Party

An Elegant Affair

By Christy Marshall

Photography by Susan Jackson

Every night at 6, Matt and Jennifer Williams sit down and have dinner with their son, 5, and daughter, 3. The fare? Along the lines of macaroni and cheese, turkey sandwiches, hot dogs and pasta--nothing too haute.

As owners of TKO DJs (Matt) and St. Louis Closet Company (Jennifer), 56 apartments in Maplewood, a home in Kirkwood and a farm in Owensville, the Williamses are always on the go.

But they love to entertain. "When we got married, we entertained all the time," Jennifer says. "Then we had kids. That changed everything."

Today, the parties are more familial than just friends. Together, the immediate family (with parents and siblings all living in St. Louis) numbers 44. "It's a blast," Jennifer says. "Since we bought the house in Kirkwood, we have a house big enough to have everyone over. Now our entertaining is family events."

Hosting is their preference. "Matt has owned TKO since he was 15," Jennifer says. "I put myself through college waiting tables. We always feel we do better hosting and dealing with the details than we do being the guests. We're the workers at the party. We enjoy that part of it."

Recently, Matt and Jennifer decided to party more. "In the last year, we have made a conscious effort to have more adult dinners," Jennifer says. "We have the house fixed up like we like and we love to entertain. We missed it."

They own the perfect house for fetes. The hallways are wide, with circular flow--especially since, according to Matt, the walls were knocked out between the pantry, breakfast room and old kitchen.

"We look at entertaining as entertainment," Matt says. "It all has to move quickly and flow seamlessly."

For this Saturday night soiree, they decided to invite clients, neighbors and Matt's brother. The chef, Greg Maggi, happens to be their best friend--and has been since 1996, right before the Williams' wedding. He cooks for all the Williams' parties--from showers to the kids' birthdays. (For others, he prefers the more elaborate night out.)

The party starts (and often ends) in the Williams' kitchen. When they bought the house, they made sure to redo that room first. "Greg loves the kitchen because he can be there cooking, and people can be there too, and not in his way," Jennifer says. "It's where most of our parties are. But when we have business people over, we try to make it more formal-- sit-down but fun."

On this night, the house (one of the rare few where you are actually invited to look into the closets) glistened. The guests arrived looking elegant, and only a few had known each other beforehand. The Williams have a party tradition. Through the years, the couple have purchased a silver napkin ring on every major trip they have ever taken. Back in St. Louis, Jennifer gets the ring engraved with the name of the country where it was bought. At some point in the party, each of the guests checks the ring and reports on where they are "from."

In truth, not terribly many places could have been all that much nicer or dinners more elegant than the Williams' house on that Saturday night.

The Details

The host and hostess: Matt and Jennifer Williams (above)

The location: Their home in Kirkwood

The flowers: Montano Grant and hostess

Chef: Greg Maggi of Neiman Marcus

The guests:

Jason and Jennifer Amato

Chris and Megan Frank

Michael and Kathleen Hoffman

David Weiss

Bobby Sanderson

Kevin Williams

Sous chef: Dan Stark

Server: Allyson Berg

The Menu

Hors d'oeuvres

Consomme of wild mushrooms, foie gras, herbed-butter croutons

First course

Grilled Maine lobster and poached artichoke salad with roasted garlic vinaigrette

Second course

East Coast diver scallops, butter-braised leek and pommes puree with white truffle oil

Third course

Meditation tenderloin of beef with quinoa salad, mosaic potato and black-olive jus

Fourth course

Dark chocolate gateau with raspberries and warm Champagne Sabayon

Grilled Lobster And Poached Artichoke Salad

2 8-ounce lobster tails

4 cooked artichoke bottoms--sliced

20 cooked French green beans (poach in salted boiling water, shock in ice water to cool)

2 cups mixed baby greens

1/2 cup bean sprouts

4 thinly sliced red radishes

Roasted garlic and mustard vinaigrette

Lobster Tails: Thaw the tails in cold running water. Using a large chef's knife, split the tails down the center and remove green vein. Remove meat from shell and then put directly back into shell. Baste with clarified butter, season with salt and pepper. Place on grill, shell side down, and cook approximately four minutes. Turn and cook an additional three minutes--do not overcook or the meat will be rubbery. Cool. Remove meat from shell and slice into quarter-inch-thick slices.

Salad: Toss the lobster, artichoke, green beans, mixed greens, bean sprouts and radishes in a small bowl with a little of the vinaigrette. Place portions of the salad in the center of each plate and drizzle a little more of the dressing around the salad. Top with freshly ground pepper.

Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup roasted garlic

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 tablespoon whole grain mustard

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon ground toasted fennel seed

Salt and pepper to taste

Puree the garlic, mustards, vinegar and honey until smooth. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking the garlic mixture. Season with salt and pepper.