Every themed party deserves its own unique menu. A backyard tiki party pairs great with barbeque and tropical cocktails, while a Super Bowl party entails plenty of fried finger foods. Just like decorations and party games enliven a party, food and beverage should also be a celebration.
It may seem that a complex party would necessitate hours in the kitchen, but creativity can cut down on the man-hours needed to pull together an unforgettable evening. Let’s look at one of the most popular and complex parties out there: the casino night.
With its relation to high fashion, high stakes, and a certain secret agent man, hosts will need to pull out all the stops to break away from the boring buffet associated with most casino floors. Dividing up foods by game is one way to make sure guests don’t get hungry while battling for more chips and allows hosts to create memorable snack spreads.
By pairing a casino game with a specific food, hosts can seamlessly intertwine the night’s activities with a specialized menu.
Bite-Sized Bingo & Slots
Bingo and slots, the most popular casino games played worldwide, are both quick-paced and require quite a bit of hand action from players. For hosts, it’s a perfect opportunity to present guests with bite-sized foods that won’t get their hands dirty as they place their markers or spin again.
Though typically played alone, slots, in particular, are one of the most exciting and dynamic casino games available online. With hundreds of options in terms of slot themes, the host will have to read more before connecting a live game for guests to play.
After finding a few fitting themes, party-goers can watch for winning combinations that take them to the next level of play while the host passes around their most exceptional and surprising finger foods, like snappy jalapeno poppers or mango meringue bites.
Like the game itself, the paired foods should have an element of surprise, while being small enough to eat without missing a bingo marker or a jackpot combination. Here, hosts can go all out to create exciting flavor combinations. Worried about the mess? Don’t fear the fryer.
Slow-Cooker Poker
Though bingo and slots games can fly by due to their fast and exciting nature, poker games like Texas Hold’em and Three Card Stud can take more than a New York minute to conclude. With guests sidled up to the table and busy bluffing their way to a payout, hosts can deliver on slow-cooker specialties.
With most cards remaining face down for the duration of the game, there’s no need to stick to finger foods. In fact, hosts can dive into complex recipes if they’re looking to imitate some of the restaurants located in casinos (not all are home to the classic buffet).
Some of the most renowned dishes include Restaurant Guy Savoy’s artichoke and black truffle soup, Le Tren Bleu’s veal saltimbocca, and Waku Ghin’s filet of Tasmanian beef with wasabi mustard. Be sure to leave ample room at the table to accommodate dishes and enough space to keep cards hidden from other players.
A Roulette Riddle
Much like bingo and slots, roulette and its infamous spinning wheel offer guests a truly dynamic gaming experience. While many hosts may emulate the black-and-red roulette tiles with a color-coded food, a more appropriate option that emulates the game’s element of surprise would be a mystery snack.
Many bite-sized snacks, from summer-themed popsicles to established chip brands like Pringles or Doritos, can become exciting flavor-testing contests. As guests place their wagers on the roulette table, they can also try their luck at placing specific flavors.
As mentioned above, hosts don’t have to go above and beyond for this particular meal. If creating a dessert series of fruity-flavored popsicles is too time-consuming, presenting guests with bite-sized gelato, chips, or other finger foods and asking them to correctly identify the flavors can add depth and dimension to the standard fare.
Dressing for Blackjack
Though poker may command longer stretches of time and games like roulette end in a flash, blackjack often continues on at the player’s pace. This means a game with five players could take as little as five minutes, or twenty. Most players require some time to tally the cards, then figure out their probability of winning.
As such, creating a menu for a blackjack game can be difficult. Will guests be able to use a fork or spoon for a more complex dish, or is it better to stick with finger foods? Hosts may prefer to let their guests decide by giving them a few (dipping) options.
By setting out plain foods like tortilla chips, soft pretzels, and veggies and presenting guests with variations of beloved dressings, players can eat at their own pace. Depending on the host’s preference and those of guests, hosts can opt for sweet, savory, spicy, and sour options to get taste buds kicking.
Guests who need the extra brainpower can snack on hummus and other healthy dips, while those who are still hungry can opt for denser options like cheesy or marinara dips. This may also be a good time to revisit the world’s best casino restaurant directory and try out dips like Café Martinique’s citrus chili mayonnaise.
Pai Gow Gastronomy
Though a popular game worldwide, not many casino parties in North America would include a Pai Gow table. However, the domino-based game is becoming more standard at casinos (and therefore house parties) across the US and Canada.
Depending on whether or not guests are familiar with the game, the table could play at a stop-and-go pace. Much like the time-consuming game of poker, Pai Gow presents hosts with an opportunity to slide into the night’s best gastronomic feats.
For the culinary daredevils, this could be a good time to try out that molecular gastronomy that’s become more popular in DIY forums. Time to bust out the Agar Agar and get that arugula spaghetti up to snuff or convince food skeptics to try out oysters topped with fruit caviar.
The fearless host can even opt to tackle Chinese gastronomic variations as an ode to the origins of Pai Gow. Though there may not be enough space for a hotpot at the Pai Gow table, dishes like Sichuan pork or dumplings won’t command too much attention or space.