The Host: Chloe Lucas-Walsh
How the chef, recipe developer, and food stylist throws a supper club
L.A. is a town of hosts. Of intimate dinner parties, celebrity-packed afterparties, supper clubs, pop-ups, barbecues, and the nightly spectacles that unfold at our buzzy and time-honored restaurants. The Host spotlights how our most courteous, clever, and consummate hosts make 10-person dinners, gallery openings, launch parties, and Saturday nights with a guestbook full of VIPs happen.
As this series develops, my inbox is open to tips! Send me names of inviting home cooks, shrewd maître d's, big-time party planners, pop-up curators, and the like. :)
I’m lucky to call a friend, so I know she knows how to throw a party—particularly one that revolves around food. The first time I went over to her place in Highland Park, it was for a 50-person “cioppino night,” where she made a massive pot of phenomenal seafood stew (plus a vegan version) and asked each guest to bring a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine. Genius. Her stove gave out afterward, but she wasn’t fazed. The night was a resounding success.
Chloe is well-known for her pop-ups, and she’ll be popping up around New York and across Europe this spring and summer (stay tuned to her Instagram for details). She’s also a supper club pro—and loves to host intimate, ticketed dinners at her home. The latest was a two-night “Osteria Cucina” supper club for fire relief. On the last night of February and the first of March, she prepared a six-course Italian tasting menu alongside wine pairings by Napa’s Hourglass Wine.
On the menu were oysters with spicy mignonette, crostinis with homemade ricotta, rosemary focaccia with Inez Olive Oil, minestrone with fennel panisse, dressed bitter leaves, handmade cavatelli with kale and English pea sauce, and a dark chocolate torte with a salted pistachio crumb. Andy, Chloe’s husband, was the sous and
played maître d'.
By the time the cooking was done, labor and food costs were covered, and the plates were licked clean, Chloe was able to donate $2,000 to fire relief, specifically $400 to five different GoFundMes that had yet to reach their target. In light of yet another triumphant dinner party, I sent Chloe the prompts for The Host so she could share her wisdom with all of us. Here she is.
How Chloe Lucas-Walsh Hosts a Supper Club
Every party should start with a welcome drink and welcome nibble! The drink is such a lovely welcome as you enter someone’s space. I can’t imagine that not being the first question you are asked upon entry: “What can I get you to drink?” I even think if I had a restaurant, I would make sure everyone has a little pour of bubbly upon arrival as a kind gesture! It sort of informs how the rest of the night will go.
And always a welcome snack, because it opens the appetite for more. And who doesn’t love a little bite of this or that? I bloody love a snack.
My #1 non-negotiable is never, ever, ever under any circumstances should there ever be any overhead (or bright in general) lighting. Always lamps, always candles, always warmth!
I want guests to feel as if I am hosting friends. I want them to feel so comfortable and at ease—taken care of, in a big-warm-hug kind of way. I am lucky that most of my friends like to cook, so I always have someone helping with pulling the salad together while another friend is shaking up a batch of martinis. I love that we all love to hang in the kitchen, chat, really catch up.
If hosting a supper club or pop-up, the idea of putting people at ease still stands. I like to think of my pop-ups as an extension of my supper clubs, and I like to think of my supper clubs as an extension of coming over for dinner (all be it a little more elevated, of course).
My hosting style is warm and welcoming, and I think that will make sense once you experience one of my dinners, pop-ups, or supper clubs (and my demeanor in general, perhaps).
If I’ve learned one thing about hosting, it’s that if people ask what to bring, give proper direction. Be specific about a wine for instance, depending on the menu (guests like that). Or be specific with the type of food they can bring as a contribution. If you are too vague, you end up with six bags of chips and six tubs of salsa.
Oh and if people do bring salsa, make sure to decant into a cute bowl. Too often, I see the plastic containers on peoples’ tables and I recoil in disbelief. Regardless of making people feel welcome, we must keep it chic at all times, too.
My favorite tool is my microplane, always and forever! It’s the workhorse of the kitchen! You can grate cheese, you can zest, you can grate garlic, grate tomatoes for pan con tomate, the list goes on!
The best party trick is being able to shuck an oyster, being able to shake up a good martini, and—maybe most importantly—having a karaoke microphone charged at all times for the post-dinner kitchen disco (which almost always happens when hosting friends).
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omg 'secret weapon' - should I make that my bio?
love you! thank you for highlighting this, for your continuous support and most of all for being such a great friend ❤️