5th May 2017

My dream dinner party

My dream dinner

Well there’s a question…who would I invite to my dream dinner party? Actually, there’s another question too – what would I serve them? And what Italian villa would I choose to entertain them in? Aaaaggghh! Where to start? Well, I can think of a million and one ideas as lets face it 1) I love food and 2) I love Italy!ย Planning events is also something I love to do, I always have. This could be fun.

Emozionante – I don’t really speak Italian, I googled that ๐Ÿ˜‰ It means “exciting”!ย 

I’m going out on a bit of whim here and writing something unplanned and spontaneous. ย An email dropped in my inbox today from Clickstay, who yes I have worked with before, but this was something different… a competition! I never enter competitions purely because I never bloomin win – ever! But I just ate a big slice of cake, had a coffee and I fancied having a little bash at it. Plus it’s the taking part that counts remember.

The Villa

First question, where would I host this dinner and lets be honest here, I do love a good cocktail and a bottle of fizz – so a good boozy dinner it will be!

Ta-da! This place… swoon. It’s in Sorrento, the gateway to the much-drooled-over Amalfi Coast, andย a place I’ve always wanted to go.

My dream dinner party

The views are outstanding and it kind of looks like a home away from home – if that makes sense? I like to feel like I can really relax and the perfect villa should encourage you to do that. ย Too modern and I fear we may break something, too pokey and we end up living in each other’s pockets. ย This villa however, this villa would be a dream.

We’d eat our amazing dinner here…

My dream dinner party

Have our after dinner cocktails here…

My dream dinner party

Your imagining it already aren’t you? I know I am. Add some twinkly lights, some candles and the perfect music and you’ve got yourself the perfect dinner venue.

The Guests

Now, this is the hard part. ย There’s one part of me that wants to go full on cheese and pick my closest friends and family. I love them, they are funny. But nahh.. we spend enough time together, we go away each year and it’s amazing, so they’ve kind of already fulfilled my ‘realistic’ dream dinner option. ย Lets be a bit more creative…

Ok. Let’s try to narrow this down. Who, if I could choose absolutely anyone, would I have to dinner? As Iโ€™m mainlyย interested in baking and food in general, I suppose I need to include someย people who have played a great part in it or who I’ve admired.

I don’t want too many guests as that would just be far too stressful… too little may be too awkward so I’m going to aim for a nice round table of 6! Yes, 6 sounds perfect. Plus me and my boyfriend Steve. ย I know I said no friends or family, but I’ll need him for moral support I think. ย Plus he makes a mean coffee and I know he’d be pretty peeved if he doesn’t get to meet my guests. Ha.. my guests – I think I need to keep reminding myself “This isn’t real”!

Firstly, because this dinner party is ‘make believe’, it means I can invite anyone that I want, but I feel like I need to set a few rules and make it a tad more challenging. ย Firstly, there needs to be be a mix of men and women. They all have to be real people (dead or alive) so no fiction orย Disney characters. Also, I figure that if I choose famous people they may get jealous of each other, so nobody so famous that they need their own body guards and security team. ย Sorry Beyonce and Jay-Z, you’re off my list! You would hog the limelight way too muchย ๐Ÿ˜‰

And probably the most important rule yet – they need to be people whose work or reason for being who they areย makes the world a better place. Ahhh, I like that one.

I really did end up spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about this!


Guest No.1 – Leonardo Dicaprioย 

Yes really… don’t leave yet, hear me out and let me explain this one. ย Leo is cool. He makes amazing films, is a fab actor and of course he’s pretty hot too. ย Plus, can you imagine what he would be like after a few Aperol Spritz’s? Exactly, now you’re back! On a more serious note I admire Leo because of the Foundation he created which is dedicated to the long-term health and well being of all Earthโ€™s inhabitants. He’s vegan (I can work with that), one of the most notorious environmental activists ofย our time and he makes speeches about preserving our Oceans, talks politics on TV and totally gets climate change. He’s somebody that uses his celebrity status in a positive way.

Guest No.2 – Mary Berry

Mary Berry is the Queen of baking in the UK if you ask me. She’s the lady you all want to share a slice of cake with and she’s classy. ย I imagine Mary is pretty jolly too as have you noticed the little winks and jokes she made when on the Bake Off? Plus, I reckon she wouldn’t mind helping in the kitchen if something goes wrong. ย I also reckon Mary would be interesting and the conversation would flow quite easily, plus she’s always happy and everyone loves a happy person. Mary hasย made baking ‘cool’ and has motivated so many people to get in their kitchen and bake more – we love her!

Guest No.3 – Russell Brand

I know he’s a bit ‘marmite’ and he’s only invited on the promiseย to keep his hair at a safe distance from the food, but he is funny! He has strong beliefs and I love watching his True News (Trews) channel on YouTube. He’s an actor and comedian but he’s also an activist and listening to his take on media as it appears in newspapers or on television is really eye-opening!

Guest No.4 – Ashley Graham

Now if you don’t know who Ashley Graham is – google her. Not right now, but after reading my post. ย She’s a supermodel! And not the usual type of person I would admire, but she’s different. She’s aย Model, Designer, Author and Body Activist and regularly campaigns onย about body image, self-acceptance and female empowerment. ย She makes my list 100%.

Guest No.5 – Aziz Ansari

I first came across Aziz when watching Parks and Recreation with Steve and found him hysterical. ย He’s also incredibly witty, honest and I pretty much always agree with what comes out of his mouth. ย I’ve also recently realised he is obsessed with food… totally obsessed! I found some quotes… this is why he made the list.

โ€œIt was quicker for my dad to find a wife than it is for me to decide where to eat dinner.โ€
“I’m kind of obsessed with food. I like to eat. When I tour, it’s like, well, like a food tour as much as a comedy tour.”

Guest No.6 – Stevie Nicks

Stevie is theย lead singer for UKย band, Fleetwood Mac. ย Wind back a couple of years ago and I wasn’t really a big fan of Fleetwood Mac but then I re-listened to the Rumours album and strangely now love them! Plus Stevie is a rock star, let me repeat that – a Rock Star! Ha. But overall from what I’ve seen she’s sophisticated, has strong feminist beliefs and is ruthlessly honest.


There, its done! I’m pretty sure our dinner would be full ofย gossip, discovery and fun. What do you think? Would they get along?

The food and drink

I’ve two’d and fro’d with this one. Obviously. It was difficult enough choosing my guests, but choosing food is even worse! So. I’m just going to go all out but stay traditionally Italian, and I promise to keep this part short as I’ve 100% written way too much already – who’d have known this would be so much fun!

Since Italians are renowned for taking great pleasure in their food, wine and the company of their friends dinners can often go on for hours, so rather than serve a traditional three-course meal I would have around six-eight small dishes. I believe this is known asย portate!ย 

Antipasto – purposely keeping itย simple so we donโ€™t crowd out the main meal I’m choosing artichoke hearts served with crackers and Camembert cheese, choppedย tomatoes marinated in Italian dressing, served with garlic-stuffed green olives and last but not least, roasted red and yellow peppers, garlic hummus and pita bread. (Leo can skip the cheese)

Are you hungry now? I am. (Still reminding myself this isn’t real)

Moving on…I’d have our chef knock up some amazing creamy risotto, aubergineย Parmesan, tender gnocchi and a butternut squash pappardelle. ย And yes you read that right, I did say Chef.. there’s no way I’m cooking at this dinner!

My dream dinner party

We’d have champagne, actually scrap that. ย We’ll have Bellinis on tap, our own ‘make your own’ cocktail stand and of course a fewย traditional ice-cold Limoncellos.

That’s it! I’m done. How about you? Who would you invite and why? It never hurts to dream.

Ciao!

One Messy Mama

28 responses to “My dream dinner party”

  1. Erin Rose says:

    Haha!! Love this! Mary Berry would be so amazing. Id love to pick her brain. I was worried until you said ‘chef’ thinking I’d be way too nervous to bake for her. What a fun event! I’m calling dibs on an invite to the next one ๐Ÿ˜‰

    • hellocuppies says:

      Ha! I know right.. as if I’d dare cook or bake for Mary, I’d be a nervous wreck! you’re in! X

  2. Nichole says:

    Very nice post, the villa was beautiful!

  3. The villa is absolutely gorgeous, Natalie. I would love to stay there. With either my family or some fantasty dinner party guests ๐Ÿ˜‰ And Russell and Mary at a dinner party together? Now that would be fun to watch! Hehe. I’d love to be a fly on the wall if this ever happened! Good luck with the competition. It’s a brilliant entry.

    Louise xx

  4. This is definitely a fun little thought experiment. Where do I sign up!?

  5. Jazmin says:

    This looks so fun! I love the Bellini bar idea. The interesting mix of guests (Brand being my favorite!)

  6. Steve Nicks would be a dream dinner guest!! The amalfi coast is on my bucket list as well and would be a lovely spot for dinner party!

  7. James smith says:

    I love your guest list! I’d hope Mary Berry would bake a little something for the dessert.

  8. Melissa Jellie says:

    I love this idea!!! This was so fun! I love the group of guests – it would be interesting!

  9. Evelyn Reese says:

    This was great and the Villa is breathtaking and would love to be a fly on wall for the dinner party. Hehe

  10. hummi says:

    Beautiful and fun post!! nice list of guests!

  11. Tee says:

    OMG, gorgeous. Those pics make me wanna go there now!

  12. Clare! says:

    Loved this post!! That villa just looks perfection, I really am lusting after going there now.
    Imagine Leo and Mary Berry together after a few tipples, I bet Mary is a right hoot with some alcohol in her haha.

  13. joyfuliowan says:

    Oh man. I am just imagining all of them with one too many drinks. They would be entertaining for sure!

  14. I love this post!! Can we go like right now?!

  15. Next Level Blogging says:

    Aziz Ansari is hilarious! Great choices for your guest list. I would have to add one…Jesus Christ. Religious or not, I would love to have picked his brain on how to make people more receptive to forgiveness and being less judgemental.
    Cool post

  16. Chastity says:

    Very interesting on your guest list some I know and others I don’t lol. What I was more interested in was the villa, yes something like that would be ideal. Wish it were real too girl.

  17. Jeanette says:

    My second comment ๐Ÿ™‚ Dreaming even more…

  18. soultogive says:

    Haha, Cool! ๐Ÿ˜€

  19. realmofvibes says:

    I really loved looking at all your pictures and learning about your experience! My family lives in Italy and I would love to visit!

  20. Kat says:

    That would be an interesting evening, having all these people there and listening to their conversations. Beautiful house btw, understand why you’ve been eyeing it fir a while!

  21. Msmamabean says:

    The food and villa looks amazing!!! I love Italy and would love to visit soon again!

  22. Jonnie says:

    Such a lovely post, most jealous of the beautiful views!

  23. That Villa, that food and those drinks…. Its s win win situation ๐Ÿ™‚ #globalblogging

  24. Quaintrelle Georgiana says:

    Hehe, it has never occurred to me t think about something like this – my dream dinner party. I must say you have chosen a beautiful place, the villa is very pretty and I like the porch.

  25. Laura Dove says:

    You had me at Leonardo, wow that would be the best dinner party of all time EVER!! I have always wanted to go to Sorrento but the thought of sipping cocktails in the sun with Leo has become my all time favourite fantasy!

  26. Ooh that villa looks amazing!

Comment on this blog post here...

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.