Is Anyone Coming to Dinner?
Much has been said during the ongoing economic crisis about increased dining-in and home cooking for families. But there is a whole other opportunity for retailers to promote ingredients and recipes - the fine art of entertaining. Sadly for some, albeit gladly for others, eating at home with friends is becoming increasingly casual, at least in the U.K. According to an article in The Daily Telegraph, a recent study shows formal dinner parties are a dying tradition.
Dr. Harry Witchel, of the University of Sussex, apparently found, "Dinner parties are no longer the formal affairs that we associate with the aspirational middle classes or TV characters." Instead, he has identified significant changes in both behavior and attitude with "a move away from the days of dressing up for dinner, laying the table with an arsenal of cutlery or waiting for the host to pour the wine - instead diners are increasingly favouring a more relaxed dress code, with guests serving themselves at the table."
In a less formal response to the study, another Telegraph piece welcomed the supposed trend. Depicted as a "middle-class excuse for preening displays of one-upmanship and pretension, from the menu and place settings to the guest list," its demise is a source of relief for some.
"Too much of our lives has been wasted twiddling napkins, negotiating ranks of cutlery, and trying to guess which one is the water glass," wrote columnist Liz Hunt.
Furthermore, she said, dinners have "become a jollier and more intimate affair for friends and family, rather than for business contacts, colleagues and stellar guests whom one wants to flaunt" and would prefer not to "endure."
Some of the conclusions expressed by Dr. Witchel, described as "a social behaviour expert," reflect the possibility of a shift to American-style potluck suppers, which would be a novelty over here. This may be contradicted, though, by the popularity of a show called Come Dine With Me in which four people take turns hosting dinner parties in an attempt to win prize money. Either way, dining in and sharing a meal at home is enjoying an upsurge with myriad possibilities for hosts, hostesses and those selling the chosen component parts.
Discussion Questions: What appeal, if any, does the dinner party hold in the U.S.? Should retailers and brands be doing more to revive formal dining? Is casual dining with friends becoming a bigger opportunity than formal dining ever was?