The difference between a forgettable group meal and a great
dinner party is quite simply a matter of choice-the choice of the
music to play, the guests to invite, and, most importantly, the
food to serve. Such choices determine much more than the relative
success of a single evening. A simple meal made with an informed
understanding of food’s greater social and economic impact can
yield a delicious feast that, according to Anna Lapp? and Bryant
Terry, coauthors of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic
Kitchen (Tarcher, 2006), promotes health for the planet as
well as for guests. In a recent interview with
Plenty (April/May 2006), Lapp? and Terry posed the
argument that if a dinner party seeks to establish communal
integration, the meal itself should be a means to the same
life-affirming end. By ditching mass-marketed brands awash in
pesticides in favor of sustainable organics, Lapp? and Terry say,
consumers embrace a universally healthy lifestyle-and healthy never
tasted so good. For your next gathering, rock out with the
Straight-Edge Punk Brunch Buffet described in Grub: spicy
tempeh sausage patties with roasted yellow pepper sauce,
nonalcoholic tangerine mimosas-and a Bad Brains album. –Evan
Noetzel
