Simple Tricks to Make Weeknights Feel Fancy (Including New Year’s Eve)

In Let’s Party, the follow-up to his 2023 New York Times best-selling cookbook, Let’s Cook, Dan Pelosi (known as Grossy Pelosi on Instagram) makes a compelling case for treating any and every night like a soirée. 

Over 16 different menus like ‘Joyuary’ and ‘Girls’ Night In,’ Pelosi shows how any evening can be fancy with a little planning. For Pelosi, the idea of a fancy meal has more to do with the intention behind it than the occasion or the food on the table: “It’s about having an intentional meal and really putting the intention behind gathering around food,” he says. “That's not just parties, but it's dinner with your family. It's dinner with your boyfriend. It's inviting a few friends over for dinner on a Wednesday.”

Likewise, Pelosi notes that fancy can mean different things to different people, all of which are valid: “For many people, fancy is [using] a tablecloth or lighting a candle or opening a bottle of wine that they've been wanting to try for a while,” he says. “So I think that fancy could be like one move. It could be what you wear. There’s a bit of an attitude shift that comes from putting on  a red lip, or putting on a little dress, or taking your apron off to eat.” 

Get Fancy With a Make-Ahead Dessert

When it comes to weeknight fanciness, Pelosi says simply planning ahead can be the key to success. We’re all short on time throughout the week, so breaking down a recipe to see what can be made in advance, like a salad dressing or a dip, can go a long way once it’s time to assemble the meal.

“Making things ahead is what's gonna allow you to pull off a weeknight-fancy situation, because usually we don't have time to do that during our day to day,” Pelosi explains. “How incredible would it be to surprise everyone at your dinner with an incredible dessert? And most desserts can be made ahead and kept in the fridge or kept on the counter, or you could frost the cake right before dinner, but make the parts and pieces the day before.”

Fancy Can Be as Simple as a New Recipe

For what is arguably the fanciest night of the year, New Year’s Eve, Pelosi prefers to stay in and host, centering the celebration around one great dish. For him, that means his cult-favorite vodka sauce (aka ‘sawce’). “People tell me all the time it's like their go-to fancy restaurant meal at home if they're celebrating or they're on a date,” he says. 

If pasta is part of your weekly rotation, something as simple as switching up the sauce or toppings can make a workaday staple feel exciting and special.

Along the same lines, Pelosi points to the Lasagnetta recipe from his ‘Nonna Your Business’ menu. In terms of fanciness, the dish has a lot going for it. Rather than the typical lasagna format of sheets of pasta and sauce layered bottom to top, lasagnetta calls for making little pinwheels. Made up of lasagna noodles, cheese, and a thin slice of prosciutto (fancy ingredient alert), it just feels special.

The pinwheels are served in a bright yet creamy, garlic-tinged tomato sauce that comes together quickly in the blender. Flipping up the format and adding one fancy ingredient takes a classic dish to new heights, while still being approachable enough for a weekday (and for kids).

Grossy Pelosi’s Simple Tips for Fancier Weeknights

• Plate meals individually rather than serving them family-style for an elevated approach.
• Add a little formality to the table by whipping up quick paper place cards or, better yet, a printed menu, and putting them on the plate before the meal begins.
• For folks who avoid alcohol, feeling celebratory when people are enjoying champagne or a cocktail, can be a challenge. Try a non-alcoholic cocktail—all of the drink recipes in Let’s Party just happen to be non-alcoholic.
• Try a themed menu based around a single color, like a gold theme, to make a meal feel cohesive and oh-so-fancy. 

Get the cookbook: Let’s Party