Come dine with me: never mind the food, dinner party guests give top marks for tableware

What do you want your dinner parties to be remembered for - your show-stopping signature dish, the great atmosphere and scintillating conversation?

Well don't uncork the wine just yet, because it turns out that what your guests will notice most are the serving dishes.

According to a new survey from cookware company Pyrex, it's the first thing we'll notice at a dinner party - yes, we think about beautiful tableware before the food.

A lack of co-ordinated cutlery or crockery was the second thing that came to mind for picky guests, followed by messy surroundings and cold food.

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You'll be relieved to hear that 72% of guests will simply enjoy the meal - instead of quietly critiquing the food or host. Phew!

For hosts, the worst thing about arranging a dinner party is the stress of preparing a meal for more people than usual. Next up is dreading doing the washing up, or worrying about not having the correct serving ware or place settings.

'It's interesting to see that serving ware and co-ordinated cutlery and crockery were named as the most noticed things at a dinner party - over and above the food,' says Alexandra Blyth, Marketing Manager at Pyrex.

'To guarantee your culinary skills shine through, select attractive oven-to-table pieces that will make life easy and earn you top marks with guests.'

So, if you want to be known as a domestic goddess, the trick is to choose gorgeous tableware. Sounds good to us...

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