Party People Brie Larson and Courtney McBroom Put Their Own Entertaining Tips into Action

Reported by Vogue.

There is a particular kind of party that Hollywood rarely gets credit for throwing — the kind where the guest list fits around one table, everyone actually talks to each other, and no one leaves performing a recap for their publicist. Brie Larson and chef Courtney McBroom, co-authors of the cookbook Party People, recently threw exactly that kind of evening at Larson's Los Angeles home, and according to Vogue, it looked like the most fun any dozen people have had in a backyard in recent memory.

Larson, in a baby blue lace Dôen mini, was characteristically direct about what actually makes a gathering land. "You can order pizza or accidentally burn the chicken, but if you have folks you are just so happy to be around, that's what you'll remember," she said. McBroom — a former Momofuku culinary director — countered with her own philosophy: "Sometimes the best parties are the ones you forget." Both women are right, and somehow this dinner managed to be both: deeply intentional and completely unstuffy. The front yard welcomed guests with sardine-and-tomato bites, French onion dip, charcuterie, and a cocktail bar offering Tiki Sun Tea, wine, and, per the signage, "cheap beer."

The Menu, The Mother, The Game

The backyard table — styled by Larson's mom, event planner Heather Desaulniers of Gala By Heather — ran deliberately un-matchy: flowers, vegetables, and colorful dinnerware in a look Larson described as "old and new." The family-style dinner, co-hosted by waste-prevention company Mill, was rooted in McBroom's Texas upbringing: shrimp en brochette, Swayze sauce, Dr. Pepper as an actual ingredient, and a farmers market haul where, the chef joked, most of the budget went to beloved organic grower Harry's Berries out of Oxnard. Guests demolished biscuits with strawberry jam and corn butter, grilled zucchini, Texas-style potato salad, and finished on peach pop-tart pie and Dr. Pepper floats with vanilla bean soft serve. No notes.

By the third round of wine, Larson debuted what may be the most socially intelligent party game in recent history: Brag or Complain, a concept she developed while catching up with Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy at Sunset Tower. She broke the inevitable awkward silence by opening with a brag — shouting out guest Victoria Fayad's Echo Park Mediterranean market Bucatini, which had just secured its wine and spirits license after five years. The table caught on fast, and the cards came out freely for the rest of the night. Guests left with a gift bag containing the Party People cookbook, canned smoked fish, and lettuce seeds from Mill — essentially a starter kit for running the whole thing back.

The real flex of an intimate dinner party isn't the florals or the menu — it's engineering a room where strangers actually want to stay past dessert.

Read the original at Vogue.