The answers to your party problems

Hey, it's Kate. I asked top chefs for the best ways to host a holiday party that is stress free, fun and delicious. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hi, it’s [Kate Krader](, your always-hungry Pursuits food editor. First of all, happy holiday season. In London, where I live, we’ve been celebrating for months. Literally. More than a few retailers began putting up decorations in September to, they claim, give shoppers a chance to spread out costs. According to Barclay’s, a quarter of the businesses surveyed were using Christmas messaging while it was still officially summer. But they weren’t the first: 1% of retailers had [Christmas displays]( up in June. That means that for 150-odd days, I’ve been exposed to the subliminal suggestion of festivities and parties. No wonder I feel exhausted at the idea of hosting. M&S windows. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg There are many problems you can run into when planning a party. For me, finding an afternoon or evening when enough of my friends are free to come over is just one of them. (I’ve learned this about the Brits: They plan ahead.) Thankfully, one thing that’s sure to improve any gathering is to feature excellent cheese. It’s the perfect star for a party, whether people are standing around with cocktails or having a sit-down dinner with its own fromage course. Cheese is as simple as it gets. The only thing it asks is to be unwrapped, come to room temperature and have a nice home on a plate, platter or butcher block. Cheese boards, jammed with options, have been raging on social media for a while, but what I’m into this season is featuring one or two big fat wedges, or a wheel of exceptional cheese. In search of some good options, I talked to Tess McNamara, whose enviable job title is the head of salumi and formaggi at [Eataly North America](, about why cheese is such a winner at parties. “It’s a beautiful lens to have conversations through,” she says. “In a nerdy way, it dives you into history, into the way civilizations migrated around dairy. It’s a conversation starter.” It’s a food that not only makes people happy but also gets them talking. “All you need to do,” she continued, “is put it out, and all of a sudden it’s a gathering around the island in the kitchen. It’s an instant, gregarious way to bring people together.” Linedeline from Wisconsin But what you really want to know from Tess is what her favorite holiday party cheeses are these days. She has [two key suggestions](. (Actually she had more, but I’ll keep it simple here.) One is [Linedeline from Wisconsin](, which comes from her US cheesemaking hero, Veronica Pedraza of [Blakesville Creamery]( in Port Washington, Wisconsin. The Linedeline, she says, is equal parts sweet (buttery, fresh cream) and savory (grassy, bright). Not to mention “it looks like a cake and it’s ready to celebrate.” Boom. Another one of Tess’s favorites is [Uplands Cheese Rush Creek Reserve](, and it happens to be this season’s It cheese, according to four other star cheesemongers I talked to. It’s made from milk of cows that have been munching on dry fall grass, and it has a drop date when it hits the market—like a hot pair of sneakers. (This year it was Oct. 30.) It’s a voluptuous cheese with a bark wrapping and a super creamy salty center. It’s often compared to a savory custard, and it’s served with a spoon. Here’s the Uplands Rush Creek Reserve. Try not to lick your screen. Another person to talk to if you haven't planned your party yet is [chef Todd Richards](. Of course, all professional cooks should have tips about feeding people. But Todd happens to run the kitchen at [One Flew South]( in the world’s busiest airport, [Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International](, through which over 93 million travelers passed in 2022. I know several people who have extended layovers in Atlanta just to eat at his restaurant. Todd also has a one word tip for a party format: buffet. It works for early arrivers and late comers; it can accommodate the innumerable diets of people who walk through the door if you have a DIY item like baked potatoes with lots of toppings. And Todd also believes in serving a dish that gets people talking: His is chili, because everyone has a family recipe and an opinion. Once again, Happy holidays everyone! Connect with Kate on [X (formerly Twitter)]( and [Instagram](. What I’ve Been Reading [Why Do All Chefs Cross Their Arms in Photos? (Eater)]( You’ve seen innumerable portraits of chefs with their arms crossed but never stopped to wonder: Why, with the abundance of options for an action shot in kitchens, do we get this. Well, Tiffany Leigh asked around and got some very insightful thoughts about the reason why so many chefs want to look like big bank CEOs. [Red Lobster’s Popular Endless Shrimp Deal Ate Into Its Profits (New York Times)]( As someone who loathes the food waste and gluttony that’s attached to an all-you-can-eat restaurant buffet (as opposed to a party one, see above), I’m not sorry to see a headline that the practice is also bad for business. Orlando Mayorquin reports that Red Lobster’s Ultimate Endless Shrimp deal has been so popular that it helped cause an $11 million drop in third-quarter profit for the chain. [She Eats, She Pays, She Gets the F Out (New York magazine)]( Taylor Swift has been making the rounds of the city’s most popular spots—“the sorts of places tourists go in hopes of spotting someone like Taylor Swift,” says writer Rachel Handler. The article’s title is a quote from Emilio’s Ballato owner Emilio Vitolo, describing the star’s no nonsense behavior at his restaurant. In Other Food News [The Chef at Taylor Swift’s Hangout In New York Is Opening in Florida]( [A Young Paris Star Chef Will Open at a Dubai Luxury Hotel]( [Here’s Why Thai Food Has Taken Over London]( [Seven Restaurants Have Been Named Best in the World by La Liste]( [A Top Pastry Chef Tests the £25 XXL Croissant in London]( Trips You Might Want to Take in the New Year - The latest installment in our city guide series Two-Night Minimum features [Singapore](. The city-state has plenty to do, including artisanal shopping opportunities to go with the legendary food scene. - Now is the time to plan a trip to [flourishing Panama City](. It’s a place almost everyone passes through, while taking note of the Canal. But the country has rich history and a burgeoning hotel scene, not to mention some very enticing sounding restaurants. - London: Save up and [book a room]( in one of the seven best new luxury hotels in town. - Saudi Arabia has [started opening up]( some of hotels in brand-new destinations, and it’s promising even more fantastical-looking properties in the coming years. ([These]( were particularly audacious.) So You Had Some Questions Got burning questions you want us to answer? [DM us on IG](. What’s the best new trend you’re seeing out there in the world? There’s so many trends to dislike as soon as you hear about them (TikTok’s “[girl dinner](” comes to mind). Here’s one that I am 100% in favor of: In Italy, [olive oil producers]( whose harvests have been depleted by extreme weather (making this [“liquid gold” a target for thieves]() have found an [ingenious source of income](—and free labor. They’re hosting tourists who come and pick olives from trees. As my colleague [Andrew Davis]( wrote, it makes so much sense for owners: Not only can they rent out their lodgings to visitors during what is traditionally a slow time in regions like Tuscany, but the visitors end up having a deeper appreciation for the $40 price tag attached to a bottle of extra virgin olive oil after they’ve spent hours picking in the sun. Harvested olives at the [I Moricci farm]( in Tuscany. Photographer: Andrew Davis/Bloomberg I can confirm that the above is true: I spent a November weekend in Monteleone outside Rome, trying to fill a bucket with small olives that didn’t necessarily want to come out of the tree. The reward later that day was a couple of gallons of bright-green oil, freshly juiced at the frantoio—the place where the bitter-tasting fruit is pressed. To feel a sense of pride, you can then drizzle some “homemade” oil on a piece of garlic-rubbed country bread and think about how hard you worked for it. What’s the best new restaurant in NYC that I must try? New York is firing on all cylinders right now. The just-opened [Cafe Carmellini]( is a gorgeous, grand experience from the room to Andrew Carmellini’s excellent Italian-French cooking. You’ve probably been to [Foxface](, but just in case you haven’t, it’s got such great left-of-center dishes. The spiced kangaroo tartare with an attention-getting slab of Sardinian flatbread sounds gimmicky, but it’s delicious. As a hangout, I love [Cecchi’s](. It’s in the old Cafe Loup space, bustling with great energy and old-school dishes like chicken a la king! But the place that’s going to be most exciting is [Naks](, the Filipino restaurant from the owners of [Dhamaka]( and [Semma](. It opens on Dec. 5, and you’ll hear more about it from the one-and-only [Bloomberg Opinion writer Bobby Ghosh]( next week. What food trend can we put back in the cabinet for 2024? That’s an excellent question, because, honestly, everything seems to be in play for the new year. I’d like to jump on the bandwagon of saying goodbye to caviar as a martini garnish or fried chicken accompaniment, pulling it back from ubiquitous to something you’re genuinely excited to see. I also hope I’ll never walk into a restaurant with a [water sommelier]( in the new year. And, as much as I’ve enjoyed drinking negronis this year, in 2024, please only serve them if you make them well. We’re hosting a party in Capri for my friends who are getting married next summer. What’s a good restaurant to make that happen? I haven’t been to Capri in a long, long time. So I’m going to put this out there to the Pursuits universe! If anyone has a favorite restaurant on the island, we’d love to know it. [Get in touch](. New for subscribers: Free article gifting. Bloomberg.com subscribers can now gift up to five free articles a month to anyone you want. Just look for the "Gift this article" button on stories. (Not a subscriber? Unlock limited access and [sign up here](.) Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. 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