for Every
Kind of
Holiday Guest

As much as Florence loves being able to plan a get-together, sometimes the most fun gatherings are spur-of-the-moment. If your friends and loved ones tend to stop by on short notice during the holidays, the chef recommends stocking your freezer with pasta sauces and pestos, and keeping quality dried pasta on-hand. “I always double my bolognese recipe,” he says. “And I’ll take half of that and freeze it.” According to Florence, “In roughly 45 minutes from ‘ding-dong,’ ‘I didn't know you guys were coming,’ you can have this really beautiful feast on the table.” Of course, the conversation is just as important as the menu, and creating the right ambiance is the fastest way to get that flowing. “When you walk into somebody's house, and the mood is set right, the music feels really good, it's just very vibe-y,” Florence says. “The table doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has to have really great decisions. And if you have S.Pellegrino® on the table, it says that you celebrate the best of the best.”

“If it’s a fun couple's night, where it's just adults, you can be a little more adventurous with a menu. If people are bringing their children, then you've got to plan out something that's a little more family-friendly,” Florence says. “Just knowing who's coming over, and then thinking through what a special experience will look and feel like is where it starts.” For Florence, this can mean rearranging furniture so kids can sit together, moving the party outdoors (with the help of some heat lamps), preparing kid-approved dishes (pasta with meatballs and lasagna are household favorites), and, most importantly, inquiring about allergies and food sensitivities beforehand. “If you put your back into a really fantastic dinner, and somebody's gluten-free, or they have an allium allergy, and then they realize they can't eat anything that you made tonight, that kind of bums everybody out,” he says. It’s all about being a considerate host!

If you’re hosting guests who just got back from Italy (or who have a deep appreciation for Italian culture), Florence recommends drawing inspiration from The Feast of the Seven Fishes. “There are so many beautiful recipes you can pull from that,” he says. “One of our big hits around the holidays is lasagna and crab. Here in Northern California, it’s Dungeness crab. It’s succulent with big, steak-y bites, especially the back meat.” Florence also relies on his signature bolognese sauce when he needs to feed a crowd. “It takes about three hours to make,” he says, “and it's rich and silky. It's made with dried porcini, carrot, celery, onion, fennel, beef, pork, veal, red wine, and milk, and it all cooks down into something incredibly delicious.” If he really wants to impress his guests, Florence will finish off the bolognese with first-of-the-season white truffles. As for other Italian standbys, the chef recommends “a huge display of fresh meatballs and sauce,” as well as “a big, wonderful salami and cheese presentation.”