Everyone who knows me well enough, knows that I enjoy having people over for dinner and drinks. There was something about growing up in my family that felt like our house was never empty; my parents loved to entertain and I guess that was passed onto me. I find every little excuse to have friends over for dinner. Between work, the gym and social commitments, sometimes it becomes difficult to find time to go out to the grocery store and plan out a menu for a dinner.  Plated, a delivery service of fresh and locally sourced ingredients for a chef-designed recipe, solves this problem and more.

A lot of the time choosing a nice dinner recipe comes with the problem of hard to find ingredients. Either they simply are not available where you live, or the recipe calls for a small amount meaning that you'll have to buy an entire bottle of something you simply will never use. The way Plated works is that you choose from the weeks selection of 7 chef-designed recipes to be delivered to your door on delivery days. Each week consists of 4 healthy meat and fish options and 3 vegetarian dishes to pick from. You pick out how many dishes you want and soon they will be delivered in a climate controlled box, ensuring all of the ingredients are fresh and maintained.

I decided to give Plated a go and make a small dinner out of it. I chose the Seared Tuna Salad with Citrus Ginger Dressing. The box was promptly delivered early Saturday morning, allowing me to enjoy my day without having to worry about when my ingredients would be delivered. Each Plated box comes with each ingredient labeled and measured out exactly to the recipe that is included in the box, making the whole process streamlined. The recipe was easy to follow and even has pictures to go along with each simple step. The only thing I needed that was not included were the pots and pans and a few simple things like black pepper and olive oil, which makes this so convenient. 

Dinner was easy to cook and the taste of the dish was impressive. Even one of my friends commented on how fresh the tuna tasted and he would have never guess that it was delivered. Accompanied by some white wine and a curated playlist on the surround sound, the night was a success. At $15 a plate ($12 if you're a member) it simply is much cheaper than going to a restaurant. Head on over to the Plated website and order your first chef-designed dish this week.

Dinner Party Tips: 

1. Invite a carefully selected group of friends from different groups. It ensures for fun conversations.

2. Do all your prep work and beverage selection well before the time guests arrive. This will cut out the stress of last minute details that always need to be attended to.

3. Select a music playlist which will allow you to not have to make frequent trips to change the music. I like to mix my own hour long playlists or play any of Brendan Fallis' mix sets. 

4. Dress it up a little bit. Everyone enjoys a nice night with friends, nice wine and lively conversation. I decided to wear a Zacharry Prell Ombre Sectioned Shirt which was casual yet refined.

5. Have fun!