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If you follow me on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube, you may have seen that I recently hosted a Fancy Fried Chicken Dinner Party, complete with 30 pieces of freshly fried chicken, piles of homemade fries, a caviar bar, and something I like to call an Eton Mess Mountain.

Ironically, the most casual parts of the menu were also the hardest to pull off: the fried chicken and fries. That T-fal deep fryer was holding on for dear life. I do not say this to scare you off from making fried chicken, because you can and you should, but frying for a large crowd, with multiple fried components and one small countertop fryer, is not for the faint of heart. That being said, we pulled it off, and it was some of the best damn fried chicken I have ever had.

Beyond the logistics, this was probably one of my favourite themes I have ever done. I loved the contrast of very casual food and drinks, the kind you might associate with a fast-food joint, served against a more formal backdrop of caviar, an all-black dress code, white linens, and silver platters. There were beer cans, Coke cans, and plastic squeeze bottles of dipping sauces sitting beside silver platters piled with fried chicken and fries. That was the whole point. The food was dressed up without losing the joy of it, and the whole thing came together in a way that felt fun, elegant, and a little unexpected.

This was also not my regular monthly dinner party. It was a bit of a special edition, because this May marked two full years of hosting monthly themed dinner parties. It all started in May 2024 with a Spring Chicken party, so doing another chicken party felt like the perfect way to commemorate it. At the time, I set a loose goal to host one dinner party a month, but I do not know if I actually thought I would stick to it, let alone keep it going for two full years.

Not to be sappy, but Dinner at Isabelle’s has changed my life. I have learned so much and improved my skills in the kitchen and as a host. It has opened doors I never could have imagined in my work, but also on a personal level. I do not host the same people every time, but I have friends who have now been to ten or more of these dinners, and seeing those friendships grow around the table just makes my heart warm.

If you have not already watched it, and you enjoy dinner party content, I am going to shamelessly plug the YouTube video here too. I post these monthly alongside the content on Instagram and TikTok. The videos are usually around 40 minutes long, and you get to see so much more of the process. Also, I am really proud of them lol.

Okay, enough being sappy. Let’s dive into some details.

Setting the Table & Vibe

The whole point of this theme is the contrast between the very casual food ( fried chicken, French fries, beer, Coke cans, Ritz crackers ) and the decor. It is about taking food that typically leans fast food platter and dressing it up without losing the joy of it

The party was held in my sunroom, using my outdoor dining table, so the challenge was making a rustic outdoor setup feel elegant enough to carry the theme. I had to lean in pretty hard. I covered both the table and my desk, which became the bar, in large white tablecloths, then pulled out every bit of silver I have collected over the years: cutlery, serving dishes, goblets, napkin rings, coasters, candlestick holders. Whatever was not being served on a silver platter was served on classic white dishware.

The palette was very restrained. The only real colour came from the trees visible outside the windows and the green stems on the white flowers. It was neutral, but not plain. The goal was polished and fancy, almost bridal in its crispness — which is very funny timing since I did just get engaged, but that was not intentional.

I do not typically buy new tableware pieces for dinner parties, but for this one I made an exception. I did some extra sourcing at my favourite vintage and antique store, and I was also spoiled by my friends at Pottery Barn with a pieces that helped my full vision to life. That said, I still think the best tables are usually built slowly over time. Silver is the kind of thing I believe in collecting and curating little by little. Even a few pieces can have a big effect when they are paired with simple white dishware.

If you are in the market for silver pieces, I highly recommend checking local thrift stores first. If you live outside of a big city, even better. I usually have better luck finding quality pieces in smaller-town thrift stores, while city ones can feel very picked over. If you do not want to hunt, go to a local antique store. They are usually packed with silver, though you will pay a pretty penny for the convenience of curation.

The Menu

To Drink:

Modelo Especial
Lemonade, for shandies
Champagne
Coca-Cola

To Start:

Caviar Bar (caviar, crème fraîche, thinly sliced chives, and Ritz crackers)
Crudités Tower
Confit Garlic Whipped Ricotta Dip
Assorted Pickles

The Mains

Dinner Party Fried Chicken
Homemade French Fries
Buttermilk Baby Gem Salad
Maple Mustard Dipping Sauce
Creamy Garlic Horseradish Sauce
Hot Honey Butter

Dessert:

Raspberry Ginger Eton Mess Mountain

Recipes:

Lemonade

Makes 10-12 servings (~2.7L)

Ingredients:

2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice, from about 8 lemons
Strips of zest from 1 lemon, removed with a vegetable peeler
1 cup sugar
1 cup water, for the syrup
8 cups cold water
Ice, for serving

Directions:

Using a vegetable peeler, remove strips of zest from 1 lemon, avoiding as much of the bitter white pith as possible.
In a small pot, combine the lemon zest, sugar, and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has fully dissolved, about 2–3 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let the zest steep in the syrup as it cools. Once cooled, remove and discard the zest.
Juice the lemons until you have 2 cups of fresh lemon juice. Pass the juice through a fine mesh sieve to remove any seeds and excess pulp.
In a large pitcher or drink dispenser, combine the lemon juice, cooled lemon syrup, and 8 cups cold water. Stir well.
Taste and adjust as needed. The lemonade should be bright and slightly sweet, especially if serving over plenty of ice.

Shandy

Ingredient:

Lemonade
Beer of choice (something light and crisp, avoid anything too hoppy, sours, stouts, bitter IPA styles)

Directions:

Combine beer and water! A classic shandy is roughly equal parts of each, but I usually do 2 parts beer 1 part lemonade.

Confit Garlic Whipped Ricotta Dip

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

1 small head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
1 cup olive oil, or enough to fully submerge the garlic
2 cups whole-milk ricotta
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Crudités, for serving, such as thinly sliced watermelon radishes, snap peas,
cucumber spears, and carrots
Kettle-cooked potato chips, for serving

Directions:

Confit the garlic: In a small pot, combine the peeled garlic cloves and olive oil. The garlic should be fully submerged, so add a little more oil if needed.
Place over very low heat and gently cook until the cloves are golden, tender, and easily pierced with a fork, about 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of the cloves. The oil should barely bubble; if it begins to fry aggressively, lower the heat.
Remove from the heat and let the garlic cool in the oil.
Make the dip: Using a fork, mash 4 cloves of confit garlic into a paste.
Add the garlic paste to a small food processor, along with the ricotta, 1 teaspoon of the garlic confit oil, and a generous pinch of salt. Process until very smooth and fluffy, 1–2 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed.
Taste and adjust with more salt, pepper, additional confit garlic, or another teaspoon of garlic oil, if desired. Process again until completely smooth.
Spoon the whipped ricotta into a serving bowl. Serve with crudités and kettle-cooked potato chips.

Note: Since you are already making garlic confit, you can add extra peeled cloves to the pot and save them for another use. Store any extra garlic confit in a clean airtight jar, fully covered in the oil, in the refrigerator. Use within 4 days.