I joined the French Club in middle school mainly for the snacks. I’d heard the teacher sometimes brought cheese or offered a lesson in torching creme brulee. My time with the club ultimately sparked my lifelong obsession with French culture.
Years later, I lived with host families in various parts of France and found that food was often the fastest way to both learn about my new surroundings and bond with people. One afternoon, a widow, who mostly kept to herself, taught me her recipe for stuffed tomatoes. She wrote it all down after we cooked, worried I would forget specific instructions that had been passed through generations of her family.
I felt so honored that she trusted me with her stories and her dinner. “There’s an old saying that to know food is to know everything about a place’s language, geography, culture and history,” chef Patrick O’Connell, owner of the Inn at Little Washington in Virginia, tells me. “If you’re thoroughly immersed in food, you will have a window into all of those things.
” With the Olympics coming up and the eyes of the world on France, it only feels right to get into the spirit of Paris with a spread that will leave you feeling connected to the City of Light. To help us all out, I asked chefs and seasoned hosts what they would serve to friends and family for a watch party. Here’s what they had to say.
As a chef, O’Connell knows a little something about translating French food for American audiences. Julia Child, the queen of French cooking, was one of his earliest mentors — he taught himself how to cook by way of her books. When it comes to building an Olympics watch party menu, O’Connell says Child’s most beloved room-temperature, make-ahead recipes are the way to go.
“I think there’s nothing more perfect than a correctly-made quiche lorraine — very thick, not the thin kind you see in supermarkets or delis,” he says. “It should be about four inches deep, like a deep-dish cheesecake, so that the internal texture is much like a custard.” He also calls ratatouille “a perfect side dish” for this time of year, adding that Child’s recipe is his favorite.
“It gets better if you make it the night before,” he says. Entertaining expert Susan MacTavish Best agrees, telling me that a mostly make-ahead menu can keep your hosting stress to a minimum. “Plan in advance, know your capabilities, and do not strive for perfection,” she says.
“Leave that to the Olympic athletes.” O’Connell also says “an exceptional cheese” served with “a great baguette” is a must. That advice sent me to the brains behind my favorite , Anina Belle Giannini.
The co-owner of L’Avant Garde brasserie in Washington, D.C., says she’s noticed a resurgence in demand for French food here in the U.
S. Giannini’s advice is to break up the viral boards you’re probably used to, which might come as a surprise to American hosts. “The French do not serve cheese and charcuterie on the same board,” she says, “because they’re eaten at different times of the meal.
” “Charcuterie is at the beginning and cheese is at the end,” she continues. “So you know the grazing boards that we see all over the place with cheese and charcuterie? That is not a French thing at all.” So if you really want to honor the foodways of Paris, try serving those cured meats at the start of your party and save the cheese for dessert.
Giannini, who is a frequent at-home entertainer, says she would use subtle touches to bring French flair into her Paris Olympics watch party. “A simple red, white and blue ribbon tied around the napkins, for example, or you can kind of lay it haphazardly around the table for a beautiful, immediately French effect,” she suggests. “With florals, I would go with lots of low bud vases as opposed to big arrangements.
Try to use different types of vessels with different textures and heights.” The Olympics are a time to bring people together, no matter which team you’re rooting for. MacTavish Best has been hosting French-inspired salons at her apartment in New York City for decades.
She sees this summer as a great chance to build community — even if, like her, you don’t normally follow sports. “Everyone loves the Olympics,” she says. “I think this is a good common denominator.
” For her themed dinner parties, she often gathers people from different walks of life as well as an expert speaker or guest host. “I think it’s really important to include people of all different generations, and the Olympics is a great time to do that,” MacTavish Best says. If you’re looking to add a little bit of direction or structure to the evening, she recommends finding a way to connect the Games with your local community.
Find out if there are any athletes who hail from your area or an author who’s written about a sport you’ll be watching, she says. One of her most memorable salons featured a conversation with Olympic swimmer and five-time gold medalist Gary Hall Jr. “I always like to learn something,” the host tells me.
For those of us who don’t happen to know any Olympians, MacTavish Best says the golden rule for any gathering is to keep it simple. “I look at it as a mini festival for the senses,” she says. “Music, food, good guest list, good vibe — so it should smell good, it should look twinkly.
” For my own watch party, I plan on serving Giannini’s along with that quiche lorraine. Drinks will be bubbly, and a fits the bill perfectly. Plus, I’ll be sure to channel MacTavish Best’s laissez-faire attitude while cheering on Team USA.
Emily Gerard is a writer at the TODAY show, by way of ABC’s Nightline and Vanity Fair magazine. She lives in Brooklyn where she entertains frequently. Her favorite dinner guests are dogs and you can find bountiful proof on her .
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