Top 5 Dinner Party Essentials

Hostesses and hosts, start your engines: The season of entertaining par excellence is here. Between now and New Year’s, dinners, cocktail parties and gatherings of all kinds will be the order of the day (and night). To help you do your duty in the most stylish way possible, we’ve put together a list of five festive, functional items to serve your guests. They add verve to any dinner party: sweet and savory flavor pearls for gussying up food and drink; a silver-plated pitcher that looks so good it will make mere tap water taste like Champagne; a stainless steel fusti from Italy that’s perfect for serving hot apple cider or mulled wine; floral dessert bowls that will add a sweet finish to any meal; and darling porcelain and black walnut espresso cups for serving a final cappuccino before your dinner guests hit the road. May the best host win.