Buffet basics

Entertaining can take many forms. For the busy working woman, it may be ordering dinner from the local hotel and serving it on her best plates. For the married couple, it may be a dinner at a hotel or a club. For the merry bachelor, it can be sandwiches and coke on the terrace. You need to entertain based on your lifestyle and budget.

One of the most popular forms of entertaining that has caught on is the buffet lunch or dinner. A buffet has many advantages. It requires only a few dishes for serving and eating. It is a godsend to a working person who does not have time to organise a formal dinner party. It is also an easy solution for a couple without a formal dining room, for anyone living in a small apartment, or for those gregarious souls who know more people than their dining table can comfortably accommodate. The buffet is also, by its nature, informal, which most people are comfortable with.

Basic rules for a buffet

• Set a limit on how many people you need to invite. If the rooms get too crowded and guests are perched precariously on the arms of sofas, or sitting cross-legged on the floor, balancing a plate and a glass would be difficult and uncomfortable.

• You need to spend a little time on arranging the buffet table. First and foremost, the table should not be too cluttered - guests should be able to reach plates and dishes easily without dipping an elbow here and there into hot gravies or soups.

• If there's room, a centrepiece of flowers will give that attractive touch. But if the table is small, eliminate flowers altogether.

• Do use a formal linen tablecloth even if the buffet is meant to be a casual affair. It will lend a special touch.

• Use the largest dinner plates you have. This makes it more comfortable for the guests to heap their food and saves them additional trips to the table.

• If the group is large, place the table in the middle of the room so two lines can go around it simultaneously.

• Leave enough space between serving platters and dishes so guests can put their plates down and serve themselves better.

• Buffet menus should be carefully thought out well ahead of time. Food that requires a knife should not be served at a buffet. Dishes that are runny should be avoided at all costs.

• As a guest at a buffet, you need to take a more active part in serving yourself. You need to get your own food and take the initiative for getting second helpings. And find your seat. You also need to keep your used dinner plate and glass in the place provided.

• The host and the hostess should look after the guests. They need to go around and make sure that each of the guests are comfortable and are at ease. Enough chairs should be scattered around for guests who want to sit down and eat.

Organising a buffet would become a pleasure with just a little care and thoughtful planning as these simple guidelines indicate.