A fun, informative guide to hosting the perfect party every time. "Every dinner party experience I’ve had in the last ten years at Corey’s has been incredible. But practice really does make perfect and I can now honestly say there is nowhere I’d rather be in the world than at his table … I can’t begin to express the relief I felt in reading this book and realizing there was a method to his success." - Sarah Polley, from the introduction We’ve all been there: twenty minutes before guests arrive, and you’re unsure if you’ve got enough wine, or enough chairs, or whether your friend is a vegetarian or a vegan. Hosting a dinner party is hard, but Corey Mintz can help. For his popular Toronto Star column, "Fed," he has presided over 115 dinner parties, every week opening his home to strangers and friends alike in an effort to perfect the craft of hosting. And in How to Host a Dinner Party , he shares everything he’s learned in a hilarious handbook that will appeal to everyone ― from those throwing their first dinner party to seasoned entertainers looking to enhance their skills. This book guides readers through everything they need to know about hosting, starting with the golden rule ― that the goal of a dinner party is to have fun with our friends, not to show off our cooking skills. It will explain why we like to gather for dinner, when we should host, who we should invite, what we should cook, and how we should cook it. Featuring recipes, anecdotes, expert analysis, and an endless bounty of how-to tips, it is the essential guide to perfecting the art of welcoming people into your home. “After 150 dinner parties, Mintz is well equipped to dish out advice...with good humour...with a thoughtful introduction by Sarah Polley (a friend of Mintz’s), lively illustrations by Steve Murray and several dinner party-appropriate recipes, the book is beautifully laid out in 10 chapters.” ― Maclean's COREY MINTZ hosts dinner parties in his home every week for his popular Toronto Star column, "Fed." Before that he was a restaurant critic. And before that he worked for a living, as a cook. In the past two years, he has hosted 115 dinner parties. He began without napkins or stemware, serving wine out of Nutella jars. But after hosting politicians, artists, academics, monkeys, librarians, chefs, sommeliers, cops, lawyers, psychologists, a spy, a forager, a rabbi, a gambler, a drug addict, and a mayor, he’s become a pro. Steve Murray is a columnist, cartoonist, and illustrator for the National Post. He lives in Toronto. INTRODUCTION 
 by Sarah Polley 
 I once had a driving instructor who taught in a way that made every lesson a life lesson. He had a knack for turning the specifics of driving into universal wisdom. One day, as we were driving on a busy Toronto street, I heard a car horn honk and yelped, "What did I do?" "That honk wasn't for you," he said softly. "You are at a point where you worry too much about what other drivers think about you. You may reach a point where you don't worry enough. Try to find a balance." For me, the only thing that has replicated the experience of learning so much about life from studying a specific skill is the reading of this book. It teaches you how to create a beautiful experience for the people you care about in the context of a dinner party. But since reading it I find myself applying many of the lessons in this book to my relationships and life in general. Be prepared. Be thoughtful. Listen. Watch for clues on how people are feeling and do what you can to make them feel comfortable, taken care of, and well fed! I first knew Corey Mintz as a teenager, when his idea of cooking came from the back page of our copy of the New Basics Cookbook. The spine of the book was unbroken. On the very last page, in coloured marker, was written "Call Garlic Pepper on Yonge Street. Get them to bring food." It was our only recipe and we used it every night that we didn't eat Alphagetti. Corey and I lived with each other as delinquent teenagers. When I was fifteen I had major spinal surgery and Corey found himself caring for a child while he was still a child himself. He took care of me. Better care than a nurse or relative could have. He learned to cook. I remember lying in bed and hearing the clattering of utensils as he struggled his way through recipes, and the beautiful smells coming from the kitchen as he proudly completed a meal. Corey was and is an eccentric, sometimes brittle person who is capable of great tenderness. Through learning to cook, he developed an eloquent, uncomplicated way of showing love without irony. Corey now hosts dinner parties for a living. For years he has had a weekly column called FED in the Toronto Star, centered around a dinner party he hosts for an interesting, eclectic group of people. I usually read with envy at his lucky guests who sometimes walk in without knowing what a treat they are in for. I've heard at least two FED guests say later that it was the best