Dinner Crawling

[tkerby]

I'd like to introduce the idea of a dinner crawl to those who have never organised such an event and discuss favourite reheatable / quick dishes suitable for the purpose.

A dinner crawl is a similar concept to a pub crawl, but as well as getting hideously drunk, you also get well fed. A dinner crawl usually involves around 5 flats or houses within walking distance or easy public transport travel such as tube/metro/bus stops. Each nominated location and person is responsible for a single course of a meal. The aim is to start around 4pm and finish around 1am allowing approximately 30 minutes cooking, 30 minutes eating and 25 minutes travel per course. Preferably the travel time is kept lower but it depends on location. Number of courses can of course be varied and some can be quicker than others. Generally around 20 guests attend and are expected to bring plenty drink to cover those cooking and thus pay their way.

The dinner crawl has many advantages

- Many cooks do not spoil a meal (at least if they are in different kitchens!) Any one bad cook (and I've seen the worst meal thread) or something people dont like can be skipped over

- The cooks get free drink

- Economies of scale make preparation a breeze. Cooking one course for 20 is easier than cooking 5 courses for 4.

- You get a nice walk between courses to let your food go down

- You have a large collection of wine that can be matched to the course (generally the food isn't revealed before you arrive)

- As it involves a large group, there is plenty time to mingle and meet new people. You also find out where some friends live and get a change of scenery

- It tends to be a lot cheaper than a pub crawl!

- Its fun cooking for a large number

Does anyone else do this and what are your favourite dishes? Most have to be either prepared quickly or can be safely held at temperature or reheated quickly. Either that or food that doesnt need cooked

[Daniel Rogov]

Not at homes but at restaurants the concept developed during the heyday of the yuppies and was known as "grazing". My own best experience was one night (from 6 p.m. - 6 a.m. by sampling a single course at each of 12 different restaurants in Miami.

Can be great fun but there is no need for either drunkenness or over-eating at such events.

[zeffer81]

my parents used to do this with neighbors on the block--it didn't hurt that one of them was a chef! they called them "progressive dinners."

[suzilightning]

my parents used to do this with neighbors on the block--it didn't hurt that one of them was a chef!  they called them "progressive dinners."

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we used to do this as a group of grad students and after we got married john and i used to do this with some of our neighbors.