The easiest way to bring people together is serving good food. Conversation flows easier, people relax and share the experience of enjoying eating and each other’s company. Having a dinner party is an excellent way to celebrate your relationships and to bring new and old friends together. More and more, people are moving away from traditional, more formal parties toward relaxed theme dinners. Allow yourself some creativity when planning your party and consider some of the following dinner party themes. Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Italian...take your pick! Decide on the evening’s culinary nationality and decorate your table accordingly. For a Chinese food party make your way to your city’s Chinatown and spend a little extra on an interesting centerpiece, paper lanterns or dishes. Spend the time and money on authentic ingredients for an Italian night and your guests will be sure to notice the difference in taste. There is a world of difference between every day parmesan sprinkles and shaves of parmegiano reggiano bought from a local Italian cheese shop. Go to the library or download music to match the evening’s theme and play it in the background throughout dinner for an added touch of realism. The details make all the difference. Recently, competition cooking shows have become popular. Why not recreate this in your own kitchen? If you have a group of friends who all enjoy cooking, you can schedule alternating weekends for ‘cook offs’. Decide on the ingredients and challenge each other to create unique dishes with them. Let your guests rate the dishes based on criteria such as taste, creativity or presentation. An expensive bottle of wine makes an excellent prize and you could collect the winning recipes to make your own cookbook. Potluck dinners are classic because they get everybody involved and minimize work at the same time. You don’t have to stick to savory foods either. A dessert potluck is a delicious way to spend a late evening or weekend afternoon. Ask each guest to bring their favorite, most decadent desert creation and serve it along with big glasses of milk or sparkling wine. The dinner party theme you chose, like all parties, is a reflection of you and your circle of friends. Allow your party to reflect your style and celebrate the friendships you’ve created. There are very few things as satisfying as watching the people you love enjoying your cooking and each other’s company.