lemon parmesan sauce for it and then top it with the poached egg. So good!
• Chicken roll-ups – Before Bassam stopped eating chicken, this was one I made all the time for dinner parties. Buy chicken that has already been cut into tenders or cut it yourself into strips. Mix together ricotta cheese, chopped spinach and chopped olives. Place the mixture at the center of each chicken strip, roll the strip, and secure with a toothpick. Bake at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Top with marinara sauce and serve

Other ideas include: a chicken dish + side of seasonal vegetables, lasagna, pasta with shrimp {we love this red pepper vegan cream sauce},

Cheese Course

Our favorite course of a French dinner party! In France the cheese course comes after the main food, not before. There are several reasons for this, including that cheese is alkaline and helps reduce acid after a meal. We love that there’s something delicious to look forward to at the end of the meal {besides dessert} and you most likely won’t over eat it because you aren’t very hungry at that point.

You can choose to plate the cheese or to pass around a cheese board that your guests can serve themselves from. Whichever way you decide to serve the cheese, take them out of the fridge 30-45 minutes before serving so that the flavors develop. Provide 3-5 cheeses, with a mix of textures and flavors. You’ll want to provide a soft cheese, sharp, mild, creamy, etc so that there will be something for everyone. Here are the types we typically offer:

• Brie
• Manchego
• Comte
• Blue
• Goat

It can be nice to provide a few add ons on the cheese board. We like:

• Grapes
• Walnuts
• Jam
• Dried figs

Dessert French Dinner Party Menu Ideas:

Since French bakeries are so wonderful, the dessert course is often purchased rather than homemade. Since I don’t particularly enjoy making dessert, I tend to purchase it. If you enjoy baking, you may want to make the dessert course yourself. As with the other courses, aim to choose something you can prepare in advance. Here are some great dessert options:

• Chocolate or caramel mousse
• Chocolate souffle
• Fruit tart
• Creme brulée
• Tarte tatin (upside down apple pie)

Coffee Course

In France coffee is served as a separate course and not with dessert. {Are you starting see why these French dinner parties take so long?} Offer tea for those that don’t drink coffee, but otherwise just make a simple pot of coffee or espressos if you have an espresso machine. Coffee can be served right at the table, in the kitchen, or in the living room.

We hope you enjoy hosting a French inspired dinner as much as we did!

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