Lee Ho Fook Chef Victor Liong’s Guide to Hosting a Memorable Dinner Party

Victor Liong is a master of hosting dinners. He’s been cooking for visitors at his Hot Listed restaurant Lee Ho Fook for over a decade and has been at the forefront of modern Chinese cuisine in Australia.

But even with years of restaurant experience under his belt, hosting at home presents a different set of entertaining challenges. For one, he doesn’t have a commercial kitchen, waiting area, banquette seating, chef’s counter or dedicated bar at home.

There’s no place like home, which makes it even more important to choose a floorplan and layout that works for your specific needs. The connection between your kitchen, living and dining rooms can effortlessly set the flow and tone for entertaining, so it’s something to consider when selecting a floorplan and styling the area. And if a new build isn’t on the cards (yet), there are some simple things you can do to ensure a seamless event. 

Luckily, Liong has perfected the art of the dinner party – and he’s shared his tips with us for getting it right every time.

Keep the menu easy

Central to any dinner party is the food, of course. Liong’s advice? Keep things familiar and experiment at the edges.

“For mains and other significant parts of the meal, I try to stick to dishes I know and things I’ve cooked plenty of times – it makes the night run more smoothly and you know that your guests are going to get a great feed,” he says. “Where I might try something different or experiment a little is with an arrival cocktail or a snack to serve in between courses. You get a good balance of familiarity and then something fun and unknown.”

Serving your food and the flow of the night are other questions to consider. Liong says you should plan ahead and think about timing, but remember: you’re not running a restaurant.

“I like to put all the mains and sides out at once, it encourages people to share and makes a dinner feel less formal, which helps your guests relax – plus it’s less work for me,” he says. “That being said, it can be fun to stagger dishes and bring things out in a more structured way, it all just depends on the type of night you want to have.”

Prepping ahead is key

Hosting a dinner party can indeed leave you feeling like you’re running a restaurant – you spend so much time cooking and cleaning that you barely get to mingle with your guests. But Liong has some quick tips on how to avoid making the night feel like work.

“A little bit of prep the day before or morning-of goes a long way. I always prepare dessert beforehand and I’ll often choose dishes that I can just heat up and garnish. Pastas where you’ve already cooked the sauce, panna cotta setting in the fridge – at times I’ve just bought a two-litre tub of gelato and served it with some mango.”

Serve your pick of drinks

There’s always a dance around drinks. One person only likes red wine, others swear by a sauv blanc. Don’t be afraid to encourage your guests to broaden their horizons.

“There’s nothing wrong with cracking open a bottle of wine that you know will pair with your food. People who might not like certain types of wine will often find that when paired with the right meal, it tastes completely different to them,” Liong says. “Someone who isn’t a fan of red wine can change their mind when they drink it with the right protein.”

Think about the space

Some of Liong’s favourite dinner party memories come from sitting on plastic stools in a share house. But if you’re past that stage in life, he suggests working with other rooms you have around the house to maximise space.

“If you’ve got an open-plan set-up, that can be great if you think about how each space flows into the next and whether it encourages people to connect,” he says.

The chef says intentional design can turn a good dinner party into a great one. This can be as major as taking home entertaining into consideration when choosing the layout of your new home, as simple as planning how guests move from one space into the next, or a middle ground in temporarily reorganising the layout of your home for the evening.

“My set-up is almost like an extension of the restaurant, so I’m always thinking about landing spaces for my guests. If you have an outdoor space, it’s great to start outside with a drink – something fizzy usually gets people talking. You can move into the kitchen afterwards, especially if you have bench space where people can gather and watch you preparing food, then the night naturally progresses to the dining table and into the living room for dessert.”

Recently, Liong flexed his dinner-party know-how at an intimate supper club experience. On Wednesday April 1, he teamed up with Boutique Homes to show how great home design can elevate hosting and home gatherings. Like at a party Liong would host himself, guests were invited to move through different spaces inside an elegant Grange 55 property in Forest Hill, before sharing a table and settling in for the night – just as you would at a mate’s place.

Make sure it reflects you

And while it’s easy to get lost in the service side of things, Liong says the most important part of hosting a dinner party is injecting plenty of personality into the evening.

“Play music that you love, set up your space to show it off with mood lighting and remember that the reason you’re hosting is to connect with people,” he says.

“I’m friends with a couple that travels a lot – whenever they host me for dinner, they’ll make a cocktail inspired by something they tried overseas. It sparks conversation between us and reflects who they are as people, and that’s the essence of what a dinner party is all about.”

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Boutique Homes. Boutique Homes is part of the ABN Group, leaders in property, construction and finance.