Progressive dinner
A progressive dinner (US) or safari supper (UK) is a dinner party in which each successive course is prepared and eaten at the residence of a different host. Alternatively, each course may be eaten at a different dining area within a single large establishment. It is essentially a variant on a potluck dinner, with travel involved. This is sometimes known as a round-robin.
Typically, this involves the preparation of one course only (a starter, main course or dessert), and visiting different neighbors for the other 2 courses. Although it is a little difficult to explain, and does require careful and complex planning, the idea is relatively straightforward: for example, Neighbor A makes a starter, and is visited by Neighbors B and C. After this, Neighbor A moves to a different house, Neighbor D, and is joined by Neighbor E. Neighbors B and C go on to different houses also, but not the same one. Finally, a similar pattern for dessert: Neighbor A moves to Neighbor F's house, joined by Neighbor G. This style of eating has recently become popular as a charity fund raiser in rural Britain, and is seen as a good way of meeting different neighbors in the community by virtue of each participant having 6 separate guests; it also has a long tradition in the United States.
Planning a dinner of this type can take considerable preparation if the party is large and if each neighbour is to meet different neighbours at each course. The figures below show how this can be achieved for 36–48 neighbours taking part in a progressive dinner of 3 courses, followed by all neighbours meeting up for drinks after dessert.
Figure 1 Progressive66: Progressive dinner design for 36 people, 3 courses, 6 homes hosting 6 guests at each course, followed by drinks for all guests at a final venue
Figure 2 Progressive68: Progressive dinner design for 48 people, 3 courses, 6 homes hosting 8 guests at each course, followed by drinks for all guests at a final venue
Figure 3 Progressive58: Progressive dinner design for 40 people, 3 courses, 5 homes hosting 8 guests at each course, followed by drinks for all guests at a final venue
In these designs, each node on the outside of the diagram represents a home hosting a starter, the nodes on the next layer towards the centre are homes hosting main courses, and the nodes closest to the centre are homes hosting desserts. Each line represents a couple moving from one course to the next. Each couple follows the same line through the diagram. All guests meet at the final venue for drinks. These designs are a specific cases of the Kirkman's schoolgirl problem in combinatorics.
In the USA, participants go to each house for the various course. Couple A cooks the appetizers, and couples ABCD attend at A's house. Then everyone moves to B, and so on. Often there is a regional theme for each dinner, such as Italian, German, or French. Various wines to suit the "courses" are generally served at each location. Keeping it to 4 or 5 houses in the same neighborhood makes it more reasonable. Problems include keeping the food warm and ready at each location – the main course is generally the most expensive so everyone should take a 'turn' at that course. It is nice to have about the same "level" of cooking skill with each home, although it can be fun to try new methods and cooking to see how it comes out. One variation is that the participants bring a "themed" dish to one house; this accommodates more people this way, and from further away locations. The host house picks the theme or even what each participant could bring. This is a variation of a cooking club or potluck.
An alternative to the above method involves restaurants. A group of people will start at restaurant A, where they will have an appetizer. When they leave, to have their main at restaurant B, another group will proceed to restaurant A for their main, after having had their appetizer at restaurant X. The event usually culminates in all groups meeting for drinks or dessert at one venue.
In a safari supper, the destination of the next course is generally unknown by the participants, and they have to decipher a clue before moving on. The term is also used to describe a type of baked curry consisting of ground beef and rice in a spicy-sweet sauce.[1]
The company "Whistler Tasting Tours", established in 2008 and based in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, has been credited with being the first business to operate daily year-round progressive dinner tours[citation needed].
