In recent years, cultural observers have lamentedthe death of the dinner party.
“You may want the dinner party to come back, harkening back to another era.
But it will never happen,” socialite Louise Grunwald toldThe New York Times.
Lizzy Mathis begs to differ.
But don’t expect these get-togethers to be anything like the stuffy sit-down dinners your parents or grandparents hosted.
Canyou tell me something about that?
We are so excited about “Dinner Party People” on Tastemade.
This show is so fun.
It ranges [across] all different types of people.
We did Biker Bob, who had an amazing barbecue.
We did Jamaican food.
We have the gamut, and it was a lot of fun.
Could you tell me a bit about how you foundthe party hosts that are on the show?
All the party hosts are so different from each other, which is really great.
The casting process was a lot of fun.
We wanted to showcase different people and different ways you could throw a dinner party.
That’s really cool because we [ran] the gamut.
That’s a really good question.
It changes depending on your theme, but that’s part of it you have to have a theme.
The people have to be different types of people, and that always makes the conversation a lot easier.
The music is key.
It’s always background music because you want the food to be the centerpiece and shine.
On the flip side of that, are there any mistakes that people shouldavoid when hosting dinner parties?
I would avoid being too stressed out.
Don’t be stressed out about the process, and remember it’s fun.
Prepping is super important.
Mak[e] sure you prep ahead of time.
It’ll take so much stress off the day of.
I didn’t go in knowing any of the hosts that we were having the dinner parties with.
Everything was so new.
[There were] acres and acres of land, and there were horses, and we barbecued.
We did one that was a little bit more spiritual and healing, and that was really sweet.
We were able to meditate and look out at the Earth and trees and the sunset.
I think [the parties on] this series actually have been my most memorable dinner parties.
This is a great question.
I would want everyone to experience the water, and I would probably have a mixture of people.
If it were up to me, I would definitely have Oprah.
I would have Martha Stewart.
I would have some of my family.
I would have some thought leaders.
I would have some chefs that I was really inspired by.
I would love to mix it up and make it a really interesting night.
What do you think you’ll serve them?
I would probably serve them a mixture of modern soul food.
Soul food is something that feels like home to me, something I grew up on.
I would probably do a take on an elevated, clean version of down-home cooking.
Could you tell me a bit about that?
I’m really excited about that too.
That is a home renovation show, and we are going into the homes of new parents.
We are so excited because both of us are moms of three.
It’s going to be a really good time.
We’re actually in the process of casting our families now and getting started on that series.
I’m very, very excited.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
