The art of small gatherings

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As we head into what looks to be a most unpredictable fall and winter, there are only two things we know for sure: We want to spend more time with the people we love, and we have no idea what kind of rules, restrictions or limitations we’ll be facing when it comes to entertaining them.

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That said, we can expect the focus to continue to be on small gatherings. And with restaurant reservations and caterers already booking up fast, we’ll mostly be welcoming friends and families into our homes (or at least our covered patios). Most importantly, now more than ever, we don’t want to spend the evening stuck in the kitchen or behind the bar. We want to spend it connecting with our guests.

Enter The Graze Company.

Founder Laura Hashemi launched her charcuterie board, box and table company in January 2019 to fill what she saw as a gap in the market between fully catered events and self-hosted ones.

“I’ve always been that person who loves hosting and entertaining,” Hashemi says. “How can I wow my guests? I don’t want to do something simple.”

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She loved creating luxurious charcuterie boards, but she was finding it onerous to travel from store to store to find the right meats, cheeses, garnishes, fruits, crackers and breads, not to mention the boards to serve them on. “It’s time consuming, it gets quite expensive, and you don’t end up using everything,” she says. “Charcuterie is such an amazing thing and it brings everybody together. But there was nothing you could get that was beautifully packaged to bring to someone’s house, or to serve yourself.”

Now, she’s not talking those basic supermarket meat-and-cheese platters. Her boards are works of art. As for the tables, they are simply stunning extravaganzas, lavish spreads that feed a minimum of 50 guests. Needless to say, they’ve largely been on hiatus during the pandemic. Besides, she says, “The tables were what wowed people on Instagram, but a lot of people can’t afford the thousands of dollars they cost.”

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On the other hand, the boards and do-it-yourself kits, which include a bottle of wine and optional add-ons, have been a huge success, and now she’s moving into luxury lifestyle products like cheese knives and boards as well.

“The wonderful thing about a grazing board is it’s very versatile, and you can mix and match,” Hashemi says. That’s especially handy if you have guests with dietary restrictions. “There are so many vegan cheeses and gluten-free breads, and other options. You can create something esthetically pleasing that also pleases everybody.”

But whatever type of event you plan to hold, she has a simple formula to make it a great one: “Invite fun people, offer a signature cocktail, serve a grazing board and support small businesses like local florists.”

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Most of all, get out of the kitchen and let someone else do the work. As Hashemi says, “It’s creating beautiful memories and not just with food.”

The Graze Company Beet Dip

This recipe by The Graze Company is easy to make, pretty to look at and tasty, too. And because it’s vegan and gluten-free, you can serve it to everyone at your party.

Serves 4

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Remove the stem and most of the root from your beets, and scrub the beets underwater until clean.

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Place beets on a sheet of foil and drizzle with about 1 Tbsp olive oil. Wrap tightly, and roast for one hour or until a knife inserted falls out without resistance. They should be tender.

Remove beets from foil, transfer to a bowl and set in the fridge to cool to room temperature.

Once roast beets are cool, peel them, chop them roughly and place in a food processor or blender. Add the tofu, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, ¼ cup olive oil and salt. Blend until smooth. Add more salt if needed.

Scrape into dip bowl and serve with crackers, pita chips, crudités or sliced bread.